The intro textbook that keeps students reading.

Continuing his tradition of highly engaging, trade-like writing, best-selling author David Newman once again starts in a familiar place - the everyday world - and then introduces sociological concepts and institutions as they influence students' daily existence. Full of vivid, real-world examples and touching personal vignettes, this text offers a solid introduction to basic sociological concepts and helps students realize their role in constructing, planning, maintaining, and fixing society.

New to the Ninth Edition:

• all statistical information and all contemporary illustrative examples have been updated to keep the book as fresh as possible both from the students' and instructors' perspectives

• micro-macro connections help students better understand the link between individual lives and the structure of society

• research features expose students to the importance and functionality of social scientific research

• visual essays have been strategically changed to provide a fresh perspective