Overview
SOCIOLOGY 431 - TERM PAPER GUIDELINES
1. OVERVIEW
- Due by midnight Monday, Nov. 25 (submitted on Blackboard)
- Worth 70 points
- Suggested length = 8-10 pages (absolute min. 7, max. 12)
- Doubled-spaced, 12-point standard fonts, and one-inch margins
- Include a title page with title of paper, name, date, course, name of prof. (don’t number title page)
- Title and reference pages are NOT part of the 8-10 page length requirement
2. REFERENCES, QUOTATIONS, ETC.
- You may use any of the three standard referencing formats:
1. APA (American Psychological Association) is used by the social and natural sciences
2. MLA (Modern Language Association) used by the humanities
3. Chicago Style is used by business and the fine arts
Any are acceptable as long as you are consistent and complete.
- Include a reference page at the end of the paper listing the works you have cited. These should be in alphabetical order according to author’s last name and NOT numbered.
- Your paper should include evidence that you have made use of several relevant scholarly works. I suggest about one reference for every page of text (i.e. 8-10 references), although there is no upper limit.
- Research goes beyond Google! At least half of your references must be academic books or peer-reviewed (academic) journals. The remainder may be other reasonable sources such as news magazines, less academically-strict books, or websites.
- In the Rice Library or on its USI site you will find search devices to help you find these sources such as JSTOR and ProQuest. They are relatively simple to use but if you have difficulty library staff can often provide guidance.
- A peer-reviewed, academic journal will have a title like American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Journal of European Social Policy, or Social Forces. Non-academic journals will have titles like Newsweek or National Geographic.
- Every source listed on your reference page must be cited within the body of your paper and vice-versa.
- All quotations and paraphrases included in the body of your paper MUST be cited; failure to do so is plagiarism - the theft of intellectual property and an academic offense.
- Citing a quotation:
“There is nothing inherent to Goffmanian frame analysis that precludes its employment beyond the realm of face-to-face interaction.” (Williams, 2002: 155)
- Citing a close paraphrase:
It is possible that there is nothing about Goffmanian frame analysis that could keep it from being used in other situations other than interpersonal interaction. (Williams, 2002: 155)
- Citing an idea:
Some scholars (Williams, 2002) have suggested that Goffman’s theories, usually used only at the micro level, could actually be applied at the macro level as well.
It is up to you to decide whether you are citing an idea or a close paraphrase. Use your best judgement; just be academically honest. In your present and past research, and in simply living your life, you have accumulated knowledge and the ability to assess this knowledge. Not everything you say/write requires referencing. Avoid over-citing; writing a paper in which every sentence needs to be referenced indicates that none of the ideas in the paper are actually yours.
REFERENCE PAGE LISTINGS
APA EXAMPLES:
1. book
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
2. journal article
Williams, S. (2002). Tracking the new world order: Films, frames, and geopolitical performance. Space and Culture, 5(2),152-168.
MLA EXAMPLES:
1. book
Goffman, Erving. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974.
2. journal article
Williams, Steven D. (2002). Tracking the new world order: Films, frames, and geopolitical performance. Space and Culture, 5(2),152-168.
CITING WEBSITES:
* I will not be exceptionally stringent about the reference form in every detail, but you must get all the necessary information down correctly and consistently. Failure to do this will mean there are points you cannot earn when the paper is graded.
3. STYLE NOTES:
- Remember to adopt an academic writing style; do not write in conversational language. Use the personal pronoun (“I”) and contractions sparingly if at all. Personal anecdotes (stories) are very rarely used.
- Do not depend on dictionaries or encyclopaedias. There is no reason to use a dictionary definition of an important sociological concept when you have actual sociological sources at your disposal. You may start exploring your topic through Wikipedia if you wish, but those who use Wikipedia as their main source of information will have their financial assets seized and be subject to public humiliation.
- Remember to check for consistency in your sentences regarding tenses (past, present, future) and singular/plural agreement.
- Avoid sweeping overstatements such as “sexism has existed since the beginning of time.” Think of what you are actually writing.
- Do not overuse one or two sources; try to spread it around.
- Avoid overly-emotional statements, obvious moralizing, and the use of exclamation marks.
- Don’t fill up too much of your paper with long quotations (the long quotations that you do use should be single-spaced and double-indented).
