"Social Trends in American Life provides a comprehensive examination of the dynamics and roots of some of the most contested issues in U.S. society. The decline of community, the increasing tolerance of difference, and the wavering trust in societal institutions are addressed. Focusing on connections and conditions, this volume offers a nuanced look at what we have thought, felt, and done over the last forty years."--Bernice A. Pescosolido, Indiana University

"Every social scientist, even those not usually interested in attitudes or survey measures of behavior, should read this book as a springboard to thinking about the shifting sands of our social fabric, and the value of assessing it through a consistent mechanism."--Lynn Smith-Lovin, Duke University

"Social Trends in American Life represents a significant statement by many excellent scholars about many areas of change in American society over the past forty years. The treatment of attitude change is comprehensive and shows off the strengths of the unique national resource that is the General Social Survey."--Jeremy Freese, Northwestern University

"This book is a superb compendium of original empirical findings on important trends in American social and economic life, all interpreted by leading scholars. Social Trends in American Life is the gold standard against which all other attempts to document social facts and social trends will be judged."--Stephen L. Morgan, Cornell University

Peter V. Marsden is the Edith and Benjamin Geisinger Professor of Sociology, Harvard College Professor, and Dean of Social Science at Harvard University. He coedited the second edition of the Handbook of Survey Research.