1. Use, analyze, and interpret sociological data to investigate changing family patterns.
2. Describe changes in U.S. family patterns over the past several decades.
3. Assess and describe differences in patterns by race, education, and age.
4. Use course material to explain why patterns have changed and why they vary by race, education, and age.
This activity was designed for use in a 1000-level Sociology of Intimate Relationships course at a public, state university. It was planned as a final semester project to help introduce students to data, interpreting data, describing findings, and demonstrating mastery of course material. Prior to completing the activity, it would be helpful for students to have a basic introduction to survey data and reading and interpreting percentages. The activity should be easily adaptable to other settings.
This activity uses data to assess changes in U.S. family patterns across several decades. Students also explore key differences in patterns by race, education, and age. In this exercise, students will analyze and interpret sociological data to investigate changing family patterns in the U.S. Students will generate crosstabs to fill in tables designed to examine changes in family patterns across several decades. After completing the activity, students will describe how family patterns have changed over time, as well as variation in marital patterns by race, education, and age. Students will use assigned readings and lecture material to explain why family patterns have changed over time and why there are differences by race, education, and age. Students complete the provided assignment and write responses to the included prompts.
This activity uses four customized data sets, three combining ACS data from 1950-2016 and one made from 2022 ACS data. Instructions for using WEBCHIP software to create the data sets and obtain the needed tables are included in the exercise document.
https://ssdan.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DataCounts_ChangesFamiliesHouseholds_Updated_pdf.pdf