The purpose of this paper is for you to explore how you and others define family. Since this paper requires you
to interview others, it would be a good idea for you to share your questions in advance with your interviewees
and to take notes during your interviews.
Your paper should include the following six components:
1. Include an introduction discussing how our textbook defines family (see Chapter 1). Be succinct here as
you only have 4-5 pages for this whole paper, and I'm more interested in what you and your
interviewees have to say and how it relates to our textbook.
2. Interview at least 2 people regarding their definition of family. Choose a diverse group of people who
are different from you and each other in socially significant ways (e.g., age, ethnicity, race, religion,
gender, sexual orientation, social class, etc.) Ask several questions to ascertain how they define family.
This may include, but is not limited to the following: Who do they consider to be members of their
family? Who do they rely on during times of emotional, social, or financial stress? Do they have blood
relatives they do not consider family? Why or why not? Do they have non-blood relatives that they
consider family? Why or why not? Compare and contrast your and your interviewees' conceptions of
family (make sure that you identify your own definition of family in this section).
3. Discuss your interview findings in relation to our textbook definition by highlighting at least 3 pieces of
information from our textbook (be sure to include at least three in-text citations from our textbook in this
section)
4. Include a conclusion tying the entire paper together.
Assignment Format:
Your assignment must be 4-5 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, one-inch margins all around, and in Times
New Roman 12-point font. You do not need to include a title or reference page, but you need to include in-
text citations. Only our primary textbook should be utilized to define important sociologically terms and
concepts. Cite relevant quotes from the textbook to validate and support your points using in-text citations in
APA format (see our discussion board grading rubric for how to do this).
Fig: 1