In SOC 337, I learned how to take a topic I cared about and turn it into an actual research idea. Before this class, I mostly thought of research as just finding sources and writing about them, but this assignment made me think more about research questions, variables, evidence, and what I was trying to prove. My paper focused on hiring discrimination against openly gay feminine men, and it helped me see how bias can show up in ways that are not always obvious. This class taught me how to slow down, organize my thoughts and research, and support my argument instead of just going off of opinion.
In-class Assignment #4
Ch 5. Sampling and Generalizability
The following figures are statistical results of the ODU student population (https://www.collegetuitioncompare.com/edu/232982/old-dominion-university/enrollment/). After reading the figures, answer the following questions.
1. Record the characteristics for the following characteristics
| (men and women together) | Percentage |
| Black (for example, [(2647+3927)/21783]*100 | 30.18% |
| White [(4527+5368)/21783]*100 | 45.42% |
| Hispanic [(910+1288)/21783]*100 | 10.09% |
| Asian [(555+586)/21783]*100 | 5.24% |
| Other/Race Unknown (=1975/21783)*100 | 9.07% |
| Total (21783/21783)*100 | 100% |
** I viewed the link, but the total amount did not match the amount on the graph, therefore I based my answers on the actual results above from the totals (from the bars) instead of the title of the graph. My apologies if this is not how you wanted it done!
2. Compared your table with the following figure of the school enrollment by race and Hispanic origin. Do you think ODU is representative of the larger student population in the U.S. in the year of 2017?
| ODU Univ. | Percentage | US Student in College in 2017 | Percentage |
| Black | 29.1 | Black | 14.5 |
| White | 43.9 | White | 54.7 |
| Hispanic | 9.7 | Hispanic | 19.4 |
| Asian | 5.1 | Asian | 8.4 |
| Other/Race Unknown | 12.3 | Other | 3.1 |
| Total | 100% | Total | 100% |
(First, I copied and pasted the table I created above for the ODU student population by race on the left; on the right, I created a table for the US student population in 2017. Next, I compared the numbers side by side.)
Conclusion
Given my comparison, I concluded that ODU is (representative/unrepresentative) of the larger student population in the U.S. because ODU Black students are (overrepresented/underrepresented/represented) of national average; ODU White students are (overrepresented/underrepresented/represented) of national average; ODU Hispanic students are (overrepresented/underrepresented/represented) of national average; ODU Asian students are (underrepresented even though they are close to being represented) of national average; and ODU Other race students are (overrepresented/underrepresented/represented) of national average.