Research Paper Requirements and Guidelines
NOTE:
- You cannot use papers written for any other current or past courses that you have taken to complete this assignment.
- You are to write in third person. Do not write in first person (I, me).
- You may cite the course text but not the module/lecture notes. All that information can be found elsewhere.
- You do not need to include a ‘Title Page’ or ‘Abstract’ (they will not count toward page length) but you do need to follow all other directions with respect to citations and references as noted below.
- Papers must be typed using 12pt TIMES NEW ROMAN FONT only with 1″ margins on all sides.
Research Paper Requirements:
There will be one principal writing assignment required in this course. In this assignment you must select one specific type of deviant behavior and then employ any two (2) different theories with which to explain the occurrence of the particular behavior examined. Available theoretical and empirical criminological/sociological scholarly research literature must be used to support your argument.
Some preliminary bibliographic sources are provided in the syllabus and your texts. Please do not under any circumstances “google” your paper. You must consult Criminological and/or Sociological journals and books for scholarly writing relevant to your topic. Your paper is not to be written all at once, instead it should be written in several successive drafts with new levels of sophistication, density, and insight worked into each draft. Your paper will be submitted via Bb using the ‘view/submit assignment link’ found above on this page. Please review the following, along with the information provided above, in terms of what is expected and the respective due date which is also noted on the schedule and in the research paper area on our Blackboard course site.
Since the purpose of this paper is for you to apply theory to a type of deviant behavior your first job is to choose the ‘behavior’ itself and then secondly to choose the ‘theories’ of which you will use to analyze that behavior. Although you could choose the theory first if one or more is of particular interest to you. So whether you approach the process deductively or inductively is also your choice also. Deciding on the behavior to examine and the theories to utilize is the hardest part for many students because there are so many options. As there are so many areas covered in the class you should choose the one that interests you the most and that goes for the theory as well. Remember that I can help direct you but you must choose an ‘area’ first and that if you feel stuck at any point just contact me.
- Please note the following (taking from the course materials section on Bb) and also remember that you are applying two (2) theories to your ‘type of deviant behavior.’
- You should first explain the overarching view (either positivist or constructionist) and then the specific theories you are going to use.
- You can use either two positivist theories or two constructionist theories, or one of each.
Positivist Views (rational choice, routine activities, social disorganization, strain, etc)
- Attempt to explain the occurrence, enactment, and/or distribution of deviant or criminal behavior.
- An explanation for why deviant behavior is enacted (Why do they do it?).
- Deviance is a type of action that needs to be explained.
- Concerned with the factors that lead certain people to violate the rules or those that produce higher rates of deviance in some societies or areas then others.
- Concerned with how and why certain circumstances encourage deviant behavior.
Constructionist Views (functionalism, labeling, conflict, feminist, etc)
- Focus on what makes certain actions deviant.
- Turns the attention to the issue around.
- The spotlight is on society and the groups within society that make and enforce the rules instead of only on the rule-violator.
- Why rules are made in the first place?
- Who makes the rules?
- Why certain types of rules are made?
- Why certain types of people are apprehended and punished?
- What are the consequences of rule-making and rule-enforcement.
Guidelines for Research Paper:
Citation Style:
- Supporting evidence: Papers should contain at least 8 scholarly referred journals and/or academic books. Any and all material that is not common knowledge or from personal experience is to be cited!!! Scholarly referred journals are typically viewed as more reputable and informative than trade sources (Newsweek, U.S.A., Today, Time, The National Inquirer, and so on). Cite all your sources using either ASA or APA citation style. If you aren’t familiar with the intricacies of citation styles, there are plenty of books in the bookstore that explain it. Usually, professional journals outline citation style on the inside cover of each issue. Don’t mess this up by not knowing how it’s done!!!
- DO NOT COPY AND PASTE ANYTHING!!! I cannot stress this enough and for most students it is not an issue, but let me say this: copying any text without proper in-text and respective reference page citations amounts to plagiarism. All of this is explained in great detail below, so I expect it not to happen. I have no problem with failing students who do not comply with this and I have done so in the past.
Length:
- The paper should be between 8-10 (double-space) full pages of text (this does not include the cover/title or reference pages).
- Quality is always more important than quantity, but normally it will take at least 8 pages to soundly complete each of these assignments.
- You are to write in third person. Do not write in first person (I, me).
Some Important Advice Concerning Papers:
- Papers need a narrative style. They should begin somewhere and end somewhere, i.e., introduction, argument, conclusion.
- References must be cited in such a way that your narrative is clearly distinguishable from that of your sources. Don’t paraphrase sources except very briefly.
- You will be exposed to a lot of different ideas in the course, some of them controversial. Don’t write a paper that completely ignores the content of the course. If you agree with something from lecture or reading, use the ideas; if you disagree, that’s fine, but state the nature of your disagreement.
- Papers should contain a title (an actual ‘title page’ is optional), the author’s (your) name, course number and name.
- Type papers in 12-point type using only Times New RomanFont.
- Leave one-inch margins on all four sides.
- Do not type papers in boldface, large type, or with extra wide margins. Readers immediately assume that these are strategies to make the paper look longer than it is.
- Pages should be numbered and on one-side only.
