Content and Coverage of `Culture' in Introductory Textbooks

Abstract

This dissertation reports the results of a content analysis of Introductory Sociology textbooks in order to assess their coverage of, and approach to, the teaching of "culture" in the hopes of ultimately creating a unified approach for the introduction of students to the sociology of culture. Looking at introductory sociology textbooks, the current study documents if and to what extent the topic of culture is included; and if so, analyzes which topics are included, how much space is dedicated to culture, and particularly which frames (in Goffman's (1974 [1986]) sense) are used to present sociology of culture. The results of this research highlight three important tendencies of introductory texts. Firstly, there is an apparent inconsistency between current academic work in the sociology of culture and inclusion of that work in introductory textbooks. This is particularly true of cultural production. Additionally, textbooks are extremely likely to treat culture as a concept in an anthropological sense (including a discussion of language, norms, and values) or in terms of diversity or multiculturalism. Finally, textbooks on the whole do not appear to change over time in significant ways. This is certainly not the case from edition to edition (usually a span of one to two years), but also among textbooks from different time periods (the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s).