The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology

Peter Hedström is a Professor of Sociology, Dean of the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University, and Official Fellow of Nuffield College at Oxford University. His area of specialization is analytical sociology. He has a special interest in the analysis of complex social networks, particularly analyses seeking to explain how the structure of the networks in which individuals are embedded influence the collective outcomes the individuals bring about.Peter Bearman is Director of the Lazarsfeld Center for the Social Sciences, the Cole Professor of Social Science, and Co-Director of the Health & Society Scholars Program. A recipient of the NIH Director's Pioneer Award in 2007, Bearman is currently investigating the social determinants of the autism epidemic. Current projects also include an ethnographic study of the funeral industry and, with support from the American Legacy Foundation, an investigation of the social and economic consequences of tobacco control policy.

Social science has taken a noticeable turn, with new energy infusing the study of social mechanisms and causal processes that unite the classic micro-macro divide. The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology, edited by Peter Hedstrom and Peter Bearman, is an impressive effort to guide the research agendas sure to follow. The volume is a comprehensive intellectual treat and an indispensible tool for sociologists seeking to master the analytic turn. Professor Robert J. Sampson, Harvard University A fundamental reformulation of sociology, with profound implications across the social sciences. Joshua M. Epstein, The Brookings Institution, author of Generative Social Science This formidable volume puts on display an impressive array of leading scholars, each grappling with key substantive and methodological topics in contemporary sociology. The chapters provide both a masterful summary of existing research and a valuable roadmap for future investigation. Donald Green, A. Whitney Griswold Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University

• FOUNDATIONS; SOCIAL COGS AND WHEELS; SOCIAL DYNAMICS; PERSPECTIVES FROM OTHER FIELDS AND APPROACHES