Family Factors and delinquency

Course Term Paper Guidelines SOC 101

1 Course Paper Guidelines: This course requires a paper be completed and placed into the section’s D2L course drop box by each student before midnight of the paper’s posted deadline. The paper accounts for 10% of each student’s final grade. When attempting the paper students should keep in mind several basic requirements:

1. Define all your terms. 2. Apply American Sociological Association style (ASA), APA, MLA or Chicago Style. 3. Regardless of the style you choose (ASA, APA, MLA or Chicago Style) your paper must be broken down

into the following sections/parts: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Review of Literature, Theory Section, Conclusion and Reference Page. Each need to be titled.

4. Illustrate all your key points with detailed examples. 5. Avoid using anecdotal evidence, non-scholarly sources, and personal opinions. Note: Personal opinions

can be presented in the paper’s conclusion. 6. Do not use quotes 7. Apply a value-free sociological approach and the sociological imagination when formulating the paper. 8. Address the chosen topic question fully. 9. Base information presented in the paper on appropriate sociological sources. 10. Do not email in the paper to the instructor or attempt to hand the instructor a flash dive, cd or dvd and do

not give the paper to another faculty member or college administrator - the paper should be placed in the course’s D2L drop box in the “course paper” area before midnight of the paper’s posted deadline deadline (before the day after the deadline).

11. Turn in the paper topic and the paper in class on the applicable due or place it in the D2L course drop box on the date listed below with your name, date, and class section number. When you drop the materials into the course’s drop box, make sure the document is formatted in either WORD or PDF.

12. Make sure you cite all key ideas, facts, figures, statements and historical data in text and have a corresponding scholarly reference listed on the reference list at the end of the paper.

The process for creating the course paper can be broken down into two distinct phases: 1. Students will need to select several paper topics, ensuring they are proper topics for a sociology course. 2. Students will visit the library and locate proper scholarly sources for the paper’s literature review. Students will make sure these sources are applicable through the sociological imagination. In other words, avoid sources not scientific in nature or distinct to another discipline or social science. 3. Students will construct their papers by referring to the instructor’s instructions in class for the papers’ development, the requirements and description of the paper assignment in this syllabus, on course’s site on Desire2learn (https://elearn.midlandstech.edu/). Keep in mind this is a social science research paper. The purpose of the paper task is to illustrate the student can properly apply the scientific method and the sociological imagination to the study of social phenomena. The paper is to be computer generated or typed. The paper must be presented in ASA, APA, MLA or Chicago Style. style. There is a short ASA style guide located on the American Sociological Association’s internet site at http://www.asanet.org/documents/teaching/pdfs/Quick_Tips_for_ASA_Style.pdf. Your paper is required to be typed or computer generated. If you do not have access to a typewriter or computer then you need to talk to your instructor the first week of class. Do not scan a hand written paper and place that into the dropbox.

Course Term Paper Guidelines SOC 101

2 Your paper should be between 9 to 11 pages of text and should be double-spaced, this page count includes the title page, abstract page and reference pages. All important information or factual statements must be referenced in text or by footnote in ASA, APA, MLA or Chicago Style. Do not simply include a source page or bibliography (a list of sources at the end of the page). You must site information at the point you present it in your paper using in-text references as well as including a bibliography. Paper sources should reflect the criteria of the scientific perspective and sociological imagination. Do not use psychology sources for a sociological paper. A minimum of four scholarly references is required; this reference count requirement does not include your textbook, non-scholarly magazines, encyclopedias, interviews, Wikipedia and non-scholarly internet sources. The research paper is to be divided into sections and presented in in ASA, APA, MLA or Chicago Style: Title page: This page consists of the title your paper, your name, and the date the paper was turned in to the instructor, the title and section of the course and the name of your professor. Abstract: A one paragraph summary of the paper with key words. Introduction: The introduction tells the reader what topic the student will be discussing and why it was chosen (personal experience, a major topic, realistically being able to research it, etc.). This section introduces the researcher’s specific interests within the subject matter and how it will be explored. Review of literature: In the review of literature students should be accomplishing two things. First, the student will describe the topic he or she selected to research. This description will be based upon a logically organized review of the information found in the researched sources (newspapers, interviews, texts, books, journal articles, magazine articles, government documents, etc.). All statements or information presented about the topic should be referenced. The works cited should support the interests identified in the paper’s introduction. All key terms should be clearly defined, all major points should be illustrated with examples. Presentation of theory: The student will clearly and in a detailed manner define and describe a sociological theory the student has selected from course readings or lectures. The student will then, in detail, apply that theory to explore the nature of the topic: what purpose is serves, how it was created, how it is maintained, the effect/affect it is having upon society, what social groups or aspects of society it is effecting, how serious or strong the effect/affect is, etc. This section presents a formal sociological theory, explains it in properly referenced detail and then uses the theory as a template to access or explore the information presented in the literature review about the topic. The review of literature shows you recognize and can apply the sociological imagination to a social subject and the theory presentation section illustrates how well you can properly formalize and apply the sociological imagination through a scientific approach; these are the core elements of the paper.

Course Term Paper Guidelines SOC 101

3 Conclusion: In this section of the paper the student will present conclusions about the topic based on the research presented in the paper's literature review. The primary purpose of this section is to allow the students to determine if the information about the topic found during his or her research reflected the assumptions and predictions of the theory they chose. In addition, students are encouraged to present their personal opinion in this section, which usually consists of a review of what aspects of the information and theory application supported and/or contradicted their original understandings of the topic chosen. References: The reference section of this paper is the last page and will have the title centered and at the top of the page. All sites in the paper will be referenced. References will be constructed using in ASA, APA, MLA or Chicago Style format. You will be expected to clearly apply ideas and perspectives discussed in class (scientific perspective, sociological imagination, social theory, etc.) and apply them in guiding the exploration of your paper's subject. This is the key aspect of your paper - do not use a psychological, philosophical or a personal perspective. This is not a person opinion paper. The paper should illustrate your understandings of the course’s concepts and apply them as they relate to the subject matter of your research by applying a sociological theory and sociological perspective to explain it. Students must have at least four scholarly references other than non-scholarly magazines, the course textbook, encyclopedias, interviews or non- scholarly internet sources (such as Wikipedia or personal blog sites). All references should be used in the paper and quotations should be avoided. Papers are the only assignments that will be accepted late; however, the paper’s grade will be penalized 10 points for each day late (this includes Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays), the paper will be counted late at the end of the day the paper was due. Do not do any of the following with your paper: place in the instructor's physical (on dirt) mail box, email to the instructor, give to another instructor for delivery, tape on the hood of the instructor's car, slide underneath the instructor's door, give to a parent or friend to be delivered, place underneath the windshield wiper of the instructor’s car, give to an administrative assistant or secretary. It is the responsibility of the student to place his or her paper in the course’s drop box (under the area labeled “course paper”) before midnight of the paper’s posted deadline - any other form of submission is varying from the assignment and is unacceptable. The paper must be in either WORD or PDF format.