“A revealing commentary on change and continuity in Middletown, the United States, and in the discipline of sociology....The difference [between this study and others on family life] is that sex roles, marriage, parent-child relations, and the other usual family topics are discussed as they weave through community life patterns in a manner rarely achieved in family life research. Muncie, Indiana, is not the United States, but the issues raised in this study are those family scholars must address.” --Choice