In Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, David Newman shows students how to see the unfamiliar in the familiar--to step back and see organization and predictability in their personal experiences. With his approachable writing style and lively personal anecdotes, the author's goal from the first edition has been the same: to write a textbook that reads like a real book. Many adopters of this book are fans of Peter Berger′s classic works, which helped introduce the idea of social constructionism to sociology. Newman uses the metaphors of architecture and construction, to help students understand that society is not something that exists out there, independently of themselves; it is a human creation that is planned, maintained, or altered by individuals.

Using vivid prose, current examples, and fresh data, the Thirteenth Edition presents a unique and thought-provoking overview of how society is constructed and experienced. Instead of surveying every subfield in sociology, the more streamlined coverage (14 chapters) focuses on the individual and society, the construction of self and society, and social inequality in the context of social structures.