Carney Curve

Boston College course evaluations · every published number, ranked class by class

Positions account for how many records stand behind each number, so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. Every score shown is the real average — only the ordering is adjusted.

Class record · SOCY · MCAS

SOCY 7171

Work, Health, Aging, Family, Life course (WHAFL) Research Workshop · 1 instructor on record · 1 section

What the course score is made of
100BC evaluations1 record · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2026
Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute
RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of
9thMore challenging than 9% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
80BC — “Intellectually Challenging”1 record · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of
25thMore work than 25% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
40BC — “Workload”1 record · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

This is a 3-credit, 2-semester course that meets approximately every other week for both terms. Students should contact the instructor about attending in the fall, but wait to register until the spring term. The workshop is intended primarily for sociology graduate students working on their own research projects in the following broadly defined areas: sociology of work, sociology of families, sociology of health and medicine, and sociology of aging and the life course. Students outside of the sociology department can be welcomed on a case-by-case basis. The workshop employs a supportive structure and a collaborative learning environment to help students carry out their independent projects.

The only instructor on record

1 section · nobody else has taught itFull record
InstructorOverallWorkloadChallengeRMP overall
Natalia SarkisianAssociate Professor · Sociology Provisional1001 record25th9th646 ratings · all classes

There is no ranking to read here: Natalia Sarkisian is the only instructor with evaluation records for SOCY 7171, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 1 record, which is thin — read it as provisional. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.

Also taught by Natalia Sarkisian

6 other classes
ClassInstructorsCourse score
SOCY 2200Statistics311 records74
SOCY 9981Dissertation Seminar17 records85
SOCY 7702Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis25 records85
SOCY 7703Multivariate Statistics24 records75
SOCY 7710Social Inquiry Research Seminar13 records82
SOCY 7706Longitudinal Data Analysis22 records85

Other SOCY classes

All of them
ClassInstructorsCourse score
SOCY 1001Introductory Sociology2657 records82
SOCY 2210Research Methods723 records79
SOCY 1030Deviance and Social Control213 records74
SOCY 2215Social Theory313 records76
SOCY 2200Statistics311 records74
SOCY 1501Global Implications of Climate Change310 records78

The line

All 13 items · means across 1 record
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
100100th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
100100th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
100100th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
100100th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
100100th pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
100100th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
100100th pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
100100th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
100100th pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
100100th pctl
Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings
WorkloadHow much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.
4025th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
809th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
100100th pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

1 section · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Natalia SarkisianSpring 20260110010040

How to read this boardInstructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.