- Take special care with your references or bibliography page. Most readers look at it very carefully as they read the text of the paper. If you are citing World Wide Web sources, make sure you make clear the nature of the source. Don’t just cite the URL. Some sources are actually published articles or books, while others are uninformed commentary, which should be considered data rather than sources.
- Your papers must be submitted via Bb following the submission directions located in research paper area on our Bb course site.
- E-mailed, drop-box, and/or any papers slipped under my office door, dropped off to the department secretary and/or placed in my mailbox will not be accepted.
- Late papers will be penalized 10pts per each day late.
SOME TIPS ON WRITING:
- Prepare an outline or list of points to make before you write.
- Unblock by writing the first thing that comes into your head. Then REVISE. Remember it is difficult but possible to express complex ideas in clear, concise prose.
- Transition ideas from paragraph to paragraph
- Read over your work with fresh eyes (and read out loud) to revise and proof your text.
- Do keep in mind the point you are making while you write, and use clear language.
- Cite properly in-text or in a “bibliography” or “works cited” page.
- Do not stare at a blank computer screen when you are at a loss for words.
- Do not trust research sources gained from Google or Wikipedia.
- Do trust research from:
- Course materials
- Academic journal articles (e.g. JSTOR is an excellent database)
- Scholarly books (books from university presses and other academic publishers).
- Do not make your text too complex or simplistic. Suit your writing to both. your topic and your reader.
- Do not pad your work with irrelevant anecdotes or quotes.
- Above all, put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Will they understand what you mean?
In-text Citations and References:
All students are required to follow ASA or APA rules for format and style when writing papers for sociology/criminology. Below are examples for both in-text citations and the bibliography page. If you have any questions, search on the Internet for “ASA/APA style guides” to find links to several on-line postings that provide additional detail on citation guidelines.
In-text citations
You must cite the original author if you pull in either exact phrases or sentences, or if you use essentially the same ideas, concepts, or research findings — even if paraphrasing. That is, even if you rewrite the author?s words, you must still cite the original author as the source of the ideas. When referencing work in the body of a paper, you must always include (a) the author name, and (b) the year of publication.
Example:
In her study of men in “women?s professions,” Williams (1995) demonstrates that men are not disadvantaged by their gender minority status in the same way that women often are in predominantly male workplaces.
You can also cite multiple authors who draw on the same ideas, who have similar findings on similar topic.
Example:
Men in “women?s professions” often feel their masculinity is called into question by outsiders (Williams 1995; Cross and Bagilhole 2002).
Whenever you draw on a new idea, concept, or finding, you must use internal citations with author?s names and years of publications. However, if you are discussing the same article or author in a series of sentences, you only need to provide a citation the first time.
Example:
Miller (1997) demonstrates how the military men in her study engage in gender harassment of their women superiors. She illustrates several forms of this gender harassment, including foot-dragging and rumor spreading.
Note: In the second sentence, there is no citation for the year, as you provided it in the previous sentence. However, if you discuss Miller later in the paper, you will provide the year again to make clear you are discussing the same article.
When quoting directly, you must also include the page(s) the quote is found on, and enclose the quote in parentheses.
Example:
According to Tran (2002:34), the “way of the way is the way.”
For citations with four or more authors, use “et al.” rather than list all author names in-text.
Example:
Research has documented elevated infant mortality rates among children born to teenage mothers (Jackson et al. 1992).
Do not use titles of books and articles in your paper, or the author?s first name. Rather, use the author?s last name and internal citations to give the year of the publication.
Example:
INSTEAD of: Virginia Valian, in her 1999 book Why So Slow: The Advancement of Women, shows that women in professional occupations often advance more slowly than their men counterparts.
USE: Valian (1999) shows that women in professional occupations often advance more slowly than their men counterparts.
Common mistakes you should take care to avoid:
In all of these examples listed above, the period comes AFTER the parentheses, NOT before it. Please remember that the author citation is part of the sentence, so it should be listed before you end the sentence with a period.
Many students use too many direct quotes from a book or journal article. Quotes should be used very sparingly, while paraphrasing from the text should be the norm.
Works Cited page:
A Works Cited page lists all sources cited in the paper. The page should follow the basic format of author, year of publication, title of publication, publisher, and if an article, the volume and page numbers. Here are some examples (note that all authors after the first author have their first names listed first)
- Anderson, Maya. 1978. Ever Heard of Hip Hop? New York: Oxford University Press.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2006. “Cigarette Use Among High School Students – United States, 1991-2005.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports 55:724-726.
- Cleary, Paul D., Lawrence B. Zaborski, and John Z. Ayanian. 2004. “Sex Differences in Health over the Course of Midlife.” Pp. 37-63 in How Healthy Are We? A National Study of Well-being in Midlife, edited by O.G. Brim, C.D. Ryff, and R.C. Kessler. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- U.S. Census Bureau. 2002. “Hispanics Growing Fast.” Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce. Retreived March 30, 2007. (http://www.census.gov/hispanic.html).
- Williams, Genia. 1997. “The Lonely Way.” American Journal of Sociology 42:37-64.
- Zenia, Genco. 2007. Personal Interview. Conducted April 2, 2007.