Fall 2015
Prof. Kurti
Final Paper Guidelines
The purpose of the paper is to apply what you have learned about sociology to a topic of your choice. This final paper project asks you to Please keep in mind that this is a significant portion of your grade (30%) and that you should not wait until the last moment to complete this assignment. This project demonstrates your comprehension of course materials, so please make sure you have sufficiently reviewed the concepts we have used in class. I will follow up with each of you individually to ensure you are moving along in your projects.
The assignment is 8-10 pages double spaced. Please use in-text citation as well as APA work cited for outside sources. At least four of the sources must be academic (peer reviewed journals, books from academic presses). Please do not cite Wikipedia.
Due Date: Friday, December 18th by 9pm   Â
***Your paper must engage at least TWO scholars/authors we have read in class***
Some examples of events/phenomena you may choose from are:
#blacklivesmatter
Mass Incarceration and its effects
Media and Portrayal of Women
Race, Gender and Sports
Gender Inequality and the Workforce
Homophobia and Masculinity
Education and Access to Resources
Criminalization of young people of color
Surburbanization of poverty
Online Dating
Hookup culture
Marriage and Divorce
Poverty and Class in the United States
Multinational Corporations and their effects
Popular Culture (Music; Television; Reality shows)\
Critiques of marriage equality
Globalization and its effects
Gentrification of urban spaces
Surrogacy and reproductive technologies
Queerness in popular culture
Millennials and work
Gaming culture and gender/race
Example of Choice #1: (DO NOT USE THIS)
The media usually frames school shootings within a psychological perspective. For instance, the focus is on the shooter’s behavior, ranging from their inability to conform to society (alienation) to psychological distress, etc. While certainly pertinent to the discussion, these factors are not the only explanations. The sociological imagination impels us to examine the link between the individual and society. Some of the questions sociologists would ask are: why is it that school shooters are overwhelmingly young men? How are young men socialized in American culture? Some sociologists would point to America’s history with violence (genocide of indigenous population; enslavement of Africans; violence against women) as a possible influence. For example, American culture glorifies guns and violence as a method of solving disputes (cowboy culture). How does this affect how young men are socialized? How does violence define manhood in American culture?
PART I: SELECTING A TOPIC
One of the most difficult steps in starting your research is selecting a topic. The class themes are very broad, which make it easier on the one hand to find a topic and formulate a research question that can be examined through the lens of intersectionality (how gender, race, class and sexuality intersect) but also on the other hand it may be difficult to choose a topic from the myriad themes we have covered.
Tips for Selecting a Topic:
- Choose a topic you are passionate about. Writing about a topic that you are interested in will keep you motivated when conducting research and most importantly in the writing process. Writing, as we all know is hard work. It takes many drafts (not an overnight process) to articulate your research and findings in a coherent and well thought out manner. There is something particularly frightening about sitting in front of a computer and facing a blank white screen (no matter how skilled of a writer you are). If you choose a topic you are interested in, you will be able to handle writing about it better.
- Look through the syllabus/readings and locate a topic that you may want to conduct further research on.
For example, we read an article on masculinity and homophobia. Maybe this topic really interests you and you want to examine it further. Perhaps you are interested in exploring this topic by looking at video game culture.
- Think about what areas interest you the most.
Are you interested in popular culture? In medicine and healthcare? In politics? In current events? What area of social life animates your interest? What you are passionate about? Your major can also be telling (to some extent) of your interests. So for example, if you are communications major, you may be interested in social media and its effects. So, you may want to do look at cyber bullying and how it is affected by gender, race, class and sexuality. Is this form of social media behavior impacted by these categories? How so?
- If you have gone through Step 1 & 2 and still cannot come up with a topic, look at newspapers/current events headlines.
What are the major hot button issues today? Reproductive rights? Donald Trump? #blacklivesmatters protests? How can you examine any of these issues through the sociological perspective?
PART II: CONDUCTING THE RESEARCH
Wikipedia: I am not opposed to you using Wikipedia as a starting point to develop ideas. However, Wikipedia entries should not be cited in the text of your paper or in the reference list.
How to Find a Peer-Reviewed Journal Article: To find a peer-reviewed journal, you should focus your research on databases relating to sociology topics (such as JSTOR, SocINDEX, etc). You should look through the library catalog, periodical indexes, and bibliographies. Another easy resource for you to use that links you to peer-reviewed journal articles is Google Scholar.
Newspaper articles: Finally, Lexis-Nexis provides a comprehensive list and query searches of all national and international newspapers. If you have questions pertaining to the use of these search engines please consult with the Reference Librarian at the Walsh Family Library.
Content Analysis/Secondary Sources: Usually, sociologists also conduct interviews, surveys, or experiments, as part of the research process. Unfortunately, in this class, we have not focused on how to utilize these various research methods so that you can conduct your own research. For the sake of time, for this paper, you will be conferring mostly secondary sources and government data. In other words, peer reviewed journals, book chapters and/or books, newspaper articles, TV show transcripts, US Census data, etc.
PART IV: WRITING YOUR PAPER
Write an Outline
An outline is a crucial, albeit overlooked part of the writing process. An outline helps you organize your thoughts and arguments. Examples of the type of questions you may want to ask yourself as you are writing your outline are:
-What is the topic?
-Why is it significant?
-What background material is relevant?
-What is my thesis or purpose of statement?
-What organizational plan will best support my purpose?
-What does this plan look like?
-What arguments will I focus on?
-How will I organize my arguments?
-How will the readings support my arguments?
Tips on Writing Your paper: Your paper should have a strong introduction, followed by a body and a conclusion. Each part should do the following things (these are suggestions):
Introduction
- Present relevant background or contextual material in relation to topic you have chosen to examine.
- Explain why it is relevant to explore this topic.
- Define terms or concepts when necessary.
- Explain the focus of your paper, your specific purpose and how it is organized.
Body:
- Use your outline as a guide for the various arguments you will make.
- Build your essay around points you want to make (i.e., don’t let your sources organize your paper; focus on points that are manageable within the limits of the assignment).
- Integrate your sources into your discussion of the topic/theme you are examining.
- Analyze, explain, and evaluate the work that you are citing rather than merely work rather than reporting or summarizing it. What are the assumptions the author/s are making about a particular concept? How do different authors examine a key concept?
Conclusion:
- Summarize your argument for the reader (this is especially important if your argument is complex).
- Move from a detailed to a general level of consideration that returns the topic to the context provided by the introduction.
- Perhaps suggest what about this topic needs further research.
Part VI: Citations
ASA Style:
For this research paper, I want you to cite using APA (American Psychological Association) style. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
More helpful online resources for writing your research paper:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/658/
http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/kingch/how_to_write_a_research_paper.htm