This assignment is designed to support students’ achievement of the following learning goals or objectives:
Learning Objectives – Skills
• Students will construct hypotheses
• Students will access existing quantitative datasets from the United States Census
• Students will conduct secondary analyses of existing quantitative data using the online WebChip program
• Students will use the online WebCHIP program to produce bivariate tables with existing quantitative data
• Students will read and interpret bivariate crosstabulation tables
• Students will read and interpret pie, bar, and stacked-bar charts
• Students will evaluate hypotheses using quantitative data
• Students will write about their quantitative findings
Learning Objectives – Substance
• Students will learn how sociologists use existing data and statistical analytic techniques to describe, analyze, and understand the social world.
• Students will learn about the relationship between group-level/categorical variables and marital status in the United States.
This two-part assignment is designed for Sociology of the Family students to complete at two different moments: in class (the first part, conducted with professor and peer support) and at home (the second part, conducted independently at home using the first part as a model). It is most appropriate for use with students who have successfully completed Introduction to Sociology. Faculty implementing this assignment will be well served by use of a computer, projector, and SSDN data and WebCHIP resources. It is recommended that the first part of the assignment unfold in a computer lab.
This is a two-part Sociology of the Family assignment that engages students in multi-step data analysis, representation, and writing efforts using 2000 United States Census data and the WebCHIP program.
In this two-part assignment, Sociology of the Family students will use the WebCHIP program to access and analyze 2000 United States Census data in order to better understand the relationships between group/categorical-level variables and marital status in the United States. In the process, they will develop their hypothesis construction/testing, data representation and analysis, and quantitative-data-based writing skills. They will also come to better understand the social realities of marriage in the United States.
This module was designed for implementation in a Sociology of the Family course in which students are familiar with how sociologists define and study the family. In addition to content regarding the construction and study of American families today, students will benefit from instruction on survey techniques, the United States Census, statistical analysis (generally), and hypothesis development/construction. It could also be important to discuss with students how Census language around gender categories and racial/ethnic groups might conflict with their more casual, contemporary, and lived understanding and usage of these concepts/terms. It is likely that students will also need hands-on instruction in excerpting and reading tables and graphs (particularly column and row percentages).
Special thanks to Dr. Esther Wilder at Lehman College-CUNY for her support for and edits to this module.