If you only need the buying answer: MindTap is the cheapest route in this snapshot by a wide margin, and rental is also well below the current paperback. The current print listing is still below the sampled used and new print comparators, but for a one-course need the digital path is clearly cheaper.

Current price comparison

Format	Source	Price	Link
Paperback	Merybook	$153.04	Check price
Quarter rental	eCampus	$79.08	Check price
MindTap / eTextbook (180 days)	eCampus	$53.99	Check price
Marketplace	eCampus	$200.05	Check price

What this book actually teaches

Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials is an introductory sociology text about institutions, inequality, culture, identity, and the social patterns that shape everyday life. The book matters because it helps readers connect sociological concepts to the real world rather than treating them as detached theory terms.

For some students, that introductory framework remains useful later in social science study. But for many readers, the need is short and course-specific. That is what makes the low-cost digital route hard to ignore here.

When print is still worth buying

The honest short-term answer is MindTap, with rental also much cheaper than print. The current paperback only becomes easier to justify if you know you want a marked-up copy to keep and return to beyond the current intro course.

I would lean toward MindTap or rental for a one-term sociology requirement. I would lean toward print only for readers who expect to revisit foundational sociological concepts in later coursework.

Sources checked

• eCampus rental check
• MindTap market check
• Marketplace check