This mainstream, best-selling text is noted for its especially strong integration of compelling and engaging "Lived Experiences" - extended examples that focus on various social issues to illustrate chapter coverage. These extended examples are introduced with the social issue or application that opens each chapter and are then carried throughout the chapter in various boxes, features, and exercises. Kendall's text is also known for its exceptional coverage of current social issues, along with its integration of race, class, gender, and age perspectives. The author includes diverse theoretical viewpoints, including feminist theory. The author's vivid, applied, personal writing style engages students, and her compelling everyday examples make sociology particularly relevant to the diverse student population of today. The author shows students that sociology involves important questions and issues that they confront both personally and vicariously.