Sociology 101
Introduction to Sociology
Fall 2003
Dr Scott SchafferTerm Research Project
Due Date: This paper, along with your presentation on its findings, is due on Weds Dec 10/2003 at 1015am during the scheduled final exam session. No late papers will be accepted except in dire circumstances and not without 24hr advance notice and copious documentation; also, the paper and presentation go hand in hand, so both must be ready for Dec 10.
Rules of the Game: This paper is to be a minimum of ten (10) full and complete pages in length; there is no maximum length for this paper, so please write until you have completely dealt with the topic. Your paper must be typewritten, double-spaced, on 8 1/2” by 11” paper in 10- or 12-point font with 1 1/4” left and right margins and 1” top and bottom. Your paper must have a cover page, on which a creative title (“Term Research Project” is simply not creative enough), your name, the course information, and any other pertinent information should appear; your name should not appear anywhere else in the paper. Your paper must be spell- and grammar-checked; papers that have copious errors will automatically lose two full letter grades; please take the time to ensure that your work is clean. All other deductions discussed in the course syllabus will apply.
You should follow all guidelines in the “How to Write a Schaffer Paper” handout. And finally, no direct quotations are permitted in this paper, and no outside sources are permitted (including my lecture notes); any materials you use to support your argument must be paraphrased and cited following the guidelines in the paper-writing handout.
The Assignment: Your task is to pursue independent research on one of the forms of stratification and inequality we have discussed this semester. Use the Giddens, Duneier, and Appelbaum textbook to figure out which of the various forms of inequality/stratification you are interested in (and what aspect or manifestation of it you are interested in studying), and then pursue library, data-based, or interview-based research on that topic. Your research should be designed to develop an argument-based response to the following “big question”:
To what extent can changes in our actions change systems of stratification and inequality that construct unequal life chances for others?
In order to adequately respond to this question, you need to also take into account these “little questions”:
To what extent do our actions produce and reproduce social structures, including systems of stratification?
To what extent is the form of stratification/inequality you are studying dependent on the place that individuals are born into within the social order?
To what extent does the form of stratification/inequality you are studying construct unequal life chances or opportunities for others?
To what extent can you draw a chain of responsibility between our actions and the unequal opportunities others experience in the world around us?
Not all of the research you will find will directly address all the questions listed above; instead, it is your task to use their research findings to develop your own responses to these questions.
Learning Community Issues: For those of you in the Sociology/Anthropology Learning Community (with Drs Counihan and Gardner), you should note that this paper builds on the research paper assignment for ANTH 121 by incorporating the life history/interview materials as the starting point for your sociological research. However, this does not mean that you can directly “cut and paste” that paper into this one; rather, you are permitted to utilize some of that paper and materials within this paper, but it must be adapted to help you answer the assigned question.
For those of you who are not in the SOAN Learning Community, you have two options. First, you too can pursue a “life history” series of interviews with someone about their experiences of stratification, utilizing that material in the same way the LC folks are. Second, you may choose not to pursue the life history interviews and instead work up a larger paper that follows the outline below, save for III.
Research Materials: For this paper, you are required to utilize at least the following numbers of research resources. You may use more, and obviously the preference will be on using scholarly resources.
At least one scholarly book published since 1990;
At least four scholarly articles published since 1990;
At least two essays published in either the Massey reader or Bourdieu’s The Weight of the World and Acts of Resistance – you cannot use the Giddens/Duneier/Appelbaum or Ritzer textbooks, save as discussed below;
At least three internet-based sources – these can include unpublished papers on professors’ web sites, newspapers, or web sites of non-governmental organizations (NGO) attempting to address this form of stratification or inequality;
And at least one data source – this can be from a governmental or NGO web site that deals with this form of stratification/inequality.
You may use the Giddens/Duneier/Appelbaum and Ritzer textbooks to find ideas or theorists that you are interested in using; however, you must locate the original source cited in these books and use that. Failure to do this will result in a two-thirds letter grade deduction from the paper grade.
Available research tools are listed later in this assignment.
