This class was great and it converted me from a bus econ into a sociology major by the end of it. The professor was very simple and to the point. I liked her teaching style. She used slides that basically covered all the material you'll be tested on. She wasn't really good at responding to emails though, so just stick to keeping communication with your TA. I suggest taking this class right after statistics or alongside statistics. There is A LOT of statistics and needing to know how to read and analyze them. It's lot of fun and they teach you how so don't worry. Easy class and super fun. You even get to conduct your own research with some peers. Also, DO EVERY SINGLE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT. There are only like 6 assignments and you only need to pass 4 of them, so do all of them to make sure you can make up for any you don't pass. Have fun!

Honestly, not a bad class! I would have gotten an A but I never asked the prof about assignments I did that showed up as missing from Canvas, which is absolutely my fault. Not super hard, the first group project was a little difficult because of some group members but by the second group project you can change your group if it was really a problem. Do yourself a favor and make the topics for your projects as easy as possible and you'll be fine. Also, readings weren't entirely necessary as long as you have the in-class material mastered.

Professor Sweeney is an awesome professor! Very knowledgeable about her subject, organized and is very easy to follow. If you need to take Soc 20, take it with Sweeney. She is awesome. Definitely go to the lectures and do the readings, you will definitely succeed in this class if you do that. Listens to her students and is very willing to consider student feedback. This class has group projects but during online lectures/discussions, they were easy to do. 5 homework assignments total (although you only need to do 4), but they definitely add something and allow you to exercise your knowledge on the topics learned in class instead of just being busy work. I definitely came out of this class knowing a lot more about sociological research and a better idea of what I want to do with my future degree.

If you are taking Soc 20 as a pre-req PLEASE take it with Professor Sweeney. It's astonishing how amazing of a lecturer she is; she was constantly engaging with the class, made sure to answer all questions asked via audio AND chat, and hosted many office hours to aid students during projects, and in general was extremely knowledgeable about the subject. In addition, if a student had a question she didn't have the answer to, she would always note it, research it, and come back with the answer during the next class. There is a midterm and final exam, but for us they were open note and were extremely easy to get 95%+ on so long as you paid attention in lecture. There are 2 group projects in which you design some sociological research question and use Google forms to implement what you learn in class and then write a paper on your results, which helped me solidify all the concepts taught. Both the TAs and Professor helped fix the questions asked on your Google form and were really there to teach you instead of grade you. Prof Sweeney even shortened our final project so that we could focus on perfecting our first and it really showed how thoughtful she is. Please take this class with her if you can!!

Professor Sweeney's lectures are very worthwhile. The material itself is dry but the application of the research has potential to be interesting. She gives many sociological anecdotes and opportunities for hands-on learning that help make the research a little more real to those who have never done research before.

Would take a class taught by her again!!