Qualitative assessment for 1 The Sociological Perspective

If you choose to do this qualitative assessment for unit 1: The Sociological Perspective, here is the assignment.

General assignment:

This is due one week from today.

For the first assessment, please demonstrate that you can find a sociology research article.  Then, use that article to demonstrate that you understand the sociological perspective and how sociologists do research.  Below are specific questions that you should answer.  

(1 Point each for 1a and 1b):

1a.  Cite your article. 

The American Sociological Association (ASA) has its own format and style guide, but they charge you for the book, so I will show you where to find out how to cite using ASA style below.  ASA style is used less so it is a little harder to find; for example, you can find general help about how to cite from  LUC's libraries here, but it does not include ASA style.  The format for journal articles like those we did in class looks like this: 

 Author Last Name, Author First Name. Year Published. 'Title'. Publication Title  Volume number(Issue number):Pages Used. Retrieved October 10, 2013 (http://Website URL).

If you need more detail than what is above, use one of these other guides:

• Cite This For Me will create citations for you with the citation generator but it also has numerous guides to citing.  https://www.citethisforme.com/citation-generator/asa/how-to-cite-journal
• Purdue Online Writing Lab is really useful.  It has a citation guide here, and the home page is here.
• Harvard has a guide to ASA style.
• UNK has a guide here.

Lastly, Pro Tip - if you use JSTOR for research, the database has a citation generator.  If you have a resource open like a journal and you click citation, it will generate it for you (but check on the format).

1b.  Please include a link to the article so that I can click on it.

2.  Explain how this research can be an example of the sociological perspective.   

Use ONE - either Berger's idea of Social Construction of Reality or Mill's idea of the Sociological Imagination  and explain both: (a)what their idea is and (b)how that idea might apply to the research article.

3.  Explain one of the paradigms.

Choose ONE paradigm: Durkheim's Structural Functional, Marx's Conflict, or Weber's Symbolic Interaction and briefly explain the paradigm and then illustrate how the research looks through the lens of that paradigm.

4.  Explain the type of research.  

We learned about both the general types and specific methods of research that sociologists use.  What general type(s) of research (qualitative, quantitative, longitudinal, cross sectional, etc...) does the author use and why/how do you know?  Then explain what particular method(s) the author uses.  How did they gather their data?  (HINT: Do not confuse the background literature review for the actual research)

5. Explain the conclusions of the research.

What groups/categories are the authors studying?  What conclusions/generalizations do they come to and why are these not stereotypes (explain the difference)? Finally, why should we be careful of how we view outgroups and what might this research shed light on to prevent either outgroup homogeneity or outgroup stereotypes?

6. Critically analyze the article.

What are some of the general ways of being critical about research or statistics in general?  What are some specific ways of being critical of this article's statistics or claims?  Lastly, is this article (or its conclusions) interesting enough that I should use it in my regular lessons (if we cover the topic) for all students to see?

Tips and Recommendations:

• Use a separate app to write and save your responses (such as Word or Google Docs).  Then, to TURN IN the assessment, paste your answers HERE using this Google form.
• Start making an outline ASAP so that if you have questions, next week you have time to get help.
• Be sure to answer ALL parts of each question. 
• If you have trouble, please do not fret alone:
• Use Loyola’s writing center.
• Find me (helpful if you email me a heads up) in Coffey room 418 Usually I am there from 9:15 - 9:45 and then again from 1-2pm.
• Or we can communicate via email, zoom or make an appointment to meet in person.

Grading

6 points each for questions 2- 6 using the scale below:

6 All parts of the question are complete and accurate.

5 answer is slightly either inadequate or inaccurate.

4 answer is either seriously inadequate or inaccurate OR slightly both inadequate or inaccurate.

3 answer is seriously inadequate or inaccurate AND slightly inadequate or inaccurate.

2 answer is BOTH seriously inadequate AND inaccurate.

1 answer shows an attempt to answer but is completely inaccurate.

0 there was no answer provided or answer shows contempt for the course or teacher and/or a lack of seriousness.