SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology (Professor Roche)

Navigating Scholarly Literature

This assignment will require you to choose a topic that is related to the course and to find two, empirical, sociological, and scholarly articles that connect to your topic.  

To start, describe your topic and discuss why you chose it.

Once you have found your two articles, please complete the following tasks for EACH article separately. 

1. Write a full ASA citation of the article.
2. Write a description of the research question or research focus of the article. What is the research about? (one paragraph)
3. Describe the main themes that the author(s) explore from the literature review.  Include a few examples of literature that the authors discuss (1/2 page)
4. Describe the methods.  How did the author(s) gather their data?  How did they analyze the data? (1/2 page max)
5. What are the major findings of the article (this should be the majority of your discussion)? (1 – 1 1/2 pages).
6. How do the findings help you to understand your topic?  What sociological  are the sociological connections to your topic?  (1/2-1 page)
7. What did you learn in the conclusion?  Do the authors make recommendations for future research?  If so, describe.  If not, how does the author(s) conclude their article?  (1/2 page)

For full assignment guidelines, please visit Cougar Courses.