Analyze regional and cultural diversity in the organization of human societies

In accordance with the educational goals of the Sociology and Anthropology program, your research will need to accomplish at least two of the following:

1.     
Analyze regional and cultural diversity in the organization of human societies

2.     
Analyze the roots of and mechanisms for the perpetuation of social inequalities

3.     
Assess classical and contemporary theories about society and culture

4.     
Assess and appropriately use qualitative methods in the study of social and cultural phenomena

5.     
Assess and appropriately use quantitative methods in the study of social and cultural phenomena

6.     
Identify a contemporary social problem and determine how the approaches of sociology or anthropology could be applied to address it

E. YOUR PAPER:

By the end of the semester, you will have created a paper around 20-25 pages in length, plus bibliography. Your paper will need to utilize at least 15-20 scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles, books, or book chapters written by anthropologists, sociologists, and other academics (all incorporated in some meaningful way). Your paper should be double-spaced, in 12-point font, with 1-inch margins all around. 

As a final product, your paper should have:

• a clearly defined thesis statement (one main argument)
• logical organization, an introduction and conclusion
• specific details from the readings to substantiate your arguments
• use of peer-reviewed academic books and journal articles written by professional researchers based on their original research. (You may include, as supplementary sources, if relevant, news articles, government reports, and reports of professional think-tank analysts. You should NOT include Wikipedia, magazine articles, blog articles, opinion pieces, encyclopedia articles, random webpages, or other tertiary sources.)
• clear and error-free writing
• text citations with page numbers (proper citation styles will be discussed in one of our meetings together)
• a bibliography. The American Anthropological Association recommends use of the Chicago author-date style. Here is a quick guide to that style: http://www.americananthro.org/StayInformed/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2044. 
• creative ideas, interpretations, and analyses
• your own language and sense of style. Let your writing express your creative and analytical voice.

While this may look overwhelming now, all great papers start as a single idea that evolves into something much more.  Our meetings will focus on learning and understanding the components above to help you create a stellar research paper by semesters’ end.