* remember, “society’s” is possessive, “societies” is plural
* medium, datum, phenomenon are singular; media, data, phenomena are plural
* avoid inappropriate use of “the” as in “the mental health” or “the American society”
* don’t even think about using “@” instead of “at” or - horror of horrors - emoticons
4. GENERAL NOTES:
- Remember that this is a sociology paper, not history or psychology. You may certainly include an historical or psychological component to your paper, but it should not dominate. Don’t be shy about discussing your topic with me, especially if you are unsure for any reason about the appropriateness of the topic.
- Try to choose a topic of manageable scope; you will find it difficult enough to fully analyse most worthwhile questions in 8-10 pages without trying to understand something like “why does sexism exist?” or “what is the history of feminism?”
- You are not required to produce a full piece of original research. That is, you are not gathering data in order to test an hypothesis. You are exploring an issue or question; examining some relevant scholarship on that issue, comparing it, and coming to some reasonable conclusions based on this comparison. You are not simply copying out the words/ideas of others; you are finding your own academic “voice” while (critically) respecting the scholarship of others.
- PROOFREAD YOUR PAPER BEFORE YOU SUBMIT IT! It is not enough to simply run your paper through the spell-check function of your computer. You should read your paper over several times for spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, and overall clarity.
- At the 400-level you are expected to demonstrate independent analytic ability; this takes time and effort. You will not be able to write an A level paper quickly - you will require time to reflect on its contents. Start at least two weeks before it is due. Take your time; do it right.
- Finally: READ THIS GUIDE, THEN READ IT AGAIN. Once you think you are finally finished your paper, READ THIS GUIDE ONE MORE TIME and see if you really are finished.
5. A FEW SUGGESTED TOPICS, FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T THINK OF ONE
Nature vs nurture: how much of our thinking, feeling and behavior is determined by biology, and how much by social factors?Be sure to narrow this topic down; investigate, for example, different socialization patterns in grade school, or research on (fe)male brain structure. Don’t try to do it all.
What is the most useful or appropriate form of feminism in 21st century America?
Are we now living in a “post-feminist” society? Why or why not?
Are expressions of female sexuality in mass media (e.g. music videos/stage performances) empowering for women, objectifying, or both?
Why are women not paid for housework? Is it feasible or logical to do so?
What has been the changing nature of women’s workforce participation? (e.g. WW II, post-2nd wave, 21st century)
How does female political representation in the United States compare to other societies/countries? (e.g. the parliaments of some Scandinavian countries are approx. 50% female) Why/why not is the United States ready for a female president?
What is the difference between erotica and pornography? Where can we draw the line between freedom of speech/expression and representations of sexuality that are harmful? What actual harm (if any) is done by pornography to women? to men? to children?
Although representations of sexuality are abundant in the United States, some have argued that, relative to many other countries (e.g. Sweden) America has a rather Puritanical or repressed attitude towards sexuality. How and why are we taught that sex is “bad,” “dirty,” or embarrassing?
Choose any examples from popular culture (films, videos, songs, TV, etc.) and analyze its representations of women (and/or men).
Record (or carefully watch) several hours of TV advertisements. What assumptions regarding gender are reproduced and/or challenged?
Why are so many women unwilling to identify themselves as feminists? How has feminism been socially constructed in a negative light? How do we explain organizations like “Ladies Against Feminism?”
Why are men, on average, more homophobic than women? Why do most heterosexual men feel so threatened by the idea of male homosexuality while simultaneously feeling excited by the idea (fantasy) of female homosexuality? Why does this not seem to function (as often) in reverse for women?
Why should men care about or support feminism? What benefits might result for both genders if women are: seen as beautiful and worthwhile beyond the narrow current definitions; represented as fully-realized human beings in our popular culture; participating fully in the political realm?
6. GRADING RUBRIC
I will be grading your papers using the following rubric:
ABSENT/UNACCEPTABLENOMINALPROFICIENTGOOD EXCELLENT
FORMATTING
/GRAMMAR/
SPELLING/046810
SENTENCE STRUCTURE0691215
WRITING STYLE02345
OBJECTIVITY/BALANCE02345
SOURCES046810
ANALYSIS010152025
7. PAPER OUTLINE
- Due Friday, Oct. 25 as a hard copy paper.
- Worth 20 points (will be given a grade of 0, 5, 10, 15, or 20)
- Include a description of your paper: the topic and the general strategy of investigation (about one double-spaced page).
- Provide two to four useful sources for your research, with some evidence that you have looked them over and found them to be useful (not just searched for useful-sounding article titles).
- At least half (e.g. two out of four) must be academic sources.
- If you change your strategy, your sources, or even your topic altogether you will not be penalized – this is an exercise in getting you comfortable in the process of writing a paper that does not happen the night before it’s due.