<i>‘This Research Handbook is certainly a good choice for anybody looking for an up-to-date description of trends in family sociology, a critical discussion of central concepts, or a synthesis of the ongoing debates in the literature. In addition, it allows the reader to discover new perspectives in family sociology and offers a fresh and rich list of recommendations for future research. This Research Handbook is also a very useful source for undergraduate students or doctoral students, as it provides a thorough and comprehensive guidance on core topics in European family sociology. I thus believe that students, researchers, and university teachers alike may find this Research Handbook in many ways a very useful reference. The well-balanced combination of chapters on landmark theories, major trends, innovative methods and data, and key topics makes this book more than the sum of its parts. I believe that many chapters of this open-access Research Handbook will turn into core references used in research and teaching.’</i>
- Christine Schnor, European Journal of Population,
<i>'The Research Handbook brings together contributions from leading international experts within the field of the sociology of the family, drawing on disciplinary backgrounds in theoretical and empirical sociology, demography, economics, political science and wider social sciences. By providing a comprehensive overview of the key issues and debates within contemporary European family sociology, ranging from the gendered division of work within families, intimate and intergenerational relationships, through to the role of family policies and different welfare regimes, it will be critical reading for all scholars interested in how families are coping and how they are evolving. The list of contributors reads like a ''who’s who'' and the book will rightly gain a place on the bookshelves of family researchers, practitioners and policy makers across the globe.'</i>
- Jane Falkingham, University of Southampton, UK,
<i>'The contributors to this book are an impressive group of scholars who have conducted leading research on European families. Individual chapters provide clear and comprehensive roadmaps to an extensive variety of topics in family research. Especially impressive are several thoughtful discussions of classic and emerging theory that should be required reading for anyone embarking on a sociological study of family life. A particular strength of the theoretical discussions and research reviews is their engagement with innovative understandings of gender in families and societies.'</i>
- Elizabeth Thomson, Stockholm University, Sweden and University of Wisconsin-Madison, US,
Bringing together contributions from leading family sociologists, the Research Handbook examines important questions: have family patterns across different countries become more similar, or have differences between countries and social groups increased over time? How diverse are family forms across different countries? How do conventional theories explain these patterns? And what are the major innovations in theorising and describing family behaviour? In order to resolve these key points, the chapters provide an overview of past and present developments in scholarly work on European families. They also present concise overviews of theories, methods, critical debates, empirical findings and pathways for future research.
Its analysis of important areas of research in the field will make this Research Handbook a valuable resource for scholars and students of sociology, demography, and family and gender policy. It will also be beneficial for policy experts in these fields.