FINAL RESEARCH ESSAY – SOC 776/978 WRITING SOCIOLOGY



Thirty-five percent (10% for the First Draft and 25% for the Final Paper) of your grade will be
based on a research essay due on June 12, 2016. Please follow the guidelines below, and don’t
hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I answer most e-mails within 24 hours. You may
come and see me for help during my office hours or e-mail me to make arrangements for another time
that is convenient for you. In other words, there is no excuse for problems with this assignment!
My schedule is very flexible and I enjoy meeting with students – please take advantage of this
factJ!



STRUCTURE:


The purpose of this essay is to think sociologically about your topic. The assignment is very broad
– you may choose any topic. I will approve the topic and make sure that your research question is
narrow enough to answer successfully in an essay of this length.


The final essay should be between 3,500 – 4,000 words (2.5 cm. margins, double-spaced, 12 pt.
Font). This is about 10-13 pages.


PLEASE REMEMBER TO NUMBER THE PAGES and INCLUDE YOUR NAME! Ideally, you would do this in the header
or footer.


-Title page and abstract (150 words or less)

-Text w/footnotes (I prefer them to endnotes)

-References (using ASA format)


TIMELINE (all due at 23:59 unless otherwise specified):


May 3, 2016 - A short (1-3 page) proposal is due in the Homework Vault that expands your initial
TQS sentence, including: development of research question and potential hypothesis or answer; touch
upon literature available; how you will actualize – method; hint at your potential argument


May 14, 2016 - First Draft (>65%) is due in the Homework Vault and to your peer-review partner.


May 17, 2016 – Peer Review (worth 5 points) is due IN CLASS and in the Homework Vault


June 12, 2016 - FINAL ESSAY IS DUE IN THE HOMEWORK VAULT.


LATE ASSIGNMENTS will be marked down by 1 point per day (out of a maximum of 35 points).