This revised and updated edition of the highly successful sociology textbook, Contemporary Sociology, continues to throw light on key issues and concerns of present-day society. M. Francis Abraham's vast experience and extensive research cuts across conventional themes and geographical boundaries to include: * Theoretical perspectives and research methods * Key concepts and theories * Relevant issues in education, economy, politics, population, stratification, minorities, urbanization, and environment * Social institutions, organizations, and recent trends of change * Examples drawn from numerous cultural contexts This second edition introduces the following new concepts in a comparative perspective: * Theoretical perspectives in a global age * Crystallization of social interaction * Race, gender, and stratification * New social movements * Gender and deviance * Women's movements and caste-oriented movement The crucial topics of modern-day sociology such as gender, race, lifestyle changes, ecological issues, and domestic violence are explained separately, distinguishing the book from general sociology textbooks.