Introduction to Sociology

THINK IT OVER

• 
  What social issues involve age disaggregation (breakdowns into groups) of a population? What impact does this age stratification have on the social institutions? What kind of sociological studies would consider age an important factor?
  
  
• 
  Conduct a mini-census by counting the members of your extended family and include each person’s age. Try to include three or four generations, if possible. Create a table and include total population plus percentages of each generation. Next, begin to analyze age patterns in your family. What issues are important and specific to each group? What trends can you predict about your own family over the next ten years based on this census? For example, how will family members’ needs and interests and relationships change the family dynamic?
  

GLOSSARY

cohort: a group of people who share a statistical or demographic trait

gerontology: a field of science that seeks to understand the process of aging and the challenges encountered as seniors grow older
life expectancy: the number of years a newborn is expected to live
social gerontology: a specialized field of gerontology that examines the social (and sociological) aspects of aging

1. 
   US Census Bureau. (2018, August 03). Older Americans Month: May 2017. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2017/cb17-ff08.html ↵
   
2. 
   US Census Bureau. (2018, April 10). The Nation's Older Population Is Still Growing, Census Bureau Reports. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/cb17-100.html ↵
   
3. 
   US Census Bureau. (2018, August 03). Newsroom. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2017/cb17-ff08.html ↵
   
4. 
   Cohn, D., Passel, J. S., Cohn, D., & Passel, J. S. (2018, April 05). Record 64 million Americans live in multigenerational households. Retrieved from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/05/a-record-64-million-americans-live-in-multigenerational-households/ ↵
   
5. 
   US Census Bureau. (2018, October 01). From Pyramid to Pillar: A Century of Change, Population of the U.S. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2018/comm/century-of-change.html ↵