Research Paper Topics
The topic of your paper can be related to any of the major topics discussed in the course: culture (cultural norms, material and symbolic culture, ethnocentrism), race and ethnicity (racial inequality, the concept of race, race and health disparities, educational disparities, population transfer, colonization, assimilation, and multiculturalism), intersectionality and major sociological perspectives on race and cultural minorities, gender and sexuality, the colonial settler state, health and illness as social issues, mass incarceration, urbanization and gentrification, and any social movement related to race (the Civil Rights Movement, decolonization, immigration, etc.).
Rationale and Purpose
The purpose of this undergraduate research paper is to teach students how to research a topic, to form a research topic question, and to cite appropriate and relevant sources that aid in our understanding of the chosen phenomenon. You will learn how to cite in APA style (the preferred style of sociology) and how to organize your thoughts on paper.
Audience
The audience for your paper will be me, the instructor. As you write, you will use concepts from the course and peer-reviewed academic articles to better explain the topic you have chosen. In the paper, you want to demonstrate that you have a solid understanding of the topic and that you have chosen reasonable and reliable resources to discuss the issue. The paper should not need to be persuasive or an essay, but a formal research paper that lays out the sociological factors driving the phenomenon, data related, and any other aspects that provide for a full discussion of the topic.
Resource/Research Requirements
You must use a total of 3 resources in your research. Each must be cited within the text and on the references page (which is actually page 6, not page 5, of the paper). 1.) Your textbook.
2.) At least one book plus one peer-reviewed academic article in the discipline of sociology.
-OR- 3.) TWO peer-reviewed academic articles.
Articles must be from 2010 until current. Please do not use articles that are more than ten years old.
**In addition, please avoid magazine articles and journals published by think tanks.**
Content Requirements
The paper must use at least 7 concepts/terms from the textbook and lecture. And, these terms must be used in the correct context. Please highlight these in bold