SOCL 390: Senior Seminar in Sociology

Thursday 5:00-7:30; SCHU 209

Fall 2007

Instructor: Alex= Thomas	Office: 416 Fitzell= e
Office Hours: T 2:0= 0-4:00 ; Th 1:00-2:00; & by a= pp’t	Phone: 436-2149
	Email: thom= asa@oneonta.edu

Website: http://webserver1.oneonta.edu/faculty/thomasa/

Course Description & Object= ives

This is the senior = level capstone course for the Liberal Arts Sociology major. By the end of this course, the stu= dent will have a full understanding of the application of sociological theory to= contemporary issues.

Course Format & Policies

= 1.&n= bsp; You are exp= ected to attend all classes and read all assigned materials. Participation is mandatory.

In the event that you miss one of your presentations, you will be assigned a grade of zero (0), regardless of= any circumstances or notification of the instructor. Any changes to the seminar presentation schedule must be addressed in class at least one week pri= or to the class at issue. T= his can be mitigated by finding a replacement to present your material, but full credit will not be granted.

Assignments are considered due at the begin= ning of class. Late assignmen= ts are lowered a grade for every class period late. Missing a class and turning i= n an assignment later the same day is still late.

Always save a copy of any work submitted fo= r your own records.

Grading

Assignment	% of Grade	Date Due
Presentation 1	15	TBA
Presentation 2=	15	TBA
Paper Topic	5	September 13, 2007<= o:p>
Literature Review	10	October 18, 2007
Methods Section	10	November 8, 2007
Final Paper	25	December 13, 2007
Class Participation=	20	Ongoing<= /span>

Required Materials

PACKET: Packet of Readings; HUXLEY: = Brave New World; ORWELL: 1984

Class Presentations<= /b>

Each member of the cl= ass will present material from two of the readings to the class and lead the discuss= ion for both of those sessions. T= opics will be decided in class. Vis= ual aids are not necessary and presentations are to be informal. However, each presenter should pre= pare an outline of the readings for each respective day and make photocopies (at their own expense) for each member of the class, including the instructor.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> This assignment is worth a combined forty percent of the final grade (20% each presentation).=

Schedule

Begin Date

Read:

Aug. 30<= /span>

Sep. 6

PACKET: Maryanski & Turner; Leibowitz

Sep. 13<= /span>

BREAK

PAPER TOPICS DUE SE= PT. 13 IN CLASS

Sep. 20<= /span>

PACKET: Blumer; Freud

Sep. 27<= /span>

PACKET: Goffman; Durkheim

Oct. 4

PACKET: Berger &= ; Luckmann; Collins

Oct. 11<= /span>

HUXLEY: Brave New W= orld

Oct. 18<= /span>

HUXLEY – Brav= e New World

LITERATURE REVIEW D= UE OCTOBER 18 IN CLASS

Oct. 25<= /span>

PACKET: Weber I; Ma= rx

Nov. 1

PACKET: O’Con= ner; Domhoff

Nov. 8

PACKET: Granovetter; Ormerod

METHODS SECTION DUE NOVEMBER 8 IN CLASS

Nov. 15<= /span>

PACKET: Weber II; S= trauss

Nov. 22<= /span>

BREAK

Nov. 29<= /span>

PACKET: Herman & Chomsky; Staples

Dec. 6

ORWELL – 1984=

Dec. 13<= /span>

ORWELL – 1984=

PAPERS DUE DECEMBER= 13 IN CLASS

Dec. 20<= /span>

FILM & Class Di= scussion

Class Participation<= /span>

This is a seminar cla= ss. A seminar class is only as effecti= ve as it is lively. As such, please= note that participation is a sizable portion of the grade. I will be keeping notes during each class. The grade will be dete= rmined by your overall participation in class during the semester as well as your performance on weekly questions, as noted below. As life is life, you can miss one = week of assignments – that is, one class – before penalty.

            Weekly Questions: Based on the reading, write a ques= tion that addresses one or more concepts discussed. The question should have background information and/or an explanation of the relevant passages in the reading.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The question can also seek compari= son or any other intellectual (and sociological) theme as discussed in the reading. In other words, a qu= estion is not a sentence but is rather= a paragraph. The idea is to generate a series of questions that can be picked and address by the remainder of the class for discussion. You should keep y= our name on the question when you submit it, but it will stripped from the ques= tion when they are all compiled into one class sheet.

