Analyzing Inequalities: An Introduction to Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality Using the General Social Survey

Analyzing Inequalities: An Introduction to Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality Using the General Social Survey is a practical resource for helping students connect sociological issues with real-world data in the context of their first undergraduate sociology courses.  This worktext introduces readers  to the GSS, one of the most widely analyzed surveys in the U.S.; examines a range of GSS questions related to social inequalities; and demonstrates basic techniques for analyzing this data online.  No special software is required–the exercises can be completed using the Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA) website at the University of California-Berkeley which is easy to navigate and master.  Students will come away with a better understanding of social science research, and will be better positioned to ask and answer the sociological questions that most interest them.

Catherine E. Harnois is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at Wake Forest University, where she teaches courses on social inequality and research methods. She is the author of two books: Feminist Measures in Survey Research (SAGE 2013) and Analyzing Inequalities: An Introduction to Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality Using the US General Social Survey (SAGE, 2018). Her current research uses an intersectional framework to investigate issues of political consciousness, identity, and discrimination. Her methodological work on the intersection of gender and racial discrimination received the 2012 Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship Article Award from the American Sociological Association Section on Race, Gender, and Class. Her research has appeared in the journals Gender & Society, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Social Psychology Quarterly, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science & Medicine, and other scholarly outlets.