There are two options for the final project, individual projects that
deepen your understanding of the social movement you have been analyzing
in your class papers, and collective projects that examine a new case (either
the WTO protest or the "death with dignity" movement) to broaden you understanding
of the theoretical questions we have examined. Individuals who choose the
first option will be expected to write a longer research paper tying together
the shorter exploratory papers into a tighter argument and adding to it
by examining more documents or more secondary literature.
Alternatively, if you are doing a group project, you should write up
your results in an approximately 5 page paper that succinctly explains
the theoretical foundations of your project, and how your research on primary
sources (e.g., media coverage or NGO websites) advances our understanding
of social movement theories we have covered this semester.
There are many ways to write a sociology paper. Judging from your papers this semester, all of you have an intuitive grasp of the elements of a good social science project. For those of you who would like a checklist, the following describes the elements sociologists try to incorporate into their papers:
1. A puzzle or question and the context that makes it theoretically interesting
2. Review of two general sociological theories
3. Discussion of at least two opposing topical explanations presented by area specialists you locate through your own library research on the movement
4. The argument you plan to evaluate and how you will do so
5. A conclusion in which you explain what further research would need to focus on, followed by a list of references
Your discussion should focus on a sociological question or empirical
puzzle and provide enough historical background to make it clear to a nonspecialist
reader why it is interesting for social movement theories.
This research project assignment sheet, from an introductory sociology course at Reed college, contains language similar to the History of the American West assignment. For example, the instructor wants students to make the same kind of personal connection to the research. The instructor tells students in the very first sentence of the assignment sheet that the goal of the projects is to "deepen your understanding of the social movement you have been analyzing in your class papers." Like the history assignment, this sociology research assignment asks students to go beyond the mere objective regurgitation of facts and theories of the traditional research paper. The goal is deepened understanding and "a tighter argument."
Another goal of the paper is to introduce students to the methods used by sociologists. According to this instructor, there is no single method, but instead there are "many ways to write a sociology paper." There are, however, certain elements sociologists incorporate into their papers, such as "a puzzle or question and the context which makes it theoretically interesting," a review and discussion of different theories, an evaluation of an argument, and speculation about further research. This method was also used in many of the research essays in the hard science courses I examined, and its emphasis on exploring a question or puzzle echoes Ballenger's notion of research as curious inquiry.
Since students are not required to make knowledge in the traditional research
paper, it often has as its audience the teacher as "fact checker." This sociology
instructor takes some of the emphasis off of her own role as evaluator by creating
a hypothetical audience. She asks students to "make it clear to a nonspecialist
reader" why their theoretical question is interesting to the field of sociology.
This presentation of a hypothetical audience was especially common in research
writing in business courses, and research assignment #3 is representative.
Research Assignment #1: History of the American West
Research Assignment #3: Public Policy and International Economy
Relevance for First-Year Writing