Overview
Research Paper (25%): Over the course of the term you will write a paper on the question of whether the prison should be reformed or abolished. This paper is partly literature review, where you will pose a research question and discuss how existing studies have answered this question; and partly a deeper investigation into the question as you understand it, using whatever social-scientific methods necessary (historical or textual analysis, data gathering and analysis, ethnographic field research, etc.) and working with established theories in the field. Your paper should be 10-12 pages long, double-spaced. You are required to have in-text citations and a bibliographic references page of at least ten (10) scholarly peer-review sources, and annotated (1-2 sentences describing the source). The paper is due on Friday December 8th by 11:59PM and is worth 25% of your overall grade in the course. You will submit your paper on the course website as a .doc or .pdf file. A program called Turnitin will check your paper for evidence of plagiarism. If you plagiarize, you should not be in university.
Research Paper format:
This paper should follow a general format of (1) Introduction to subject with stated thesis; (2) a background sketch of the history of the issue (and lit review), and perhaps any particularly relevant local LA or California development; (3) a presentation of research findings and critical discussion; (4) a summary conclusion with recommendations.
Rubric:
Paper Components | Description |
Introduction | Paper includes an introductory section that motivates the research question and argument and points to its relevance to understanding the social origins and organization of crime/criminal behavior |
Thesis | Paper includes a clearly spelled out argument |
Evidence/Argument | Paper includes evidence that clearly and convincingly supports their argument. Evidence is empirical and suited to answering their question. Evidence comes from peer-reviewed sources and/or primary data collection. |
Conclusions/Implications | Paper includes a concluding section that provides a summary of their argument and evidence, points to some broader implications of the argument, points to additional questions that could be addressed, and/or gives recommendations |
Other Characteristics | Description |
Organization | The paper is clearly structured, the argument is easily discernable, the evidence clearly and linearly links to the argument |
Sources | The paper has at least 10 peer-reviewed sources, annotated |
Proper citation | The paper has in-text parenthetical citations and a bibliography at the end that follows a consistent format (either ASA, APA, Chicago) |
Polished | The paper does not have typos, incomplete sentences, etc. |
Length | The paper is 10-12 double-spaced pages, Times New Roman, 12 pt font |