sociology paper

Scholarly  Journal  Article  Paper   SOCI  1101-­‐-­‐-­‐Spring  2013  

Dr.  T.  Powell-­‐Williams    

This  assignment  is  worth  50  points,  and  due  via  e-­‐mail  as  an  MSWord  or  pdf  file   only  (no  other  file  formats  will  be  accepted-­‐-­‐-­‐please  see  me  if  this  is  an  issue,  and   I  am  certain  we  can  easily  reach  a  solution.    The  assignment  file  is  to  consist  of   your  last  name,  all  lowercase  (for  example,  Dixie  Carter  would  send  me  a  file   entitled  simply  “carter”).    Failure  to  follow  format  will  result  in  severe  point   deduction.    This  assignment  is  due  to  me  via  e-­‐mail  by  4pm  on  Friday,  April  5th.  

General  goals  and  objectives  of  the  assignment:  

The  goal  of  this  assignment  is  to  give  you  at  least  a  bit  of  a  glimpse  into  the  world  of   professional  sociology  through  the  lens  of  peer-­‐reviewed  scholarly  journals  (the  type  of   publications  you  find  on  sociologists’  coffee  tables).    Beyond  that,  the  goal  is  to  expose  you  to   current  research  in  general  and  specialized  sociology  journals.    Further,  this  assignment  should   give  you  an  opportunity  to  polish  up  your  skills  of  critical  thinking,  writing,  and  proper  citation.  

Your  task  is  to  choose  an  article  of  interest  to  you  that  reports  on  empirical  sociological   research,  or  methods  of  conducting  such  research,  from  one  and  only  one  of  the  peer-­‐reviewed   academic  journals  listed  below  (all  of  which  can  be  accessed  through  the  JSTOR  database   through  GRU  Augusta’s  Reese  Library.  

The  American  Journal  of  Sociology     American  Sociological  Review  

Annual  Review  of  Sociology       The  British  Journal  of  Sociology  

Contemporary  Sociology       Family  Relations  

Gender  and  Society         Journal  of  Health  and  Social  Behavior  

Journal  of  Marriage  and  Family     Middle  East  Report  

Political  Behavior         Social  Forces          

Social  Psychology  Quarterly       Sociological  Forum        

Sociological  Methodology       Sociology  of  Education        

Sociological  Theory         Theory  and  Society  

A  few  other  things:    The  article  must  have  been  published  in  the  last  ten  years  (all  others  will  be   disqualified).    See  a  librarian  if  you  need  help  accessing  the  database.    The  article  you  chose   may  not  be  an  abstract  theoretical  piece  or  a  review  piece  that  rehashed  old  research  or   examines  a  recently  published  book.    Instead,  you  may  only  choose  a  piece  that  reports  on   research  done  by  authors  usings  one,  or  a  combination  of,  the  research  methods  we  have   covered  in  class.    Papers  using  articles  that  do  not  fit  the  criteria  laid  out  above  will  be  not  be   accepted  and  will  receive  a  grade  of  0.  

Here  is  what  you  ought  to  do:    In  4  to  6  pages,  you  should  first  provide  a  clear  and  concise   overview  or  synopsis  of  the  article.    I  suggest  that  you  follow  the  outline  provided  below  for  a   bit  of  direction.  

Outline  for  the  paper:  

I) Provide  a  brief  and  concise  introductory  sentence  or  paragaph  that  lays  out  a  general  road   map  of  your  paper  

II) Explain  what  the  general  purpose  is  of  the  research  you  are  reporting  on  (i.e.  What  are  the   research  questions?    Hypotheses?)  

III) Tell  me  what  theories,  models,  or  concepts  are  discussed  in  the  article.    Provide  a  concise   explanation  of  the  key  theoretical/conceptual  issues  discussed  in  the  piece.    If  the  case  is   that  no  theoretical  or  conceptual  issues  are  discussed  in  the  article,  then  provide  a   discussion  of  what  theories,  models,  or  concepts  from  class  that  might  be  a  good  fit.  

IV) Research  Methods   a) Sample/subjects  (Who?  How  Many?  How  were  the  data  obtained?    Where?)   b) Data  collection  method  and  procedures  (Does  the  article  report  on  an  experiment?  

Series  of  interviews?  Etcetera.    Provide  me  with  some  details  of  the  data  collection   procedures  utilized)  

c) Ethical  issues   d) Measures  and  variables  (What  were  the  major  independent  and  dependent  variables  

and  how  were  they  manipulated  or  measured?)   V) Results  (What  are  they  major  sociological  findings  and/or  insights  presented  in  the  

discussion  of  the  results?    Where  the  theory/theories  or  hypothesis/hypotheses  supported   or  not?)  

VI) Provide  a  summary  or  concluding  paragraph  that  ties  everything  together.  (My  suggestion,   of  course,  is  that  you  provide  a  clear  and  concise  summary  of  the  research  you  reviewed)  

Hints:  

*Adapted  from  an  assignment  written  by  Kathleen  McKinney  from  Illinois  State  University-­‐-­‐-­‐ Normal