Dr.
Dobbertin
This is the capstone course in the Sociology
program and the course in which you bring together skills and knowledge gained
throughout your college program. In this
course you demonstrate your intellectual abilities as a person about to become
a college graduate. You will want to
give considerable energy and effort to make the your
senior research paper and presentation the absolute best you can do.
You will have two semesters to compete the
project. Most students start reading and
writing in preparation for this major project in the spring semester of their
junior year.
This project is excellent preparation for reports
you will probably have to write in future employment and for graduate work, if
you continue your formal studies. This course will challenge your character and
work habits perhaps more than to your intellectual ability. You will need organizational abilities to schedule
your own work, discipline to stick
to your schedule, imagination to
create your own project, ability to work
with others to give and receive suggestions, humility to ask for help when you need it, and, most important, courage to plunge ahead in a project
without having a clear idea of the form and shape of the outcome.
The major product of this course is a sociological research paper and presentation. It is completed in stages, each step more clearly defining the final product.Through a library search last spring, you have transformed your general area of interest into a research proposal. During this fall semester, you will read and reflect upon sociological theory and research directly related to your hypothesis and will write the "Review of Literature" chapter summarizing these. This will be completed and presented to the class during the tenth week of fall semester. During the remaining weeks of Fall semester you will write a draft of your plan for conducting research, using your texts on research methods and statistics, and other resources as are necessary. During spring semester, you will secure approval for your project, conduct the research and analyze the data, using inferential and/or descriptive statistics. The final report will consist of:
1. a title page,*
2. an abstract (written
last),
3. a table of contents,
4. a chapter reviewing
the literature, developed from notes created during your library research but
written by you in your words, *
5. the methods chapter, which is the plan for
gathering data and the second part of the report to be written,*
6. the findings and analysis, which is the chapter
wherein you present your data, the
7. inferential and description statistics with
charts and/or tables, and the implications of these for your hypothesis,
8. a conclusion, included if you wish to discuss the
policy or theoretical implications of your findings,
9. the list of references used in the report is
required,* and
10. an appendix which may be necessary to include the
questionnaire or interview schedule, etc.
*These parts
will be written fall semester.
Guidelines for the research paper include the following.
1.
The paper will be written in APA style. A manual is available at the Library
Circulation Desk.
2.
All ideas will be cited with page(s) given. All material used must be available to me,
through the library, on-line or photocopy provided by the student. All note cards must be turned in with the
paper.
3.
The student will use a minimum of quotations. Papers with excessive or unnecessary quotes
will be returned for revision and will be considered late.
4.
Papers with writing errors or problems of style will be
returned for revision and will be considered late. It is assumed that the student will revise
her/his writing about 3 to 5 times to produce a paper reflecting the student’s
best effort. Even very accomplished
professional writers do not do their best in their first drafts. Good writing is the product of revision.
5.
Making your written work concise is an important step in revision. Most students” first drafts are too wordy. Expect 4 or 5 pages in early drafts to yield
2 to 3 pages in final form.
6.
The end product will be about 25 pages of text for items
4 - 7 listed of contents above. Use font
of 12, one-inch margins all around, and double spacing.
7.
All presentations are to be given using a limited number
of note cards. You cannot read your
paper for the presentation. You will
speak, not read, to the class.
Presentations are required
for credit in the course.
It is expected that, as a college senior, you are a competent writer
and are able to use the computer as a word processor and to produce
graphics. It is expected that the report
will be written using a computer and that at least one computer-generated table
or chart will be included in the paper.
For assistance with writing or computer problems, use the
EARNING THE GRADE
The quality of the
final paper and presentation will determine 70% of your grade in this course.
Thirty percent of your grade will be based upon your performance on assignments
and participation in collaborative work in class, including listening and
responding to colleagues’ presentations.
Late work will lose 20% of its credit.
There is no make-up for collaborative class work.
Plagiarism will result in failing
the course. Failing the course means
returning to repeat the course next year
to remove the F grade. Whatever
requirements you may have had for other papers in other courses, in this course
you will compose your paper, using and citing many ideas from your readings,
but using your words, your sentence
structure, and your phrases. Do not
paraphrase sources. Typically
paraphrasing produces papers with poor flow and lack of clarity. Often paraphrasing leads to plagiarism. To avoid plagiarism and paraphrasing, I strongly
recommend that you follow these procedures in making reading notes.
1. Read and understand the source
before you pick up pencil or pen or touch the keyboard,
2. close the source,
then write or keyboard your notes, and
3. keep the source
closed during the entire time you are writing your note(s).
Remember,
READ, CLOSE BOOK, WRITE NOTES.
Please do not plagiarize. The above will be applied without exception.
CONSIDER the following.
>This is the BIG
project of your college years. You want
to be proud of it.
>This project
requires time spent working, not worrying or avoiding work.
>Finishing the
paper requires making a schedule, revising it when needed, and completing
scheduled tasks,
one day at a time.
>Needing help is
not a weakness, but needing help and failing to ask for help is.
>If you can write a
paragraph, you can write this paper.