GUIDANCE IN WRITING
TERM PAPERS FOR
SOCIOLOGY STUDENTS
Mary
C. Sengstock PhD, CCS
Professor
Department
of Sociology
Wayne State University
TERM
PAPERS:
In most instances, students will find that the most appropriate manner
of fulfilling a term paper assignment will be by writing a library
research
paper. You will be expected to review the literature on some topic
related
to the material in the course. You should review a number of sources at
least equal to the number of pages in the assigned paper (e.g., 8-10
sources
for an 8-10 page paper). These sources should normally be of the
following
types:
1) professional books in
the area;
2) articles in professional
journals
(EX: American Sociological Review; Journal of Marriage and the
Family;
Law and Society Journal; etc.)
No more than 2 sources may be from "popular" publications, such as
daily newspapers, general readership magazines (such as Time,
Newsweek),
or the daily newspaper. NOTE:
This also includes the Internet. (See note below.)
It is of course expected that the paper will be your own work. That
should be assumed in a college class. This means that:
1) Under no circumstances
will you turn in a paper written by someone else, either from published
materials, or from a kindly friend who agrees to write a paper for you,
or from a professional agency which writes papers for students for a
fee.
You should also avoid "recycling" a paper which you have submitted for
another class (this term or previously).
2) Any material in the paper
which is taken from another source MUST have the source indicated. If
the
material is a direct quote, the material must be in quotation marks ("
"). If only the sense of the material is copied, and the ideas are
expressed
in your own words, then the material need not be in quotes. However,
the
source of the material must still be stated.
3) Do not use
escessive quotations. The paper should be your work, not a series
of quotes from other people. In general, there should be more
more
than 1 direct quote for each 4-5 pages of your paper.
Please Note: Failure to indicate where you got the materials in your paper will result in a considerable loss of points in the grade for the paper. As a general rule, papers can contribute considerably to students' grades in my courses. Do not lose points by failing to indicate where the ideas you present were learned.
Citations:
Citations of material used as references may be in any acceptable form.
These include:
1) Footnotes (at the bottom
of the page). The footnote should list: Name of author; book/article
where
the material appeared; page where it appeared.
2) Endnotes (at the end
of the paper). Contents as noted in (1) above.
3) References within the
text of the paper. This is probably the easiest method. You simply need
to place a complete Bibliography of the references you used at the end
of the paper. In the body of the paper, whenever you refer to an idea
taken
from one of your sources, you indicate the name of the author, date of
the publication, and the page from which the reference was
taken. (EX: A reference to a book listed in the Bibliography as: Smith,
James L. American Family Problems Today. New York: Academic
Publishers,
1997, would appear in the body of the paper as: (Smith, 1997: 193) --
where
"193" is the page where the quote or idea appeared.
Students should take particular care to insure that they DO NOT
PLAGERIZE.
That is, they should never use the writings of others and pass them off
as their own written work. This, of course, involves avoiding the
copying of papers written by others and submitting them as your
own.
It also involves appropriate citing the works of others to which you
refer,
and indicating when you have used quoted the works of other authors in
your papers. If you have any questions about the appropriate
manner
of quoting others' work and making appropriate citations, please see my
special section on
QUOTING AND PARAPHRASING in the longer web site on
Writing Sociology Papers.
Bibliography: Whatever system of notes you use, you will need to have a complete list of books and articles consulted at the end of your paper.
A Few Additional Hints for
a
Good Paper:
1) Length and Form: Papers should be approximately 8-10 pages, typed,
double spaced (12-15 pages for Graduate Students and Honors Students).
2) As noted above, do not use excessive quotations. Quoting material from other authors should be done sparingly. This should be your paper, not a series of quotes from other authors. There should be no more than 1 quote for each 4-5 pages.
3) Number the pages of your paper. It is very annoying to have to flip back and forth to make comments when there are no page numbers.
4) Give your paper a meaningful title -- one that provides a rough description of your topic. "Sociology Term Paper" or the title of the course are NOT good term paper titles!
5) Staple your paper neatly in the upper left hand corner. Do NOT enclose your term paper in a folder of any kind. I HATE them and they only cost you extra money.
6) Watch your grammar, spelling, and punctuation! Yes, I do take
points
off for mistakes in these areas. They also make it difficult, if not
impossible,
for the reader to understand what you are saying. Make sure I can
understand
your points by using good English. Be sure to proofread before
your
turn your paper in!
A
SPECIAL
NOTE ON THE INTERNET AS A SOURCE:
The Internet is a marvelous mechanism for obtaining information. Many
professional journals and libraries now have their materials on the
web,
so you can consult them from your home or office. And web sites can
direct
you to important data sources. However, web sites are NOT
professionally
reviewed and are often biased. They cannot substitute for professional
journals. They may be considered in the category of "popular sources,"
as described above. Hence, no more than 2 of your sources may be from a
combination of such sources, including web sites. You will lose points
if you depend on them.
While the Internet is a marvelous mechanism for locating
information,
anyone can upload -- or "publish" -- material on the Web.
Consequently,
many of these sources have not been reviewed by anyone other than the
author.
You may use the Web to locate sources, but if you base your term paper
on web sites, you will lose points.
ALTERNATE PAPER ASSIGNMENT:
In some classes, notably those with a strong practical or applied
focus,
an alternate paper assignment may be available for graduate students
and/or
for undergraduates in lieu of the regular review of literature paper
described
above. If this option is available for the class you are taking, you
will
be so informed either in the early weeks of the class or on the class
syllabus,
or both.
The Alternate Paper Assignment requires the following:
1) Service in a social,
legal, or medical agency related to the topic of the course. This may
be
on a volunteer basis, or paid if the student has access to such a
position.
Students are responsible for finding their own agency positions. I do
not
have the resources for placing students, nor overseeing their work, so
I cannot take responsibility for their students' work in the agencies.
2) A paper of approximately
8-10 pages (12-15 pages for Graduate Students) must be written
analyzing
the student's experience in the agency. This paper may focus on some
specific
aspect of the agency's work, on some problem the student found
particularly
interesting, etc. It should not be a simple description of the work.
3) The paper does not have
to have outside publications as sources, as in a normal research paper.
However, students will be expected to make reference to theoretical
materials
used in class, and indicate the manner in which the course materials
were
supported or not supported in the experience which was obtained in the
agency. (Incidentally, having the class materials NOT
supported, and why you believe this was so, may be at least as
important
as
finding that they were supported.)
PLEASE NOTE:
This assignment requires a considerable commitment of your time. It is
not really an "easy" way of getting out of writing a paper. In most
instances
it will be more difficult than a standard library research paper. It
requires
a substantial amount of service time in the agency, as
well as a rather thorough and insightful analysis of the experience
in the light of your increasing knowledge of an area of sociology, as a
result of the class readings and discussion. It can, however, be a good
experience for students with an intense interest in the specific area
the
class
covers.
Revised 6/26/11