Structure of the Paper: Your paper should follow the structure below. Be sure to not only present your research, but also to do something with the research, i.e., use it to support a statement you’re making with regard to the questions from the front side of this assignment. You also need to make sure that you show exactly how it is that this evidence supports the claims that you’re making; in essence, pretend you’re explaining it to a four-year-old instead of writing a paper for a professor.
I. Introduction and thesis statement – this thesis statement should be a clear and direct response to “the big question,” as if someone were asking you to verbally respond to the question
II. Sociological research on the form of stratification/inequality you’re addressing
III. Interview research with someone who’s experienced the form of stratification/inequality you’re addressing (for those of you in the Soc/Anth learning community; if you are not, you can either pursue interview research with someone, or can expand the sociological research section of the paper and skip this section)
IV. Analysis of the research presented with regard to “the little questions”
V. Response to “the big question”
One thing you should note: This paper is not about showing that you’ve read a bunch of stuff. A “book report” will do no better than a D for this paper. Instead, as with all forms of knowledge, the point is to do something with it. This paper is your first – and hopefully not your last – opportunity to do so. If you are unclear about the requirements of the assignment or what would constitute an argument, PLEASE COME SEE ME ASAP. It is very likely that, with a fair amount of effort on your part and regular consultations with me regarding the project, you can receive an A – but you have to be sure to challenge yourself to do this.
Timeline: This schedule of “due dates” is intended to do three things: break down the scope of the project, help you improve your work, and think about the research process in a different way. These due dates are completely voluntary and heeding them will help your participation grade; failing to submit these tasks on the dates listed bears no direct penalty, though getting my feedback early on in the project will greatly benefit the grade on this assignment. Work submitted on these dates will be returned as quickly as possible, generally in the next class session.
M Nov 3: Assignment handed out
M Nov 10: Topic chosen and preliminary conception of your argument due
M Nov 17: List of references due
M Nov 24: Sketch outline due
M Dec 1: Full outline due
F Dec 5, 4pm: Last day to submit drafts for my feedback
W Dec 10: Final paper due at 1015am; presentations for non-LC students from 1015am to 1215pm; presentations for LC students from 245pm to 445pm
Reference Sources: Your best bet to find research materials for your term papers is through the MU Library web site, http://library.millersville.edu. There are two avenues for you there: The main library catalogue, searchable by author, title, or subject keyword; and the electronic resources. Most of the electronic information resources are subscription-based, meaning that you can only access them from the library’s computers or through your Marauder account. The good news: Many of the electronic resources have full-text articles online, and most allow you to e-mail the entire article to your e-mail account for free, making it easy to print out.
Good resources to use (all available through the MU library computing system):
ABI/Inform (now ProQuest Direct – major business journals, on the order of 1300 of them)
Anthropological Index Online (free on WWW)
CARL Uncover
Chicano Database
Congressional Quarterly (CQ) Library
Cross-Cultural CD-ROM (available only in Library North 106)
EconLit
Environmental RouteNet
Expanded Academic ASAP (my favourite – many full-text articles, and can be e-mailed)
FactSearch (statistical statements on current social issues – goes back to 1984)
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books
JSTOR (by far one of the best – many journals have their entire post-WWII catalogues on here as full-text)
LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe
NTDB/STAT-USA Internet
PapersFirst and ProceedingsFirst (conference papers and proceedings published online)
Social Sciences Abstracts (gives you the abstract of the article, which allows you to decide if you want to xerox it)
Sociological Abstracts (same kind of thing – used to be SOCIOFILE)
Ulrich’s Periodicals Guide (SilverPlatter – guide to major periodicals)
US Government Periodicals Index
Women’s Resources International (available only on campus, not through Titan Access)
Your use of these resources should be determined by your topic. Each of them can be searched by author, title, or subject keyword. Just make sure to choose your references carefully. If you have any questions about using these resources, see me or the reference librarian.
Citation Guidelines: In the bibliography, be sure to alphabetize references by author’s last name.
In-text: (Author Year: Page) (note: for web sites, use paragraph number instead of page number)
Book: Author. Year. Title of Book. City of publication: Publisher.
Book section: Author. Year. “Title of section.” In Editor (ed.), Title of Book. City of publication: Publisher.
Journal article: Author. Year. “Title of article.” Pages in Journal Title, volume #: issue #.
