PROPOSAL FOR SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF BALTIMORE: annotated bibliography, Research paper, and VIDEO PRESENTATION
Annotated Bibliography (50 points) Due April 14
Research Paper (75 points) Due May 3
Video Presentation (25 points) Due May 10
Assignment Overview
There are many challenges facing the Baltimore area and not necessarily a lot of easy solutions. One of the strengths of the sociological perspective is that it can provide a new or “fresh” perspective on a problem. For this assignment, you will choose a social problem that affects the Baltimore area and will explain how a sociological perspective could be used to think about the problem in a new way.
Please note that you are not expected to provide a solution to the problem. The goal is to explain how a sociologist would develop a research project in order to further study the issue. For instance, if your chosen social problem was jaywalking (people crossing the street illegally), you would write about how sociological concepts such as deviance, or theories such as strain theory or structural disorganization, could be applied by a sociologist in a research project.
Instructions
- There are 3 required portions of this assignment: an annotated bibliography, a research paper, and a short video presentation. Each section of the assignment has a separate deadline. Full instructions are below.
- This is an authenticated assignment, meaning you must provide proof of your identity when submitting your work. This is a CCBC requirement for online classes and is designed to ensure academic honesty. When submitting the video presentation portion of the assignment, you will need to also show a Photo ID. This could be a CCBC ID, a driver’s license, or any similar identification. You must submit a video showing your ID to receive credit for any portion of the assignment.
- Before beginning this assignment, you will need to identify a problem present in the Baltimore area that could benefit from sociological research. You can choose any problem or issue you like, but keep in mind that a definition of sociology is “the study of people doing things together” (Chapter 1). Topics that have been chosen by students in the past include drug addiction, poverty, and low high-school graduation rates. You can choose any issue that relates to the Baltimore area.
Instructions for the Annotated Bibliography
- Choose a Topic
Choose a social problem that is affecting people in the Baltimore area today. There are quite a few topics that will work well for this assignment. Some topics that have worked well for students in the past are poverty/socioeconomic inequality, drug addiction, police-community conflicts, racial segregation, etc.[unique_solution]
- Use CCBC Library Resources to Create an Annotated Bibliography of Existing Research on Your Topic
Once you have selected a topic, use the conduct research on it using the CCBC library databases or high-quality Internet sources. You will need to find 5 high-quality academic information sources about your topic. This can include books, academic journal articles from the CCBC library electronic databases, or news reports from nationally recognized newspapers or magazines. Materials assigned in the class such as the textbook or the videos cannot be counted toward the requirement for 5 information sources. You are welcome to use class materials for writing your paper, but they must be used in addition to the 5 sources you find on your own. Ideally, the research materials should be drawn from the field of sociology, but you may use materials from other related fields. For instance, an academic journal article about the effects of substance abuse on the community written by a physician and published in a medical journal could still be used if it is “sociological” in the sense that it discusses people and the social conditions in which they live.
There is a help file posted with this assignment with more information about using CCBC library resources online.
- Using MLA format, create an annotated bibliography at the end of your paper with entries for each of the 5 information sources. An annotation is a brief summary of the main idea(s) in the book/article and a description of why the information source will be useful for your paper. The annotation you write for each of your 5 information sources should be about 1 paragraph in length. You will need to read the articles and browse the books so you can explain the content of each information source. Do not simply paraphrase or copy a summary or abstract available online. There is a help file posted with this assignment with more information about formatting your bibliography.
Example Annotated Bibliography Entry:
Adams, Samuel, John Adams and Paul Revere and edited by G. I. History “The Importance of Beer and Taverns in the American Revolution.” American Journal of Social History. 97.3 (2008), 354-382. Social History Full Text.
This article discusses the importance of beer and taverns in bringing together discussion of the American Rebellion. It draws on the firsthand experience of three Revolutionaries and their experiences in the pub. The article includes discussion of social class in where one would congregate. This article is useful for my research project because it is the only article I have discovered that contains firsthand information from people alive during this time period.
Instructions for the Research Paper
Write a 2-3 page (single spaced) proposal for a sociological research project focused on the topic you have selected. Your paper should contain all of the information described below. The bibliography is included in the required length. You may format your paper as one continuous essay, or you can divide the paper into the sections listed below.
- Description of the Topic
In the first part of your paper, describe the topic you have selected and explain why the issue is important for society. Use information from at least 2 of the research resources in your annotated bibliography in this section of the paper.
Use in-text citations in your paper in places where you have used information from your research resources. An in-text citation identifies the sources of the information you are using inside parentheses in the paper. For instance, “According to Dr. Brown, sociology is the most popular class at CCBC (Brown 2017).” There is a help file posted with this assignment with more information about formatting in-text citations.
- Apply Three Sociological Concepts to the Issue (most important section for your grade)
Choose 3 of the sociological concepts or theories you have learned about this semester and describe how those 3 concepts can be used to better understand the issue you have selected. We covered several sociological concepts and/or theories each week in the class and you can choose any of them. This a very important section of your paper so be sure you have explained in detail, using quotations or specific references from the textbook or assigned videos, how each sociological concept could be used by a sociologist to understand the problem. Do not use a sociological concept that has not appeared in the textbook or other assigned course materials.
- Conclusion
Write a conclusion that summarizes your own opinion about why a sociologist in particular (as opposed to some other kind of researcher) could make an important contribution to understanding the problem. Think about the unique sociological perspective (the sociological imagination) in writing this portion of the paper. How could sociology give us a fresh perspective on the problem that we might not have considered before?
- Include a Bibliography in MLA Format
Submit a shorter version of your bibliography that includes only the research materials you used in writing your paper. Remove all the annotations (summaries) so that only the bibliographic information is left. Your bibliography should have a minimum of 2 items listed (because a minimum of 2 research sources are required in the first section of your paper). However, if you use more research sources in your paper, you should include them in the bibliography.
Instructions for the Video Presentation
Make a short (less than 5 minutes) video of yourself answering the three questions below. Show a photo ID at the beginning of the video—just hold it up for the camera—so I can verify your identity. You can use your cell phone for this, or any other device that takes digital video. Submit the video through Blackboard using the link provided in the Submit Assignments area, or email it to me at nbrown2@ccbcmd.edu
Questions to Answer in Your Presentation
- How did you select your topic?
- What challenges did you face in finding the right information sources for your research?
- What is the most important thing you would want people to know about your topic?