Social Problems - Continuity and Change
The book addresses a wide array of social issues, defines and discusses subjective and objective definitions of social problems and covers major sociological perspectives and theorists. Basically, it has what you'd generally expect to be covered in an introductory social problems book. It does not have a glossary, likely because it has a search option at the top of the screen that seems to work well.
Based on what I reviewed, I did not see any errors.
The book does a good job of discussing the persistence of many social issues over time giving past and present examples. I personally would supplement the book with specific examples that are current (they also ask for you to submit how you supplement the book) as the majority of "newer" sources seem to be from 2010-2011.
There was one link in chapter 2 for a poverty figure that no longer works, but it still takes you to the correct website.
The text does a good job of defining terms, explaining concepts and providing easy to understand examples. I don't think a student would find it difficult to understand even with no prior sociological knowledge. They break down some of the main theoretical perspectives and how they apply to sociology in a very digestible way.
I did not find any issues with the consistency of the book.
The book does an excellent job with regard to modularity. Each chapter has a box with learning objectives. The modules in each chapter are concise with good examples. There are boxes at the end that list key takeaways, provide review activities and references for the individual section/chapter. There is a good " at a glance" chart on theoretical perspectives in the beginning that explains the major assumptions of each and how each perspective views social problems. I also love the drop-down index that makes it incredibly easy to jump to chapters and sections of chapters as well as the term search box.
The information is presented in a clear logical manner. The first chapter does a good job of laying the foundational groundwork needed to discuss the social problems in the following chapters. Each chapter does a good job of explaining how issues have been framed in the past as well as present and how different frameworks have been used over time.
I did not find any issues with the interface.
I did come across any grammatical errors.
While the book is likely going by past racial categories on the census I would add in Middle Eastern and Multiracial experiences in the chapter on race & ethnicity, especially as the census explores the MENA category as well as how people perceived to be of Middle Eastern descent have faced increased discrimination and stereotyping post 9/11. The section on types of racism I would supplement with current material as we've seen a rise in old-fashioned racism (hate crimes) over the past year. While I like the idea of the "What You Can Do" sections at the end of the modules/chapters I think this can also be problematic if possible pitfalls of social change are not also discussed (paternalism/savior mentality, assimilation, ignoring cultural differences...). Often well-intended people get involved with issues that they are out-group members of and sometimes the impact is more harmful than helpful. This box of suggestions can unintentionally promote a helper vs. helped framework rather than teaching students how to be in community with others to solve social issues.