You
have never seen history like this before! This tie-in to a major, prime-time
PBS show goes beyond anecdotes to reveal surprising trend that define twentieth-century
America.
The
First Measured Century
An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000
Theodore Caplow | Louis Hicks | Ben J. Wattenberg
You
have never seen history like this before! This tie-in to a major, prime-time
PBS show goes beyond anecdotes to reveal surprising trend that define twentieth-century
America.
Most history tells the story of the past through anecdotes, but anecdotes do now always present an accurate or complete picture. There is another way to look at history. The rise of widespread, systematic data collection in the twentieth century--the first measured century--allows us to examine the past on hundred years with uprecedented clarity.
Now, The first Measured Century, a comprehensive popular reference work, uses social data to tell us what happened to everyday Americans in the twentieth century. This myth-busting new history critically examines "imaginary" trends:
-Do parents
really spend less time with their children these days?
-Do people really change residences more often?
-Are Americans less likely to vote than they used to be?
Whether the topic is politics, sexual behavior, economics, immigration, living arrangements, health, religion, longevity, or public opinion, The First Measured Century shows that the facts often turn out to be more interesting than the fiction.
A specially commissioned feature of The First Measured Century is original 1999 research that builds on Robert and Helen Lynd's landmark sociological study of the 1920s and the first city survey in America, "Middletown." (First Measured Century coauthor Caplow also led a team that re-examined "Middletown" in the late 1970s.) Therefore, The First Measured Century offers the longest time line of consistent attitudinal data anywhere. The authors use the survey data to display change and continuity in mid-America (Muncie, Indiana) and to dispel widely accepted notions about social change. One of the most important changes the new research shows is an erosion of social class differences--in values, daily schedules, employment history, housework, child raisin, and aspirations for the future.
The panorama of the American twentieth century unfolds in a series of key trends, each explained in a one-page essay written for the general reader and illustrated by one or more vibrantly colored charts on the facing page. The First Measured Century is an essential tool for anyone with an interest in journalism, economics, history, political science, sociology, demography, public relations, business, the arts, or public policy. It is an ideal resource for students of all ages and their teachers or professors.
More books by Theodore Caplow
Sociologic
Militaire
The Academic Market Place
Peace Games
Perverse
Incentives - The Neglect of Social Technology in the Public Sector
Elementary Sociology
Recent Social
Trends in the United States 1960-1990
Leviathan
Transformed - Seven National States in the New Century
The Sociology of Work
The Urban
Ambience
Principles of Organization
Two Against One: Coalitions
in Triad
Old Men Drunk and Sober
Toward Social Hope
Middletown Families: Fifty Years of Change & Continuity
All
Faithful People: Change & Continuity in Middletown's Religion
Managing
an Organization
American Social Trends
Systems of War & Peace
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