After completing this module, students will be able to:
-Learn how to use the American Community Survey data to understand the social trends in aging
-Interpret the frequency table with two variables and percentage down (column percentages) for understanding structural changes in the age composition of U.S. population over time.
-Apply and replicate trend analysis to gauge other relevant social and economic issues by using SSDAN website and available variables, such as family poverty, population poverty, and employment.
Freshman students in Introduction to Sociology course (a junior-level undergraduate course) often struggle to find reliable statistics to support discussion boards on several topics in the course. Sometimes the statistics in textbooks are outdated, so this module introduces SSDAN as one of the centralized sources that focuses on trend analysis using reliable data over time. In addition, they will learn how to read the percent down and across for frequency table, enabling them to understand the quantitative research, analyze and interpret data.
This module is designed for undergraduate students enrolled in introduction to sociology course. Students will lean how to use the census or American Community Survey data to understand the social trends in elderly population even when they do not have statistical experience.