Tips for Reading Social Theory

David A. Sonnenfeld

Washington State University Tri-Cities

Reading social theory can be slow, grueling, and frustrating. However, if you are patient, take time, and make an effort, doing so will reward you with powerful insights into fundamental social institutions and processes.  Some suggestions to facilitate the process:

1. Your first time through the assigned text, skim lightly, before you get "lost in the forest of details." Get an overview of the structure of the section you are reading. Read the introductory and concluding paragraphs, take note of section headings.
2. Once you have an overview of the assigned text, return to the beginning and read more closely. Focus on the author's main points and/or what you want to get out of it.
3. Take notes. In the margins of your copy of the text or a separate notebook, keep a running dialog with yourself and/or the author. Note the author's main ideas, as well as your reactions and responses.
4. Ask yourself: What is the author's main point? Try summarizing those main points -- in writing, orally with a fellow student, etc.
5. If necessary, outline the author's argument (line of reasoning).
6. Read as many times as you have to -- 2, 3, or more -- until you get the gist of the author's main points and have a feeling for the structure & components of his or her argument.
7. Make full use of other students in the class. Study together. Compare notes.
8. If you don't understand a term, look it up in one or more dictionaries. Start with a comprehensive collegiate dictionary. Also, look in a good, disciplinary-specific dictionary, for example the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology.
9. If you're still stumped, or feel you are not grasping basic concepts, consult an introductory sociology text (there are some available at the library), or ask your instructor during office hours.
10. Construct your own course dictionary of key terms using sources mentioned above.

Good luck!

Soc 430 Home Page

last updated August 22, 2006