Term paper:
The purpose of the paper is to apply what you have learned about sociology to a topic of your choice. The paper will be organized in three specific parts. Part One will be to define your topic and provide specific facts and statistics (this will require data only from empirically researched sources.
Part Two will be to connect social institutions and structures to your topic (for example, say your topic is Anorexia…what social structures or institutions impact this disease? Hint: Media, education, or family structure could all be applied.
Finally, you will apply sociological theory to your topic. These could include macro theories such as functional or conflict theory, or micro theories. All work on this paper must me cited properly!!! This paper will be discussed in detail; however a preliminary outline is listed below to give you a general idea about the parameters of this assignment.
1.Part one (two pages) will be informing the reader about your topic. This includes research information about how others have studied your topic. For example, if your topic is on Anorexia, you will need to write a two page paper informing the reader what is anorexia. Cite, cite, cite all work.
2.Part two (two pages) will be relating how social structures and institutions have affected your topic. Make connections between your topic and the impact of institutions. How has history affected your topic? For example, how has the institution of the media impacted the rise in Anorexia?
3. Part three (two pages) will be relating sociological theory to your topic. This can be do using major theoretical perspectives such as conflict or functional theory, or specific theory such as “differential association, or looking glass self”. How would a functionalist explain Anorexia?
Don’t panic. This will be easier than it looks but will require some effort and research. Your biggest tool will be your text book and will be supported outside research.
The idea behind this paper is to make Sociology as a science applicable to life. (*all work must be cited!!!)