This lively and engaging text introduces students to the major debates and data on the information society, and at the same time teaches them how to research it. It gives an overview of: * theorists of the information society, particularly Manuel Castells and Daniel Bell * social research methodologies, including positivist, interpretivist, critical and cultural * qualitative and quantitative research methods and criteria for social science evaluation. Drawing on a rich body of empirical work, it explores three core themes of information society debates: the transformation of culture through the information revolution, changing patterns of work and employment and the reconfiguration of time and space in everyday life. In exploring these, the reader is introduced through case-studies, activities, and questions for discussion, to the practicalities of doing social research and the nature of social science argument and understanding.

Authored by Mackay, Hugh; Maples, Wendy; Reynolds, Paul

Introduction, Hugh Mackay; Chapter 1 The information society: continuity or change?, Hugh Mackay; Chapter 2 Theories of the information society, Hugh Mackay; Chapter 3 Social science and the information society, Hugh Mackay, Paul Reynolds; Chapter 4 Researching the information society: methods and methodologies, Hugh Mackay, Paul Reynolds; Chapter 5 Culture, representation and identities, Wendy Maples; Chapter 6 New patterns of work and inequality, Hugh Mackay; Chapter 7 Time-space reconfiguration, Hugh Mackay; Conclusion, Hugh Mackay;