REA's Essentials provide quick and easy access to critical information in a variety of different fields, ranging from the most basic to the most advanced. As its name implies, these concise, comprehensive study guides summarize the essentials of the field covered. Essentials are helpful when preparing for exams, doing homework and will remain a lasting reference source for students, teachers, and professionals. "Sociology" reviews sociological perspectives, methods of research, socialization and self-formation, cultures, society, theories of societies, social structure and the social process, social groups and organizations, deviance, law and crime, the family, social stratification, gender and sexuality, ethnicity and race, aging and the elderly, health care, collective behavior, social movements and social change.