TEACHSOC: Teaching Sociology Journals

[Susan Webb]

John Glass asked whether students understand journal articles, a legitimate concern.  Below I’ve pasted an assignment I use, adapted from materials passed on to me when I was a grad student at North Carolina State University in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  I do a similar assignment in most classes, tailoring the specific journal list to the class.  I spend at least two class days discussing ‘the literature’ and walking through student responses to the assignment with them after small group discussions and comparisons of what they’ve found.  The assignment is a useful one very early in the semester and is usually followed by literature review assignments requiring use of the journals.   Susan Webb President,  National Council of State Sociological Associations and Professor of Sociology Coastal Carolina University (843) 349-2933     SAMPLE ASSIGNMENT:   Sociology 305: Sociology of the Family Research Summary and Critique Assignment     Due Tuesday, February 1, 2005           40 points   The objectives of this assignment are to familiarize you with scholarly research in the sociology of the family, to engage you in examining analytical and empirical questions, to involve you in applying theoretical and research terminology in literature reviews, and to encourage you to clearly assess research reports.   Select and read a research article (i.e. an article that states a research question, uses specific research methods, sampling and data techniques, and reports research findings), published on or after January 1, 1995, in one of the following journals: American Journal of Sociology                                      Do not use the same article American Sociological Review                                       a classmate or friend has read. Journal of Marriage and the Family Rural Sociology Social Forces   DO NOT RESHELVE JOURNALS – put them on carts provided in the library.  Check with a reference librarian if you cannot find the journal you want.   The article must relate to a subject in the Sociology of the Family -- use the Subject Index beginning on page 533 of the text as a guide.  If you search for a specific article using online sources, use a concept from the subject index as a keyword included in the abstract.    If online, use full text articles only (some/all of these journals are available in InfoTrac OneFile, Expanded Academic Index, JSTOR).  If you use print sources, you can browse through volumes and issues of the journal you select to locate articles related to text subjects.  READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE; COPY OR PRINT OUT THE FIRST PAGE TO TURN IN WITH THE ASSIGNMENT.   Summarize and critique the article in a paper of 500 (2 pages, minimum) to 1250 (5 pages, maximum) words, typed, double-spaced.  Do a cover page (staple, upper left corner)with the title:   Summary and Critique of [A full citation of the article] (Author(s), Year,  Article title, Journal name, Volume number, Issue number, Page numbers) Your name The course The university And the date   Attach  a copy (or printout) of the first page of the article to the back of your summary and critique.    The paper must summarize and evaluate the research article.  The summary must be more extensive than the paper abstract.  Use your own words; if you must quote phrases or sentences from the article use APA or ASA citations with page number.  Cover the following four areas: 1.      Thesis:  Clearly state the main points, concepts, and theoretical bases of the article.   Summarize these in your own words as much as possible; if you use words from the article, provide citations. 2.      Methods:  What methods did the author use to investigate the topic?  In other words, how did the author go about supporting the thesis?  Summarize the independent and dependent variables, research methods and design, sampling, and analysis techniques used.  Were the variables, methods, sampling, and analysis appropriate and effective? 3.      Evidence:   What were the findings of the study?  What evidence did the author use?  How well did the evidence support the thesis?  4.       Evaluation:  What are the strengths and weaknesses of the article?  Who would benefit from reading the article, and how would the research be of help to them?  What is your evaluation of the article?  What suggestions do you have for repeating this study or one like it?   The following questions can guide you in your reading and analysis of the article:   SUMMARY The Research Problem: What general questions(s) is/are addressed?  What is the overall purpose of the research? The Literature Review: How does the study relate to other theories and research findings? The Theoretical Framework: What concepts and theories guide the research?  How are concepts defined? Hypotheses: What specific question(s) is/are the author(s) attempting to answer? Research Design: Stated generally, how were the data gathered (questionnaires, interviews, observations, experiment, secondary analysis, etc.)?  What independent, dependent, control and/or other variables were used? Sample: To what general population does the research pertain?  Who (what) were the objects of study? How was the sample selected? Procedure: Specifically, how were the data gathered and analyzed?  Describe briefly what was done in the study.  What statistical or other procedures were used to analyze the data? Observations:  What were the results of the study? Conclusions: Were the hypotheses accepted, rejected, or modified?  Was the purpose of the investigation fulfilled?  CRITIQUE   General:  Does the paper contribute substantially to knowledge?  Are there errors of logic or unstated assumptions and values?  Is the writing clear and precise (remember the journal readers are professionals in the field)?  What are the overall strengths and weaknesses of the report? The Research Problem: Is the problem stated fully and clearly? Is there adequate justification for doing the research?  Are the objectives of the research clear and convincing? The Literature Review: How adequate is the literature review? Does the review accurately relate to the research problem? Is there literature which should have been included but was not? The Theoretical Framework: Are the concepts of the study clearly and fully defined? Are the relationships between the concepts logically and effectively stated? Is the author's thinking clear and acceptable? Hypotheses:  Are the hypotheses: clearly stated? free of subjective content? testable? relevant to the literature, theory, concepts? Are alternative hypotheses discussed? Could the hypotheses be improved? How? Research Design: Is the design appropriate for the theory and concepts? Is the sample representative of the population? Will the variables provide the proper data to test the hypotheses? Are the variables reliable, valid measures of the concepts? Does the author explain how potentially disruptive factors and extraneous variables will be eliminated or controlled? Do the techniques used seem appropriate and acceptable? Does it appear the study was thoroughly planned prior to the collection of data? Could the research design be improved?  How? Data and Analysis: Does the author specify where, when, how and by whom the data was collected? Could the data collection have been improved?  Is the method of data analysis clearly explained? Is the data analysis method adequate? To what extent are the hypotheses supported or refuted? Conclusions and Discussion: Does the author express reasonable caution before accepting the data as supporting the hypotheses?  If the hypotheses are not fully supported, are efforts made to explain the deviation from expected results? Are the author's claims for the findings consistent with the data? Is the evidence presented in the article sufficient for the author's conclusions? To what extent did the author accomplish the purposes of the study? How might the author's conclusions and discussion be improved?   --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to teachsoc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---