A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers / Edition 5

by Sociology Writing Group, Judith Richlin-Klonsky

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572599512
Publisher:	Worth Publishers, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/15/2001
Edition description:	Fifth Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.09(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.57(d)

Table of Contents

CONTENTS
To the Instructor    vii
About the Authors  xi
To the Student        xiii

PART 1 ESSENTIALS  1

1. Getting Started 3
     What is Sociology?  4
     Framing a Question  10
     Terms and Strategies in Essay and Exam Assignments  13
     Developing an Argument: Logic and Structure  16
     The Proposal  21
     A Sample Student Proposal  23

2. The Writing Process  30
     The Secret to Writing Is Rewriting  30
     Outlining  32
     Writing a First Draft  35
     Revising  37
     Writing Styles  40

3. Working with Sources  45
     Taking Two Kinds of Notes  45
     Sample Annotated Bibliography  47
     Avoiding Plagiarism: When and What to Cite  48
     Identifying Your Borrowed Words or Ideas  50
     Citations in the Text  52
     Format  53
     Notes  55
     References and Bibliographies  56
     Bibliographic Software  58

PART 2 WRITING FROM VARIOUS DATA SOURCES  61

4. The General Research Paper Based on Library or Internet Data  64
     Before You Start: Choosing a Topic  65
     Determining Your First Source(s)  66
     Advantages and Disadvantages of Library and Internet Sources  68
     Searching Online Information with Boolean Operators and Keywords  70
     Using the Library to Review the Sociological Literature  73
     Using the Library to Locate Specialized Sociological References  74
     General Bibliographic Sources  82
     Setting Up a Record-Keeping System  86
     Taking Notes  87
     A Sample Student Paper  91

5. The Textual Analysis (or Article Critique) Paper  118
     Asking Questions about the Text  119
     Compare–Contrast Assignments  123
     How to Read the Text  123
     Taking Notes  126
     Organizing Your Paper  126
     Writing Your Textual Analysis  128
     A Sample Student Paper  128

6. The Quantitative Research Paper  142
     Reviewing the Literature  144
     Developing a Methods and Analysis Plan  146
     Writing the Other Sections of Your Paper  153
     Suggested Readings  158
     A Sample Student Paper  158

7. The Ethnographic Field Research Paper 180
     Goals and Methods of Ethnographic Field Research  181
     Asking an Appropriate Question  181
     Reviewing the Literature  182
     Collecting Your Data  183
     Example of Observational Field Notes  187
     Example of Interview Notes  192
     Organizing Your Data  192
     Writing Your Paper  195
     Suggested Readings  196
     A Sample Student Paper  197

PART 3 FINISHING UP  215
     Polishing  215
     Editing  216
     Formatting  217
     A Final Checklist for Submitting Your Paper  219
     Thinking Big  220

      References  223
      Index  225