Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for SOC 210 archive revision 202504

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Effective Term:
Fall 2025

Course Number:
SOC 210
Course Title:
Sociology of the Family
Credit Hours:
4
Lecture Hours:
40
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0

Course Description

Explores families and intimate relationships in our society through a sociological perspective. Examines sociological theories and research methods used to study families. Includes topics such as the institutional family, diversity in families, family formation, cohabitation, parenting, aging families, family stress, divorce, family violence, and family social policy. Covers the development of skills needed to think critically about the family within social systems. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

  1. Identify and explain theories and research methods used to analyze families from a sociological perspective.
  2. Summarize the influence of social and cultural factors within families.
  3. Describe how social factors (including socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and age) are related to data trends and social outcomes in intimate relationships, family formation, and union dissolution.
  4. Explain family stress and resilience within the context of poverty, family violence, and other family problems.
  5. Compare how family change occurs within institutions and across societies.

Social Inquiry and Analysis

Students completing an associate degree at Portland Community College will be able to apply methods of inquiry and analysis to examine social contexts and the diversity of human thought and experience.

General education philosophy statement

Sociology offers a unique perspective that helps us understand how our lives are connected to each other and the larger society. Sociologists use scientific methods to study how societies are organized, why they change, and the ways social forces impact lives. The sociological perspective allows us to understand personal troubles as public issues, through the power of social contexts, with varying structures, cultures, and groups shaping our opportunities, attitudes, behaviors, and identities.

Aspirational Goals

Aspirational Goals:

We hope that the study of families from a sociological perspective will empower our students to develop insights, empathy, and skills to work with diverse families in professional and personal settings.

Course Activities and Design

Course Activities and Design:

Instructors will employ a variety of strategies to help students meet the learning outcomes. These may include (but are not limited to) the following, at the discretion of the instructor:

  • Individual reading assignments
  • Small and large group or online discussions
  • Kahoot or other similar programs to gage knowledge retention or poll students
  • Think-Pair-Share
  • Collaborative groups
  • Online peer evaluation
  • In-person, zoom, or online synchronous or asynchronous lectures or mini lectures
  • Videos or podcasts
  • Review of difficult concepts
  • Coaching
  • Case studies

Outcome Assessment Strategies

Outcome Assessment Strategies:

In addition to following guidelines for assessing general education outcomes, instructors will assess student learning of course-level outcomes by using various assessment tools, per instructor discretion, such as:

  • Class participation in discussions and/or in small groups (online or on campus).
  • Short analytical homework assignments on specific concepts or issues.
  • Response papers or journals reflecting on life experiences or social events.
  • Research papers citing academic sources (i.e., signature assignments).
  • Quizzes and/or exams.
  • Oral histories and interviews.
  • Oral or video presentations.
  • Community-based learning projects.
  • Group research and presentation projects.
  • Additional assignments, as deemed appropriate for the assessment of learning objectives.

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues, and Skills):

This course introduces the Sociology of the Family to students. It addresses issues such as:

  • Institutional family and the social construction of families.
  • Sociological perspectives and theories related to families.
  • Social inquiry, methods, and analysis used to study families.
  • Diversity of family forms historically and in modern-day.
  • Socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and gender in family life.
  • Dating, pairing, intimacy, and sexuality in family formation.
  • Parenting.
  • Union dissolution, divorce, and remarriage.
  • Family stress and resilience.
  • Family violence.
  • Aging families.
  • Family social policies and applied sociology.
  • Other aspects of the discipline at the instructor's discretion.