Literature Question

As you learned in this weeks lesson, sociologists use the scientific method to get at the truth of things. The scientific method involves observation, theorization, the identification of a research question, background research, choosing a methodology, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting your findings in a research journal. In this journal assignment you are going to get some experience doing background research. Take a look at your journal assignment from the last unit. Notice that the journal is composed of observationsyou made about your life, like the social facts that influence you.

For this weeks assignment, pick one of those observations and construct a research question. Then, do some library research to investigate this question. Find three scholarly journals, read the articles, and create a short response summarizing what the articles have to say about your research question.

Instructions outlining the Learning Journal and your submission options, including expected word count, weighting, and submission instructions, are provided in the . Please use the Learning Journal Submission Template to submit your journal entries.

For best marks you should do the following:

• Provide a well-constructed answer that stays within the word or time limits.
• Use as many concepts from the unit as you can. Focus on concepts highlighted in bold.
• Incorporate as many sociological theories identified in the chapter as possible.
• Cite the text. Whenever you are using concepts from the text, make sure to cite the text, including the page number. This might seem onerous, but citing page numbers is excellent practice for when you are required to do term papers.

If you are submitting a written response, be sure to follow an appropriate style sheet for all your entries. A style sheet is guideline for how your papers should look when you submit them. Style sheets specify the font and font sizes you can use, your page margins (usually one inch), the header and page number format, and how citations appear in your text. In sociology, we use the . Please refer to that guide when formatting your submissions.

We provide a submission template to get you started (). Use this template as a general guide on what to include, and be sure to familiarize yourself with the ASA style guide for headings, font, line spacing, and such. You will be docked marks for failing to apply the appropriate styles.

If you are submitting a written response and do not have access to MS Word, please remember to save your document as a DOCX file before uploading it to the assignment submission link. Most commonly available (and free) word processing programs, such as OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Pages, or Google Docs, allow you to save your document in various file formats, including DOCX.

Please submit all assignments using the tools provided in the Assessments tabdo not email your assignments. If you are unable to submit your assignment, contact your tutor.