Family Change 1950 to 1990

Skill
Using software to access and analyze census data
Identifying independent and dependent variables
Employing control variables
Quantitative writing
Learning how to construct, read, and interpret bivariate tables displaying frequencies and percentages
Creating visual tools representing quantitative data in the form of charts or graphs
Identifying population trends over time
Using real world data to enhance and support key course concepts

Substance
As a part of this examination, we will consider changes in family patterns between 1950 and 2000-a set of changes we will call “the second transformation.” In this exercise, you will use census data to trace some of these changes.
In the first part of this exercise, you will examine marital status, number of children born to women, and household type in 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990. The purposes are to identify the changes that have taken place, to assess their magnitude, and to consider the pace and timing of these changes.
In the second part of this exercise, you will examine one of these family variables in 1990. First, you will examine the relationship between race and ethnicity and the family variable. The purpose is to see if racial and ethnic groups differ on this measure of family behavior. Next, you will examine the relationship of family income to the family variable. You will control for “class” to see if racial and ethnic differences remain or diminish. The purpose is to see if the racial/ethnic differences are due primarily to class differences.