Most Popular Books by David Silverman

The president of American Atheists, branded "Mr. Atheist Pants" by Stephen Colbert, presents an unflinching manifesto for the nonbeliever

Two months before David Silverman’s 32nd birthday, he visited the Charles Schwab branch in the basement of the World Trade Center to wire his father’s life savings towards the purchase of the Clarinda Typesetting company in Clarinda, Iowa. Typo tells the true story of the Clarinda company’s last rise and fall — and with it one entrepreneur’s story of what it means to take on, run, and ultimately lose an entire life’s work. This book is an American dream run aground, told with humor despite moments of tragedy. The story reveals the impact of losing part of an entire industry and answers questions about how that impacts American business. The reader sees in Clarinda’s fate the potential peril faced by every company, and the lessons learned are applicable to anyone who wants to run his or her own business, succeed in a large corporation, and not be stranded by the reality of shifting markets, outsourcing, and, ultimately, capitalism itself.

Since the year 2000, banks have been fined almost a third of a trillion dollars. Yet, every year billions more are imposed. Why? This book explains why banks break the law (it’s not just the money), explains the challenges facing Compliance functions, considers that the majority of financiers don’t want to do wrong, and puts forth a proposal to stop banks from harming customers. The lessons in this book are applicable to any business where profit motives can conflict with customer benefit–in short, every business. (And if you’re interested in cryptocurrency, this book’s for you too!)

In this fifth edition of his field-defining text, David Silverman, a true guru of qualitative research, walks the reader through the basics of gathering and analyzing qualitative data. The book offers beginners unrivalled hands-on guidance to help them get the best out of a research methods course or research project. New to the fifth edition: A streamlined structure to aid navigation and guide readers smoothly through the research process. A new chapter on generalizing from case-study research which addresses the perennial issue of ‘how many cases do you need?’ New material on doing qualitative research online and the ethics of internet research. Additional sections covering organizational documents and documents of everyday life, including blogs and diaries. Many more recent case study examples drawn from a broad range of disciplines including business, education, social work and geography as well as health studies. A new and improved companion website, full of additional resources for students and lecturers. This is the perfect companion for all those new to qualitative research.

Carlos Castaneda’s accounts of his meeting with the Yaqui Indian magician Don Juan are well known to sociologists both in Britain and in America. Using material largely from Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan, David Silverman here seeks to introduce the student of Sociology to some of the central epistemological concerns of social science. First published in 1975, the title assumes no previous knowledge of Castaneda but instead uses his work as a springboard to wider issues, in particular making sense of our reality and understanding each other by using language and communication. This is an interesting reissue, which will be of particular value to students of the sociology of language and communication, as well as Communication Studies more generally.

From the New York Times bestselling author of My Share of the Task and Leaders comes a manual for leaders looking to make their teams more adaptable, agile, and unified in the midst of change. When General Stanley McChrystal took command of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in 2004, he quickly realized that conventional military tactics were failing. Al Qaeda in Iraq was a decentralized network that could move quickly, strike ruthlessly, then seemingly vanish into the local population. The allied forces had a huge advantage in numbers, equipment, and training—but none of that seemed to matter. To defeat Al Qaeda, they would have to combine the power of the world’s mightiest military with the agility of the world’s most fearsome terrorist network. They would have to become a "team of teams"—faster, flatter, and more flexible than ever. In Team of Teams, McChrystal and his colleagues show how the challenges they faced in Iraq can be relu00adevant to countless businesses, nonprofits, and oru00adganizations today. In periods of unprecedented crisis, leaders need practical management practices that can scale to thousands of people—and fast. By giving small groups the freedom to experiment and share what they learn across the entire organizau00adtion, teams can respond more quickly, communicate more freely, and make better and faster decisions. Drawing on compelling examples—from NASA to hospital emergency rooms—Team of Teams makes the case for merging the power of a large corporation with the agility of a small team to transform any organization.

The Second Edition of Qualitative Research provides a refreshing introduction to doing and debating qualitative research. The author uses updated content, ranging from photographs to novels and newspaper stories, to demonstrate how getting to grips with qualitative methods means asking ourselves fundamental questions about how we are influenced by contemporary culture. Conceived by Chris Grey as an antidote to conventional textbooks, each book in the ‘Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap’ series takes a core area of the curriculum and turns it on its head by providing a critical and sophisticated overview of the key issues and debates in an informal, conversational and often humorous way. Suitable for Undergraduate students who are new to qualitative research and even Postgraduates and Practitioners who want re-assess their current understanding of the field.

