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Drawing from forty years of experience, Julia Brannen offers an invaluable account of how research in family studies is conducted and 'matters' at particular times. An exceptional resource for family scholars and those interested in the methodology of social research

Sisters and sistering are peculiarly absent from the sociology of the family. Sociologists document women's roles as mothers, carers, workers, daughters and wives yet neglect their experiences as sisters. Our knowledge of this widespread tie derives more from media images than from women's own experiences. This article explores several reasons for this marginalization: from the sensational depiction of sisters in popular culture as either friends or rivals, and their mythical status in feminist politics, to the specialized interest of psy professionals and policy makers in childhood rivalry and sibling solidarity among the elderly. It reveals the paradox surrounding the silence of sistering as part of family lives and the visibility of sisterhood in the public and sociological imagination. Drawing on a qualitative study of sister relationships among girls and women aged 6–50, it illustrates the complexities of sistering as personal lived experience.

Front cover -- Half-title page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- Contents -- List of Boxes, Tables, and Figures -- Preface -- Part I: Understanding Continuity, Diversity, Inequality, and Social Change in Families -- Chapter 1: Family Matters: An Introduction to the Sociology of Canadian Families -- Chapter 2: Family Theory and Methods: Windows on Families and Family Research -- Chapter 3: Canadian Families in Historical, Cross-Cultural, and Global Context -- Chapter 4: First Families: Indigenous Peoples and Family Life in Pre- and Post-Confederate Canada -- Chapter 5: Immigration and the Changing Ethnic Mosaic of Canadian Families -- Chapter 6: More than a Labour of Love: Gender, Unpaid Work, and the Cult of Domesticity -- Part II: The Ties that Bind: Family Formation and Generational Connections -- Chapter 7: Close Relations in Youth and Young Adulthood: Establishing Partnerships and Forming Families -- Chapter 8: Families and Children in the Early Years: Childhood, Socialization, and Shifting Ideologies of Parenthood -- Chapter 9: All Our Families: Diversity, Challenge, and Continuity in Non-conforming Coupled Relationships -- Chapter 10: Family Dissolution and the Brady Bunch: Separation, Divorce, and Remarriage -- Chapter 11: Families in the Middle and the Launching of Children: Home-Leaving, Boomerang Kids, and the Empty Nest -- Chapter 12: Aging Families and the Sunset Years: Caregiving and Support across Generations -- Part III: Families on the Fault Line and Social Policy Issues -- Chapter 13: Families, Health, and Well-Being: Choices and Constraints over the Life Course -- Chapter 14: Trying to Make Ends Meet: Family Poverty, Living on the Margins, and Financial Struggle -- Chapter 15: Families in Crisis: Family Violence, Abuse, and Stress.