Synopses & Reviews
Ideal for instructors and students in a wide range of sociological courses, this guide makes the case that thinking and writing are integrally related and that writing, therefore, exercises the sociological imagination. Written in a clear and conversational style, A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers examines a wide range of writing assignments for sociology courses at all levels of the curriculum. Employing a variety of writing samples as a means to illustrate effective writing, this brief and inexpensive text teaches students how to deftly research and write about sociology.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 183) and index.
Table of Contents
I. ESSENTIALS 1. Getting Started
What is Sociology?
Framing a Question
Terms and Strategies in Essay
Assignments
Developing an Argument: Logic and Structure
The Proposal
A Sample Student Proposal
2. Organizing Your Time
Writing Papers: The Time Grid
Organizing Your Time for Essay
Examinations
3. The Writing Process
The Personal Vulnerability of Writing
Outlining
Revising
A Note about Style
4. Acknowledging Sources
Avoiding Plagiarism: When and What to Cite
Identifying Your Borrowed Words or Ideas
Citations in the Text
Format
Notes
References and Bibliographies
5. Polishing Your Paper
Editing
Formatting
II. WRITING FROM VARIOUS DATA SOURCES
Locating and Assessing Online
Information
Searching Online Information with Boolean Operators
Evaluating Internet Information
Web Sites of Use to Sociologists
6. The Textual Analysis/Paper
Asking Questions about the Text
Compare-and-Contrast Assignments
How to Read the Text
Taking Notes
Organizing Your Paper
Writing Your Textual Analysis
A Sample Student Paper
7. The Library Research Paper
Before You Go to the Library: Choosing a Topic
Using the Library to Review the
Sociological Literature
Locating Specialized Sociological
References
Recording Information
Looking Deeper
Organizing Your Information
Matching Thesis, Note Cards, and Outline
Journals Often Used by Sociologists
8. The Ethnographic Field
Research Paper
Goals and Methods of Ethnographic Field Research
Asking an Appropriate Question
Reviewing the Literature
Collecting Your Data
Example of Observational Field Notes
Example of Interview Notes
Organizing Your Data
Writing Your Paper
Suggested Readings
A Sample Student Paper
9. The Quantitative Research Paper
Writing the Introduction
Developing Methods and Analysis Plan
Writing the Other Sections of Your Paper
Suggested Readings
A Sample Student Paper
III. FINISHING UP
A Final Checklist for Submitting Your Paper
Thinking Big
References
Index