The main purpose of the course essay is to give students an opportunity to think sociologically. The form of the essay is closer to a short version of research proposal, which means that students are NOT required to do actual research. Students need to think one social phenomenon they want to discuss, and think about possible explanations of the phenomenon. Furthermore, possible ways to test the assumption should be briefly discussed. The essay should include the following parts:
A. Introduction
Point out the social phenomenon that the students want to discuss in the essay. Students can think based on their personal life experience, while course lectures and readings are helpful in brainstorming. The first step of introduction is to briefly describe the social phenomenon. This can be done either based on your life experience orsome arguments made by others, or both. The second step is the discussion on the reasons of choice. The reasons can be about social significance based on your personal experience and knowledge (why this phenomenon is important regarding our life and society), or about the theoretical implication of the subject (what contribution could be made to enhance our understandingon this subject), or both. In other words, in the introduction you should use positive argument (i.e. what's the social phenomenon, possible effects of the phenomenon, or previous studies about this phenomenon) to support your normative argument (i.e. this phenomenon is worth to be studied).
Example
You may start by a discussion on poverty in the United States. The first thing to do is to briefly describe the poverty in the U.S, either through 1) discussion on poverty suffered by your family, your friends or other people (e.g. those who live in downtown) who you have knowledge about, or 2) other people's knowledge and description about poverty (articles written by others on severity of poverty, or some simple economical data of poverty). The second thing to do is to discuss the significance of the analysis on poverty. It can be, for example, that finding the reasons of poverty can provide useful strategies to solve the poverty, which is good to enhance the health of our society; or it can be that the research idea of the poverty is inspired by someone else's articles, and that your study can make contribution to the academic understanding on this topic.
Notes
1. "Some arguments made by others" and "previous studies" should be presented either in the form of formal academic publication, or informal publication such as blog or magazine articles that contain sociological implications. The two readers used in this course (Everyday Sociology Reader and American Society) are very helpful to inspire your thinking. If you decide to use outside sources, you need to cite them properly (make clear about where the argument comes from). Furthermore, avoid being too casual in discussion of the topic. "I choose this topic because my mother says that this is important" would be not a strong argument. Be as academic as possible, though citing formal academic publication is not required. In addition, it is highly recommended that you find outside sources to enrich your arguments. Find something from the library or the Internet, it is very helpful. Of course, if you are confident about your personal experience and knowledge on the topic, you don't have to do it.
2. You can either describe the topic and the reasons of your choice separately, or do them together. If you discuss them together, make sure the reader can easily find both of the points (i.e. topic and reasons of selection).
B. Possible explanation of the social phenomenon
Note that there is usually more than one explanation, but students are only required to emphasize the one they think is the most important (or most interesting). It is allowed to discuss more than one, but proper paper length (six pages maximum) should be taken into consideration. In the end of this part, the students should come up a specified research question: does factor A is (one of) the reason(s) of this social phenomenon?
Example
Now you are finding the possible reasons of poverty. If needed, you can start by laying out several possible factors, such as educational level, environment or social welfare system. And then you say that educational level should be emphasized (or is probably the most important reason). You can support this argument by discussing your personal experience, or citing other people's formal or informal publications. And then you come up with a research question: does lower educational level contribute to economical poverty in the U.S. in twentieth century?
Note
1. Be sure to specify your research question. There are three strategies to accomplish this: theoretically narrowing down key concepts e.g. economic poverty (lack of food, clothing and shelter) or cultural poverty (lack of cultural activities and practices); narrowing the scope of study: focus on phenomenon in particular places (e.g. the U.S.)or time periods (e.g. twentieth century); transforming the "why" problem to the relationship between two factors: the cause and the effect.
2. Again, the arguments about the most important reason can be supported by your personal knowledge and/or other materials. It is also highly recommended that you find outside sources to enrich your argument.
3. In this essay you cannot assert that the factor you emphasize is the reason of the social phenomenon. What you can do is to assume that this factor is important.
C. Conceptualization and operationalization
The first step is to present a research hypothesis with the dependent variable and independent variable (now you can see that this proposal follows the logic of deductive reasoning). The second step is to discuss indicators or measurements of the variables. Each variable can have more than one indicator. Be sure the measures are valid (see textbook page 51 for validity).
Example
After specifying the research question, now you come up with a research hypothesis: the lower the educational level, the greater the chance that people will be in economical poverty. And then you present several indicators or measurements of the variables. The educational level can be measured by level of degree and/or by the number of school years. The economical poverty can be measured by income (if people's income is lower than certain number then they can be defined as poor people), and/or whether or not people are in social programs for poor relief.If needed, you can emphasize that these indicators are measuring what you intend them to do (validity).
D. Data collection method and interpretation of data
The data can be either quantitative or qualitative. The form of data is determined by your measurement. If it is quantitative, then survey question (structural questionnaire) is preferable. If it is qualitative, then interview or observation is preferable. Furthermore, you need to specify the location in whichyou will conduct your research, and the number of people being studied. If it is quantitative research, the number of research subjects is usually very large (hundreds or thousands); if it is qualitative research, the number is usually smaller (probably 10 to 30 respondents interviewed by the researcher). In addition, you need to present the examples of the questions you may ask the respondents. Lastly, interpret possible research result (it proves or disproves the research hypothesis).
Example
Based on the measurement, you decide to investigate economical poverty by quantitative method. And then you say that you will conduct a survey with 500 respondents in the Capital District. Next, you present examples of survey questions corresponding to each variable: how many years had you been in school (educational level); what was your personal/family income last year (whether this person is in poverty). Lastly, you interpret the possible survey results: if there is positive correlation between school year and income, then the research hypothesis could be supported; if there is no correlation between them, then the hypothesis could be denied.
Grading Rubrics:
Introduction
1. Brief description on research topic (social phenomenon):
2. Explain the choice of research topic:
Possible explanation of the social phenomenon
1. Emphasize the possible reason of social phenomenon:
2. Present a specified research question:
Conceptualization and operationalization
1. Present a research hypothesis in proper form:
2. Make clear about the indicators or measurements of the variables:
3. Discuss the validity of the measurement: 2 points (bonus)
Data collection method and interpretation of data
1. Data collection method (quantitative/qualitative; location of research; number of respondents): 4 points
2. Interpretation of possible research results: