The Sociology Student Writer's Manual

by Johnson, William A.; Rettig, Richard P.; Scott, Gregory M.; Garrison, Stephen M.

• ISBN13: 9780131113886
• ISBN10: 0131113887
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

A supplemental manual/reference for all courses in Sociology, from introductory to advanced, involving the research and writing of papers. Perfect complement to any distance learning course. The most comprehensive book available that deals specifically with writing sociology papers, this updated reference/manual helps both beginning and advanced students learn how to research and write in sociology, and how to improve their writing ability in general. It combines the latest sociological research and writing techniques with a broad spectrum of writing activities. It gives specific directions for writing a variety of papers in sociologyfrom introductory to advancedwhile also providing instructions on how to write and how to format the paper and cite sources following the American Sociological Association's guidelines.

Table of Contents

TO THE STUDENT	vii
TO THE INSTRUCTOR	ix
INTRODUCTION: WELCOME TO THE STUDY OF SOCIOLOGY	1	(12)
What Is Sociology?	1	(1)
Different Kinds of Sociology	2	(1)
Some Fundamental Ideas of Sociology	3	(2)
A Brief History of Sociology	5	(3)
The Rise of American Sociology	8	(1)
Major Sociological Perspectives	9	(2)
A Final Note	11	(2)
PART I A HANDBOOK OF STYLE FOR SOCIOLOGY	13	(88)
CHAPTER 1 WRITING AS COMMUNICATION	15	(25)
1.1 Writing to Learn	15	(5)
1.2 The Writing Process	20	(18)
1.3 Levels of Academic Writing	38	(2)
CHAPTER 2 WRITING COMPETENTLY	40	(23)
2.1 Guidelines for the Competent Writer	40	(3)
2.2 Some Rules of Punctuation and Grammar	43	(16)
2.3 Spelling	59	(4)
CHAPTER 3 FORMATS	63	(17)
3.1 General Page Format	64	(1)
3.2 Title Page	64	(1)
3.3 Abstract	65	(1)
3.4 Executive Summary	65	(6)
3.5 Outline Page	71	(1)
3.6 Table of Contents	71	(1)
3.7 List of Tables and Figures	71	(4)
3.8 Tables	75	(1)
3.9 Illustrations and Figures	76	(1)
3.10 Text	77	(1)
3.11 Headings and Subheadings	77	(1)
3.12 References	77	(1)
3.13 Appendixes	78	(2)
CHAPTER 4 CITING SOURCES	80	(21)
4.1 Preliminary Considerations	80	(1)
4.2 Citing Sources in ASA Format	81	(20)
PART II CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN SOCIOLOGY	101	(58)
CHAPTER 5 ORGANIZING THE RESEARCH PROCESS	103	(12)
5.1 Gaining Control of the Research Process	103	(2)
5.2 Effective Research Methods	105	(6)
5.3 Ethical Use of Source Material	111	(4)
CHAPTER 6 SOURCES OF INFORMATION	115	(27)
6.1 Guides to Sociological Literature	116	(11)
6.2 General Periodicals and Newspapers	127	(2)
6.3 Academic Journals	129	(9)
6.4 Researching Books	138	(1)
6.5 U.S. Government Publications	139	(3)
CHAPTER 7 INTERNET RESOURCES AND DISTANCE LEARNING	142	(9)
7.1 Internet Resources for Writing Well	142	(1)
7.2 Sociology Resources on the Internet	143	(2)
7.3 A Guide to Distance Learning	145	(6)
CHAPTER 8 DOING SOCIAL RESEARCH	151	(8)
8.1 Thinking Scientifically	151	(1)
8.2 The Scientific Method	152	(5)
8.3 Common Quantitative Research Designs	157	(2)
PART III HOW TO WRITE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOCIOLOGY PAPERS	159	(68)
CHAPTER 9 SOCIAL ISSUE PAPERS	161	(11)
9.1 Issue Reaction Papers	161	(7)
9.2 Social Issue Analysis Papers	168	(4)
CHAPTER 10 CRITICAL EVALUATION OF SOCIOLOGICAL LITERATURE	172	(23)
10.1 Book Reviews	172	(3)
10.2 Article Critiques	175	(7)
10.3 Literature Reviews	182	(6)
10.4 Annotated Bibliographies	188	(7)
CHAPTER 11 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PAPERS	195	(17)
11.1 Quantitative Research Designs	195	(4)
11.2 Survey-Based Quantitative Research Papers	199	(13)
CHAPTER 12 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PAPERS	212	(15)
12.1 What Is Qualitative Research?	212	(1)
12.2 Comparing Quantitative and Qualitative Research	213	(1)
12.3 Case Studies as Qualitative Research	213	(3)
12.4 A Qualitative Case Study Paper	216	(11)
GLOSSARY	227	(16)
REFERENCES	243	(8)
INDEX	251