Sociology 302 Social Research Methods Prof. J. Badagliacco

Written Assignment 2: Literature Review and Theoretical Perspective

This assignment is worth 50 points toward your overall grade, and is due in class on Thursday September 27. I expect you to use a word processing program with 1 inch margins and no greater than 12-point type font. Your paper does not need to be longer than four pages; indeed, parsimony and succinctness are good, but you must do the assignment in a thorough and complete manner. Remember that the quality of written expression is very important to research, and how you say something as well as what you say is important.

In the previous writing assignment, you introduced your audience on your research topic, and why it is important to study. In this assignment, you will add the following, although your paper must be able to stand alone (apart) from your earlier work, but complement it. That is, I should be able to read it as a complete paper.

1. Revise WA1 into one or two well written paragraphs.
   
   
2. Add a literature review that examines the research that already exists on your research question.

3. Use sociological journals or books. If you are in doubt, ask the Teaching Assistants or me. You should have a minimum of four sources, and, generally, they should be recent, i.e., within the last twenty years. Do not use newspapers or magazines. Recall that we have had a library consultation, that Babbie covers this material in Appendix A, and that you are a bright and energetic individual.

4. What have others social scientists learned about your topic? Describe briefly (summarize) what others have found. Weave well your discussion from one journal article to the next. What did you learn about your topic? Have we found out everything we can about the topic? What are the shortcomings of the research? What can be added to our understanding and collective knowledge?

5. What sociological theory(ies) appear most useful or applicable to what you are studying? Introduce here only sociological theories.

Hints to help you:

-- A well written published scholarly article from a Journal can serve as an example for your work. Examine an article on your topic; it should also contain a literature review. (Be careful not to plagiarize, or your will receive no credit for this assignment and, by the way, you will fail the class, which you cannot retake.)

-- Journal articles will have bibliographies that should point you to other relevant articles.

-- Computerized searches can't be beat! Reference librarians are on hand to help to do a search for relevant articles.

-- Use the internet and the web to search for recent material that will help you with this paper, BUT, be sure you give full references so I can examine the site, AND, be sure that you have used a reputable source.