Poverty in NYC

SOC 490

GRADING RUBRIC – TERM PAPER

As described in your course syllabus, your research term paper must consist of a minimum of 20-25 double-spaced type-written text pages with a minimum of 10 academic references from scholarly journals and/or books (peer-reviewed). In brief, your paper consists of you choosing a social problem, describe the social problem in detail providing useful information and statistics/data, describing whether it is a subjective or objective social problem; applying as many social theories as possible (minimum of 5) that helps to explain why that social problem exists; and, applying multiple (at least 3) research methods that would be utilized in analyzing the social problem (e.g., setting up a research project). Remember you must include a photo copy of the title pages from all your source materials. Be sure to review the copy of "Structure and Guidelines for Writing Term Papers" provided to you by your professor (a copy will be posted on Blackboard). Remember, minimum effort seldom equates to a maximum grade! Thus, meeting the minimum requirements does not assure you of a grade above a "C" for the term paper (it would take a truly outstanding paper to earn an "A" when simply doing the minimum term paper expectations).

A, A- Term Papers will include:

· Information that adds substantially to the understanding of the chosen social problem

· More than 11 academic references

· More than 26 pages

· All the information was accurate. The paper was grammatically well written.

· Outstanding application of theory and methodology to the study of your social problem

· In-text citation accuracy and bibliography citation accuracy (ASA style)

· All the title pages were included

· In rare instances, term papers that are truly outstanding and simply meet the minimum expectations can still earn an "A" grade

B-, B, B+ Term Papers will include:

· Information that adds to the understanding of the chosen social problem

· More than 10 academic references

· More than 25 pages

· All the information was accurate. The paper was grammatically well written.

· Above average demonstration of applying theory and methodology

· In-text citation accuracy and Bibliography citation accuracy (ASA style)

· All the title pages were included

· Term papers that are truly outstanding and simply meet the minimum expectations can still earn a "B" grade

C-, C, C+ Term Papers will include:

· Information that reflects a clear understanding of the chosen social problem

· 10 academic references (loss of letter grade for each reference count less than 10)

· 20 – 25 pages (loss of letter grade for each page less than 20)

· All the information was accurate. The paper was grammatically well written.

· Average demonstration of applying theory and methodology

· Problems with in-text citations and/or with bibliography citations (ASA style)

· All the title pages were included (loss of letter grade for each missing title page)

D-, D, D+ Term Papers will include:

· Information that reflects a poor understanding of the chosen social problem

· Less than 10 academic references (automatic loss of letter grade per infraction)

· Less that 20 pages (loss of letter grade for each page less than 20)

· Information that was not accurate. The paper was not grammatically well written.

· Below average demonstration of applying theory and methodology

· Problems with in-text citations and/or with bibliography citations (ASA style)

· Missing title page (automatic loss of a letter grade per infraction)

E Term Papers will include (an "E" paper does not mean zero points were earned, just that the grade is assured to be below the passing level):

· Information reflects a lack of understanding the chosen social problem

· Less than 10 academic references (automatic loss of letter grade per infraction)

· Less that 20 pages (automatic loss of letter grade per infraction)

· Information was poorly presented and/or inaccurate. The paper was not grammatically well written.

· Poor demonstration of applying theory and methodology

· Problems with in-text citations and/or with bibliography citations (ASA style)

· Missing title pages (automatic loss of a letter grade per infraction)

Automatic failure of Term Papers (Like an "E" paper, a failure does not mean that no points can be earned, just that the grade is assured to be below an "E"):

· Title pages missing

· 14 or fewer total pages

· 5 or fewer academic references

· Paper was plagiarized

· Paper not handed in at scheduled time

· Paper not handed in at all (the grade is zero)