            Submitting Questions: Questions should be submitted via = EMAIL to thomasa@oneonta.edu by 10:00 PM on the Sunday nigh= t prior to class.

            Grading Questions: Questions will be graded on the th= ree point scale: √ +, √, and √ -. A √ + will be a question tha= t is intellectually challenging and/or probing of the material, and may or may n= ot reference past readings, current events, or other facets of social science theory. A √ will be a d= ecent question that simply does not warrant a √ +. In order to receive these grades, = the question must be turned in on time<= /i>. Questions deserving of the above g= rades turned in late will automatically receive a √ -. An inferior (e.g., one or two sent= ences) question received late or not at all will receive no credit.

            Learning Question Grades: Questions will not be returned. If you want a grade, you must ask = during office hours. I will reply to= late emailed questions with the word “late” in the body of the email.

Research Paper

Each member of the cl= ass is required to conduct research on a topic of their own choice, but subject to approval of the instructor. T= he research must be conducted on a sociological topic. The paper must be written in a for= mal style. As a college senior, t= he quality of research and writing should be of the same approximate quality t= hat would be expected of a professional sociologist. The paper will be reviewed in three stages, as shown below. All p= apers must be typed or word processed, double-spaced, and stapled or otherwise secured.

Paper topic: Write a one to two page proposal of your resear= ch topic, including the methods you plan to use, ethical issues, sampling issu= es, and any other relevant information. You are free to use any credible research method, but you should remember that you are going to be required to actually conduct this research. As such, your proje= ct must be doable, and you must have a plan for finishing this research during= the course of the semester. It is recommended that you consider a historical-comparative, secondary data analysis, or content analysis study because they more readily lend themselv= es to the permitted timeframe, but it is your choice.

Due: Sept. 13, 2007 in class

Literature Review: C= onduct a thorough review of the research literature on your topic. This should include a discussion of relevant theoretical issues, past research, and possible public policy/political debates centering on this topic. You should cover all major angles = and be as non-biased as possible. Le= ngths will vary depending on your topic, but it is difficult to believe that a credible research topic will lend itself to a literature review and theoret= ical discussion of less than ten pages. For certain research methods, such as Historical-Comparative researc= h, this will comprise the largest single portion of the final paper. For others, this section maybe sho= rter but that will be offset by the fact that the research itself must still be conducted.

Due: Oct. 18, 2007 in class

Methods Section: This assignment is required of all students regardless of topic. The methods section is a statement of how the research is to be conducted. This includes provisions of sampli= ng, sampling frames, database acquisition, and all other information relevant t= o other researchers in terms of replicating your study. For research oriented projects, su= ch as a content analysis or secondary data analysis, this section should be fairly detailed, including such factors as where the data was obtained, relative merits of the method over other methods, etc. For historical-comparative researc= h and theoretical papers, this should include a discussion of sources and viewpoi= nts, but in practice the final paper may incorporate this material in a section other than a method section.

Due: Nov. 8, 2007 in class

Final Paper: This is the complete account of your research.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The paper should be structured as follows:

            Introduction: Describes the projec= t, including any scientific, political, or policy debates surrounding the topi= c.

            Literature Review: Overview of rel= evant theories and past research regarding the topic. In addition, debates taking place = on empirical grounds should be discussed in the section.

            Method: This is required of papers= that are neither historical-comparative nor theoretical in focus. This section describes in detail t= he research methods utilized and the advantages or disadvantages. This includes provisions of sampli= ng, sampling frames, database acquisition, and all other information relevant to other researchers in terms of replicating your study.

            Findngs: = Again, this section is most appropriate to research driven studies that are not historical-comparative. This = should include the basic findings of the study, including qualitative descriptions= and quantitative testing where appropriate.&nb= sp;

            Discussion & Conclusion: This section should contain any conclusions from the study, such as interpretati= ons of the significance of the data and ramifications for future research. Policy ramifications and social implications can also be discussed here.&n= bsp; This is the one piece of the paper that can be used as a soapbox of = sorts, but your remarks must be grounded in the research literature and/or the findings of this study. Do no= t rely on “common sense” as the arbiter of your remarks as things are often not as obvious as we assume.

Due: Dec. 13, 2007 in class

Course Format & Policies

Grading

Assignment

Presentation 1