Soc 101-6 & Soc 101-7

The purpose of this exercise is to help students explore how to write a college paper which is a research-based assignment. Showing the right format of a research paper can help to get at least a C+.

Requirements:

1)The paper must be in the scope of sociology which is “the scientific study of human social relations, groups and societies” (Eglitis and Chambliss, 2021, p. 2).

2) 3 double-spaced pages plus reference pages.

a.If you can delete a sentence or a few words in your paper that won’t weaken your points, those words are useless.

3)Sources: Theories, concepts, definitions MUST come from the textbook, 5 books, 5 peer-reviewed articles. NO .com, .org, .edu sites would be accepted, except approval from the professor. Data (such as statistics), current events etc can come from creditable news sources such as New York Times, BBC, Washington Post, the Guardian. Data from Census, Pew Research Center, Gullop Poll, etc are good.

a.Not following this requirement could lead to a failing grade of the whole paper.

4)“I, You” cannot be used in the paper, except in the introduction

5)This is a research paper. Personal opinion is not considered scientific. Every point in the paper must be supported by peer-reviewed sources. Personal observation based on the points in the paper is acceptable in the conclusion.

6)Just a summary of the reading materials will not work. A summary will receive no more than a C.

7)Citation format APA. Consult the two videos on how to do in-text citation and reference page posted on Blackboard. Your paper can fail, if you fail to cite accurately.

Guideline

1)Students can pick any topic such any current social / global issues. Covid-19 would be an excellent choice.

2)Select a theoretical perspective to guide your research and analysis. This should be shown in the end of the introductory paragraph with a purposive statement / thesis. The format of the purposive statement is: The purpose of this paper is to examine, compare, explore, argue… (pick a strong verb to reflect the work in the paper).

3)Each paragraph has one key idea only. Use paragraphs to separate different key ideas. A paragraph should start with a topic sentence which is the key point of that paragraph, and this topic sentence should be a point to support your thesis. The rest of the paragraph should be the supporting data or materials to illustrate the key idea.

4)Use link words to connect ideas, such as moreover, however, furthermore, similarly, in contrast, one the one hand, on the other hand, and so on.

5)Personal experience is not considered as data, but it can be used in the introduction to pave the research interest.

6)Each chapter in the textbook can serve as a theoretical starting point. Consult the textbook and your professor.