Is That True?: Critical Thinking for Sociologists

Across disciplines, critical thinking is praised, taught, and put into practice. But what does it actually mean to think critically? In this brief volume, sociologist Joel Best examines how to evaluate arguments and the evidence used to support them as he hones in on how to think in the field of sociology and beyond. With inimitable style that melds ethnographic verve with dry humor, Best examines the ways in which sociologists engage in fuzzy thinking through bias, faddish cultural waves, spurious reasoning, and implicit bias. The short chapters cover:

• A general introduction to critical thinking and logic in the social sciences
• Sociology as an enterprise
• Key issues in thinking critically about sociological research
• Challenging questions that confront sociologists and a call for the discipline to meet those challenges.

Students across disciplines will learn the building blocks of critical thinking in a sociological context and come away with key concepts to put into practice.