Web site: Author. Year of last update. <Organization’s name> web site. URL (the address of the page you reference)
Presentation Guidelines: Part of this assignment involves giving a short presentation on the research you’ve done, discussing your response to “the big question,” and addressing any questions your peers might have about your research. These presentations will be given either during the final exam session on W Dec 10/2003 from 1015am to 1215pm (if you are not in the LC), or during the final exam session for ANTH 121 (if you are in the LC). LC students are asked and expected to attend both sessions.
Your presentation needs to be no longer than four to five minutes – because of the number of people we have in the class, I will have to cut you off at that point. Your presentation should make sure to do the following:
Talk about your responses to the four “little questions”;
Give your response to the “big question,” making sure to show how it is that you came to that conclusion given your responses to the four “little questions.”
You should be prepared to address any questions your classmates or I have for you, and some time will be given after your presentation for that question and answer session.
Your presentation will constitute 25% of the grade on your research project (meaning that it will end up being 5% of your course grade). An evaluation sheet is included on the last page of this assignment.
Evaluation Guidelines: Your work on this assignment will be evaluated based on the following criteria, treated in decreasing order of importance:
The strength and cohesiveness of the argument made in response to The Big Question;
Utilization of the evidence found to support your response to The Big Question;
Accuracy and presentation of the materials found during your research;
Presentation issues;
And meeting the minimum requirements of the paper assignment as listed.
In general, grades on papers indicate the following (and note that failing to meet these criteria will generally result in a failing grade):
“A” – directly answers the assigned question; well-argued in a logical order, making clear how the evidence presented is utilized
“B” – evades answering the assigned question; fairly well-argued, but reasoning process or analysis of the evidence weak
“C” – no attempt to answer assigned question; assumption that the evidence will make the argument for you.
“D” – an fairly well-written book report on the sources found.
Potential deductions: Failure to follow the guidelines listed here and on the syllabus will result in the following immediate deductions:
· Not using minimum number of sources: -1/3 letter grade per source you’re short;
· Not including a full and complete bibliography: -1 full letter grade;
· Not proofreading your work: -2 full letter grades, unless this is your second offense;
· Not meeting minimum page count: -1/3 letter grade per page the paper is short;
· Utilizing Giddens/Duneier/Appelbaum and/or Ritzer texts in place of original sources: -2/3 letter grade.
· Plagiarism: immediate failure on this paper, probable failure in the course, and referral for disciplinary proceedings.
A Final Note: This assignment is where everything comes together – your knowledge, your increased theoretical and analytic sophistication, and your own ideas of how the world should work. You can do amazingly well on this assignment – the easiest way is by embarking on it now and consulting with me as soon as any question or issue comes to mind for you. This paper is also one of the few times in your university career in which you’ll be able to say how it is that you think the world should run and be able to defend that claim, so you should do your best to enjoy the challenge presented to you here. As always, I am here to help you do the best work you’re capable of; please feel free to utilize me as a resource for improving your work.
I wish you luck, and look forward to reading what you have to say.
Sociology 101
Introduction to Sociology
Fall 2003
Dr Scott SchafferTerm Project Presentation Evaluation
Presenter’s Name:
Criteria:
Thematization: How well did the presenter thematize the readings and develop an argument about them or highlight interesting aspects of the readings? Was there a clear thesis to the presentation?
Developed clear argument 5 4 3 2 1 No thematization
Use of Evidence: How well did the presenter use selections from the readings to support their claims about the works?
Good use of readings 5 4 3 2 1 Only quotes
Clarity of Ideas: Were the presenter’s ideas presented clearly and in an understandable manner?
Very clear/understandable 5 4 3 2 1 Very unclear
Sparked Interest? Did the presentation give you ideas for discussion and make you interested in participating in the discussion? Did they inspire a good discussion on the readings? Did a good conversation come about as a result of the presentation?
Very inspiring 5 4 3 2 1 Not interesting at all
Style/Manner of Presentation: How well did the presenter do in speaking, engaging the audience, and in the other “intangibles”?
Very well done 5 4 3 2 1 Poorly done
Overall: How successful was this presentation?
A B C D F
Comments: