Years ago when I began to accumulate information for a topic I was researching, I began from the perspective of my own experiences within the topic I studied. I worked outward, and then back again, to understand my topic, and to comprehend each of my perspectives within it. Because I was able to place myself within my topic rather then distancing myself from it, my understanding of 'things' was clearer, more accurate. I became a better sociologist. For me, to be able to view portions of another person's life from the inside out, is an incredible way to learn more about my own life and evaluations. Each person in this book has used personal experience as the basis from which to frame his individual sociological perspectives. Because they have personalized their work, their accounts are real, and recognizable as having come from 'real' persons, about 'real' experiences. There are no objectively-distanced disembodied third person entitites in these accounts. These writers are actual people whose stories will make you laugh, cry, think, and want to know more. If you regard your own perspecitve as truly relevant to your own understanding of all to which you apply your sociological insights, you will allow yourself to experience Private Sociology.

Contributions by: Isaac D. Balbus, Sarah Brabant, William B. Brown, Kristine Anderson Dougherty, Don Eckard, Carolyn Ellis, David O. Friedrichs, Ann Goetting, Barbara A. Haley, Ross Koppel, Marianne A. Paget, Douglas V. Porpora, Larry T. Reynolds, Carol Rambo Ronai, Barbara Katz Rothman, Joseph W. Ruane, Don H. Shamblin, Z.G Standing Bear, Robert L. Stewart, Roger A. Straus, Richard Quinney, Jan Yager