Evan Willis

First Published in 1992. Health care is currently under intense pressure both to be cost-effective and to deliver a service its users want. This text is an important contribution to the debate about the most appropriate research method for evaluating its effectiveness.

Starting Sociology can be daunting. This user-friendly introduction takes the reader on a quest towards a sociological understanding of the world we live in. Using contemporary examples, The Sociological Quest asks what is distinctive about the way Sociologists view society. Haydn Aarons and Evan Willis show that they are concerned with the relationships between the individual and society, and that a sociological analysis involves an approach which is historical, cultural, structural, and critical. This sixth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated and includes new material on identities, social change, social movements, populism, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, digital interaction, and social media. Also included in the sixth edition is an expanded chapter on empirical research in Sociology and the research process, as well as a new chapter on careers in Sociology.

Starting Sociology can be daunting. This user-friendly introduction takes the reader on a quest towards a sociological understanding of the world we live in. Using contemporary examples, The Sociological Quest asks what is distinctive about the way Sociologists view society. Haydn Aarons and Evan Willis show that they are concerned with the relationships between the individual and society, and that a sociological analysis involves an approach which is historical, cultural, structural, and critical. This sixth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated and includes new material on identities, social change, social movements, populism, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, digital interaction, and social media. Also included in the sixth edition is an expanded chapter on empirical research in Sociology and the research process, as well as a new chapter on careers in Sociology.

Medical Dominance, now in a revised edition, provides a fascinating account of the medical profession's successful domination of a wide range of health care services. Evan Willis delves into the past to explain the existing division of labour and health care, the rise of the medical profession to a position of economic power within the health system, and their defence of that dominant position. Now completely revised and updated, this edition also considers the related question of the policy implications of medical dominance. The defence by doctors of their position of power is highlighted by the author's exhaustive and original research into demarcation struggles between medicine and other health occupations, in particular midwifery, optometry and chiropractic. Conventional explanations of medical dominance are challenged by the argument that the role of developments in medical knowledge and in technology itself have been overstated. As well, greater account must be taken of the social relations and struggles which developed for control of that knowledge and technology.

Beginning a course in sociology can be a daunting experience. Evan Willis’s engaging "primer" smoothes the path for introductory students, guiding them through the complex ideas of Durkheim, Weber, Marx, and Mills. By reading about events on a national and international level that have shaped their own lives and the societies in which they live, students will learn in a meaningful way what it means to have a “sociological imagination.” Willis explains the distinction between concepts like social and sociological, cultural and historical, micro and macro, and theory and method with a humor and clarity that will encourage students to delve deeper into the field. The Sociological Quest has been a must-read for students since the publication of the first edition in 1993. This expanded and revised third edition, which features examples from current events on both a national and international level,will have a permanent place on the syllabus of any introductory course in sociology.

This new, revised and updated edition of "Medical Dominance" provides an account of the medical profession's successful domination of a wide range of health-care services. Evan Willis delves into the past to explain the existing division of labour and health care, the rise of the medical profession to a position of economic power within the health system, and its defence of that dominant position. He also considers the related question of the policy implications of medical dominance. The defence by doctors of their position of power is highlighted by the author's research into demarcation struggles between medicine and other health occupations, in particular midwifery, optometry and chiropractic. Conventional explanations of medical dominance are challenged by the argument that the role of developments of medical knowledge, and in technology itself, have been overstated. Greater account must also be taken of the social relations and struggles which developed for control of that knowledge and technology.