SOC 1020 Introduction to Sociology
Written Assignment #1: Engaging in Scholarly Research
For this assignment you will choose a topic related to deviance or crime and engage in some scholarly research.
For instance, you may want to examine the relationship between mass shootings and race, or sexual assaults on college campuses, or characteristics of heroin users, or BDSM and age, or characteristics of furries. The possibilities are limitless and you should certainly choose a topic that you are interested in learning more about. I am also happy to provide recommendations if needed.
I would recommend going to https://scholar.google.com/ and searching various key terms to make sure there is enough recent literature to fulfill the assignment requirements. This is similar to how social scientists would conduct the initial stages of research by looking at the existing scholarly literature to determine what is already known regarding said topic.
This assignment will require approximately 2-3 pages and should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman, and 12 point font. You should use APA format and provide both in-text citations and a reference page (guidelines for APA format provided in the course resource module). Make sure that the article summaries are in your own words, as plagiarism will result in a zero on the assignment. This assignment is worth a maximum of 50 points.
Once you have decided on a specific topic related to deviance or crime, you need to conduct some scholarly research using www.scholar.google.com and/or by using the UNCP library search. You will need to select three scholarly articles (preferably sociological/criminological articles) and read them in entirety. These articles need to focus on your selected topic, if not points will be lost. Additionally, these articles should be published in the last 5-8 years.
After you have completed the initial research respond to the following in essay format:
- Introduction Paragraph- This paragraph should introduce your chosen topic. What are you researching? Why is this topic important? If possible include statistics to support your argument as to why this topic is important. (10 points)
- Article Summaries (3 paragraphs) – For each article, you should provide a detailed summary using your own words. This summary should address the purpose of the study, the methodologies used (including the sample size), the findings, and the implications. Additionally, you should explain how this work illuminates your chosen topic (i.e. how is it relevant to the issue that you have selected and how does it add to your knowledge about your issue). FYI copying and pasting the article abstract will count as plagiarism and will result in a zero on this assignment. (30 points, 10 points per summary)
- Conclusion Paragraph- This paragraph should summarize your findings. Specifically, you should compare and contrasts the articles. What were their similarities and differences? You should then conclude this assignment with a description of what you learned regarding your chosen topic and why this information is important. (5 points)
The other 5 points will come from following directions, using appropriate spelling and grammar, using APA format, and submitting the assignment on canvas.