Sociology Learning Outcomes

For our program to be successful preparing students for careers and pursuit of advanced degrees, students should leave with the basic knowledge in many key areas within the discipline of sociology. During SY 499 Sociology Senior Seminar, we measure the proficiency of our students in these areas and report them to the Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.  We determine success through aggregate scores as well as a comparison with sociology seniors at universities across the United States.

Our program student learning outcomes are that students recall information about, demonstrate understanding of, apply and evaluate information in these key areas:

  1. General Sociological Knowledge
  2. Critical Thinking
  3. Understanding Society
  4. Sociological Methods and Statistics
  5. Criminology and Deviance
  6. Race, Ethnicity, and Gender
  7. Social Institutions
  8. Gender

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General Sociological Knowledge: knowledge of specific sociological information, ability to interpret data, to apply concepts and ideas, and to analyze sociological data, theories and relationships, deductively and inductively.

Critical Thinking: draw inferences from theories and data, recognize unstated assumptions, deduce conclusions from information presented in statement or premises, interpret and weigh evidence as to whether asserted conclusions are warranted. Evaluate the strengths of comparable arguments regarding a specific issue, apply sociological knowledge to new problems, read and interpret tables of data and graphs, and recognize the strengths and limitations of both quantitative and qualitative data.

Understanding Society: classical and contemporary perspectives, and the history of social thought.

Sociological Methods and Statistics: quantitative and qualitative methods, research design (including basic and applied approaches and ethics in research) measurement, statistics with application to sociology and data analysis.

Criminology and Deviance; criminology/criminal justice, juvenile delinquency (including violence and economic dislocation), deviance and social control, types of deviance (e.g. white-collar crime, violence, drug use), theories of crime, deviance and justice

Race, ethnicity, and gender: prejudice and discrimination (including multigroup comparisons), racial and ethnic stratification in the US, historical and comparative trends in intergroup relations (including legislative and judicial responses

Social Institutions: includes family, political systems and governments, education, medicine and science, religion, economic structure (including work and occupations) and mass media

Gender: power, macro sociological issues (e.g. social movements, labor force, organizational participation, social mobility and influence on organized religion), micro sociological issues (e.g. interpersonal relations, small groups, leadership, role models, socializing agents) and human sexuality.