This is the first systematic account of social epidemiology, and it will be especially useful to graduate students of epidemiology, public health, and medical sociology. The authors emphasize methodological approaches in discussing the major social variables that affect health, such as socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, gender, working conditions, and scoial support. They draw widely from relevant disciplines such as sociology, psychology, physiology and medicine to describe the conceptualization and measurement of each social variable, as well as the evidence linking them to a broad range of mental, physical, and behavioral health outcomes.