Now the #1 book for the course, Philip Cohen's The Family is an accessible, data-driven introduction to contemporary sociological thinking on families. Drawing on his expertise as a sociologist, demographer, and teacher, Cohen uses data to elucidate key trends in family life and to show how the story of today's families is a story of diversity, inequality, and social change. A new Norton Illumine Ebook for the Fourth Edition brings this story to life through embedded Check Your Understanding questions with rich answer-specific feedback, Story Behind the Numbers animations, and new Dynamic Data Figures that help students develop their data literacy skills while learning about the biggest trends in family life.

Philip N. Cohen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, is the creator of the blog FamilyInequality.com. He has published extensively on the gender division of labor within families, family structure, and health disparities. His writing has appeared in the New York Times and Washington Post, and he has appeared on NPR and MSNBC. You can follow Philip N. Cohen on Twitter at @familyunequal.