Instruction
Select two of the questions below. Answer the question in 500 words for each. Clearly define which question you are answering. You are not expected to do any outside research for this essay, you only need to use the textbook. Provide in-text citations and a separate references page. You may use any citation style, APA style is preferred. Write your answer in paragraph form; you may write in the first person (using “I” statements).The work that you submit should be yours alone. Everything should be written in your own words. If you are including a word-for-word passage from another piece, quote and cite properly.
1. Identify and discuss two social roles that exist within your own family or a fictional family. What are the social roles? What are the scripts attached to these roles? How does a person learn these roles? How are these roles different today than in previous eras? Provide specific examples.
2. Sociologists study the family in a variety of ways including structural, household-based, role-based, and interactionist approaches. Select one of these approaches and define it in your own terms. (For example, what does it mean to take a household-based approach to studying the family? What is the unit of analysis or the “thing” that you’re studying in this approach?) Imagine that you are a researcher. How would you study a family using the approach you defined? What kinds of data would you collect? Be specific.
3. What are some of the most important indicators or markers of the transition to adulthood today? Compare these to a different era - are they the same or different? If the indicators changed, how did that happen? (For example, if having a dog of your own means that you’re an adult, was that always the case? What happened to make having a dog be a marker of adulthood?) If the indicators are the same, why haven’t they changed? Why do you think this occurred? Provide examples from the reading.
4. How has the social practice of dating changed over time? What factors (social, economic, political, etc.) have affected these behaviors? For example, has the purpose of dating changed? Do people find dating partners in different ways? How so? Be specific in your answer and use examples from the readings.