Lecturers, click here to request an e-inspection copy of this text Written in a lively, accessible style, Doing Qualitative Research, 3rd Edition provides a step-by-step guide to all the questions students ask when beginning their first research project. Silverman demonstrates how to learn the craft of qualitative research by applying knowledge about different methods to actual data. He provides practical advice on key issues such as: defining ''originality'' and narrowing down a topic; keeping a research diary and writing a research report;and presenting research to different audiences. Doing Qualitative Research, 3rd Edition, is substantially updated and revised. Among its new, attractive features are: - problem-based format, making extensive use of statements and queries by recent research students - two new chapters on data-gathering and ethical issues in student research - material relevant for both Masters and PhD students - examples from many social science disciplines and from Asia, Africa, the United States and Europe - detailed discussion of different analytical models used in research - additional material on the treatment of visual data - an updated chapter on computer-aided qualitative data analysis - boxed tips and links to websites throughout the text - an expanded index and glossary - a companion website which includes further readings and exercises Each stage in the research process is grounded in worked examples based on the experiences of real students, with exercises designed both to test readers'' knowledge and to encourage the development of practical skills. This hugely popular textbook is essential reading for anyone planning their own research project. David Silverman is Professor Emeritus, Sociology Department, Goldsmiths College and Visiting Professor, Management Department, Kings College, University of London.

First published in 1980, this reissue is a study of the sociology of language, which aims to bridge the gap between textbook and monograph by alternating chapters of explication and analysis. A chapter outlining a particular theory and suggesting general criticisms is followed by a chapter offering an original application of that theory. The aim of the authors is to treat text and talk as the site of specific practices which sustain or subvert particular relations between appearance and reality.

"The importance of the doctor-patient interaction in medical practice has become the focus of much recent study and debate. "Patient-centered medicine" has become a new conventional wisdom in medical practice. The power relations involved in doctor-patient interaction have been stressed by recent feminist and critical work in medical sociology. Silverman''s important new volume provides a carefully researched and analytically sensitive view of how doctors and patients in fact relate. Among the key themes of the book are the way in which doctor-patient conversation varies according to the patient''s medical history and method of payment; the problems implicit in pediatric medicine when parents and children are viewed as social actors with psychological propensities; and the difficulties intrinsic to reformist medical practice and patient-centered medicine. This book is essential reading for scholars and students in the fields of medical sociology, medical social work, and professional medical training."--Publisher.

This is a work of social theory and philosophy which seeks to make the constitution of social theory a ‘social’ activity. It is essentially a collaborative text, by five authors, committed to a re-awakening of some of the forgotten dimensions of social theorizing. The collaborative work was originally occasioned by an attempt to analyse the notion of social stratification and its treatment in the sociological tradition. The authors’ main concern here is with the nature of social theorizing, and in particular the ‘difference’ between Self and Other, being and beings, Language and Speech. The papers in the book focus on themes that are fundamental to the sense of inquiry and tradition which they are concerned to display. The themes discussed include speech, Language, Identity, Difference, Critical Tradition, Community, Metaphor, Dialectics, Observing and Reading.

Drawing on research on counselling of clients undergoing an HIV test, this book offers a fully researched and analytically sensitive account of how counselling as a process is dynamically constructed through the interaction of counsellor and client.

Harvey Sacks''s early death in 1975 robbed the social sciences of one of its most original thinkers. Although he published relatively little in his lifetime, his lectures and papers were enormously influential in sociology and sociolinguistics, and they played a major role in the development of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. The recent publication of Sacks''s Lectures on Conversation has provided an excellent opportunity for a wide-ranging reassessment of his contribution. In this new book, David Silverman provides a clear introduction to Sacks''s work and reassesses its value for sociology, linguistics, anthropology, and psychology. Using a variety of examples, he explains Sacks''s ideas on method, language and talk-interaction. He argues that Sack''s work offers a highly original perspective on language and social life and raises fundamental questions for the social sciences--questions which, after more than twenty years, remain vitally important and largely unanswered. Written in a lively and accessible way, this book will be of particular interest to students of sociology, sociolinguistics, social theory and method, but it will also be of interest to students and researchers in anthropology, psychology, and related disciplines.

This novel follows a free thinking, unorthodox school teacher as he meets (and becomes attracted to) a woman who is his complete opposite. It is a novel of the modern environment, and deals with some of its fragility.

UK. Research monograph on personnel management, with particular reference to recruitment performance recording and career patterns of junior administrators in the public sector - covers organization development theories, occupational sociology definitions of bureaucracy, etc., and includes excerpts of transcripts of tape recorded interviews. Bibliography pp. 183 to 185.

This satirical novel sees a civil servant, suitably emasculated, called upon to prepare the emasculation act (a new law concerning the punishment of paedophiles). Is he the right man for the job?

Accompanying CD-ROM contains ... "a video clip library of two-dimensional, M-mode, and Doppler images organized in parallel to each chapter."--Page vii. These images are referenced in the text by an icon, reproduced on p. vii.