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SOCI 101 (McEntee): Projects

Finding a Sociological Source

Sociological sources, what does that mean?

Dr. McEntee requires you to cite sociological sources. A sociological source needs to be a scholarly source (see above) and either A) written by someone with a degree in sociology/working in the field of sociology or B) published in a sociological journal. So how do we determine that? Say you have developed your keywords to search in a database. You have selected an article from the results list, and you have already determined (via the criteria above in the Scholarly or Popular? box) that it is a scholarly source. Now it is time to determine if it is sociological.

A) written by someone with a degree in Sociology/working in the field of Sociology

Many databases have an authors' affiliations section for each article's record. It may indicate either their degree or that they work in a university's sociology department. You may also consider departments like cultural anthropology, human geography, or others mentioned in Dr. McEntee's course materials to be sociological in nature.

If none of the information is available, you can certainly take to a search engine like Google to see what kind of information you can dig up about an author.

B) published in a sociological journal

Any journal that has sociology (and no other discipline named) in the title or is published by the American Sociological Association (ASA) may be considered a sociological journal. Some big ones to note that do not have sociology in the title, but are indeed sociological journals, are Social Forces, Gender & Society, and Continuity & Change.

Source Requirements for Group Project

1. Team's Dependent Variable is: Sociological; Related to a current social problem/issue reflecting structured inequalities; and is Connected to the sociological approach to 'sustainability'.
Be sure Dr. McEntee has approved your team's topic before selecting sources.

 

2. Each team member will contribute at least the following sources to the team project:
Individual contributions are assessed by the Annotated Bibliography/Reference List.

  • 2 NEW Data Sources (at least one of which is a map, graph, chart, or image to be used as a slide in the presentation)
  • 2 NEW Semi-Scholarly Sources, published within the past 2 years (2023-2025)
  • 2 NEW Sociological Sources, published within the last 10 years (2015-2025)
    • 1 of these Sociological Sources could/should be the Team Source that will be shared by all team members to provide the framework for your Part I & Part II assignments

NEW = Not used for previous course work

Final Team Project

PART I: Team Reference List

  • due Sunday April 27th for SOCI 101.003 T/R 9:30 am class
  • due Sunday April 27th for SOCI 101.002  M/W/F 1:00 pm class
  • Each source must be referenced correctly and labeled:
    • by type (Sociological, Semi-Scholarly, or Data)
    • and by student who supplied it (or labeled as the team source)
  • Source selection for your team work is key to the quality of the argument your team is making.
    • Your team sociological source should provide the framework for your Presentation, & other sources should support, supplement, and clarify that framework.
  • If you add/subtract sources before Presentation day, you must include an updated team reference list with your last submission!
    • In-text citations from all sources on the ref list must appear in submitted notes

Part II:  PowerPoint Presentation AND Notes; 

  • due Saturday May 17th for SOCI 101.003, T/H 9:30 a.m. class
  • due Sunday May 18th for SOCI 101.002, M/W/F 1:00 p.m. class
  • Presentations will be during Final Exam Periods, so final submissions (based on instructor's input from presentations) are due by the end of the day of your SOCI 101 final.
  • POWERPOINT slides should be MAINLY graphs, charts, tables, images with MINIMAL TEXT 
    • Any graphics used in the presentation must be appropriately cited on the slides. 
    • Use PowerPoint slides to...
      • describe Team's dependent variable
      • AND key independent variables
      • AND social/causal relationships, including: 
        • illustrations of answers to 3 central questions
        • use of classic tensions or key sociological themes/theories to 'frame' your team's argument/presentation
        • illustrations of disproportionality and structured inequalities, intersectionality
        • identification of key social positions/status and their roles/influences.
    • Include Team's Thesis Statement in one sentence, early on
    • Include strategies for 'fixing' the social issue 
      • Remember: any text on the slides should be very short
  • NOTES should be organized by slide / bullet pointed to demonstrate how your individual and Team sources are valuable in your research and construct this argument 
    • Your team should submit one Notes document, organized first by Team member, and then for each Team member, by slide 
    • Each Team member needs to supply notes for their part of the presentation reflecting on the contributions of their sources (with in-text cites) to the team's presentation -- Notes must also include use of Course Required Materials with in-text citations.
      • Think of Notes as your basic talking points organized by slide; each student should clearly indicate the slide (by number) that their notes refer to & should make extensive use of sources that are cited
        • Each Team member is responsible for demonstrating how each their individual Project Sources are used (as identified by labels on the final Team Reference List)

Part III: Team Presentation

All Teams present in a pre-determined order during the scheduled Final Exam period in your regular classroom

  • University scheduled Final Exam Times are: 
    • Tuesday May 20th, from 8 - 10:30 a.m. for SOCI 101.003, the 9:30 am Tuesday/Thursday class
    • Tuesday May 20th, from 4:15 - 6:45 pm for SOCI 101.002, the 1:00 p.m. Monday/Wednesday/Friday class

Your team will have a window of time to make corrections and resubmit assignment materials, so make sure you are following guidance on format/content instructions or recommendations, responding to your professor's comments, correcting issues, and that you have talked with your instructor about any updates your team needs to make. Any resubmissions should include all parts that have been submitted previously. 

 Submissions will be allowed until the end of the day of your Final Exam; as long as updates to the power point and notes incorporating your instructors' prior comments are submitted by 11:59 pm this day and reflect what was actually presented, relevant parts of the Final (Team) Project will be updated for your final grade.