David Stark is Arthur Lehman Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, where he directs the Center on Organizational Innovation. He has studied factory workers in socialist Hungary, new media employees in a Silicon Alley startup, derivative traders on Wall Street, electronic music artists in Berlin, bankers in Budapest, farmers in Nebraska, video game producers, and megachurches that look like shopping malls.

• Introduction: Vision, Decision, Revision: Finding Topics, Audiences, and Voices, by David StarkPart I. Encountering: Discovering a New Research Project1. The Art of Recognizing What You Ought to Have Wanted to Look For, by Andrew Abbott2. Keeping One’s Distance: Truth and Ambiguity in Social Research, by Delia Baldassarri3. Notes for “Heuristics of Discovery”, by Peter Bearman4. Heuristics and Theorizing as Work on the Self, by Michela Betta and Richard Swedberg5. Curiosity Didn’t Kill the Cat, by Barbara Czarniawska6. Four Mechanisms for Finding (and Being Found by) Research Problems, by Paul J. DiMaggio7. The Education of a Sociologist, by Marion Fourcade8. When a Dissertation Chooses You, by Eric Klinenberg9. Heuristics for Discovery, by John Levi Martin10. Niklas Luhmann’s Card Index: The Fabrication of Serendipity, by Johannes F. K. Schmidt11. Openings, by Lucy SuchmanPart II. Publishing: What Is Your Publication Strategy?12. Shall I Publish This auf Deutsch or in English?, by Jens Beckert13. A Paper Is Like a Horse—and a Book Is Like a Whale?, by Massimiano Bucchi14. What’s Good Enough?, by Wendy Espeland15. Publishing in Modern Times, by Neil D. Fligstein16. Habits, Canvases, and Conversations: How I Think about Publishing, by Shamus Rahman Khan17. On Publication Strategies, by Kristian Kreiner18. How to Publish, but Most Importantly, Why, by Michèle Lamont19. From Public Engagement to Publication, by Jennifer Lee20. Not Having a Publication Strategy Is My Strategy, by Celia Lury21. A Balanced Publication Strategy, by Christine MusselinPart III. Revising: How Do You Improve a Manuscript for Publication?22. On Second Thought: Re Revising, by Bruce G. Carruthers23. Working at Writing, by James M. Jasper24. When Revising a Text Can Transform Your Research, by Mignon R. Moore25. Revisions as a Complex Intellectual Journey, by Amalya L. Oliver26. Author, Editor, Audience, by Eric I. Schwartz27. Why I Rewrite, by Mario L. Small28. To Revise or Rewrite Anew: That Is the Question, by Marta Tienda29. Thank You, Reviewer 2: Revising as an Underappreciated Process of Data Analysis, by Stefan Timmermans and Iddo Tavory30. Five Feet at a Time, by Duncan J. Watts31. Abolish the R&R, by Christine L. WilliamsAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsIndex

Practicing Sociology is not a book of epistemology or methodology. Instead, adopting the approach of science studies and drawing on contributions from eminent scholars, it shows the importance of the writing process, from observations to publishable texts. It sends a message that all sociologists should hear: don't think you write what you think, but if all goes well you may end up thinking what you've written and rewritten over and over again.