PROPOSAL
This assignment is designed to help you get more focused on your presentation and presentation paper. It is worth 100 points. There are four (4) very simple questions to ask whenever reading and writing. These questions help all of us to organize our thoughts and to focus on main ideas. In thinking about your proposal and subsequent presentation and presentation paper, answer the four questions below.
Directions:
This assignment is to be type-written, on 8.5×11 paper, using Times New Roman, size 12 font, with 1-inch margins all around the page. It is to be double-spaced. There should be 5 parts to this proposal. For each part, start with the corresponding Roman numeral. This proposal is to be handed in at the beginning of class. (See lateness policy in your syllabus). Write one paragraph (about 4 to 5 sentences) for each question in bold below, and don’t forget to come up with a title for your project.
Four basic questions sociologists use when crafting a research proposal:
I. What do I want to know? (The Question)
Start this section with your main research question (also known as your originating question). What do you really want to know? (You may not be able to answer this question for this research paper.) What other questions are you interested in?
II. Why do I want to know this? (The Rationale)
Why is your originating question important to you? Why does this question matter (to others)? Why should we care about this? Here, you should state why your research question matters to you and why it is important for the study of race and ethnic relations.
III. What do I think the answer is? (The Thesis)
What is your argument? What is your hypothesis? Why do you think this is the answer to your originating question? What do other sociologists, thinkers, or writers think the answer to your question is (Hint: What would some of the authors in our syllabus, thus far, say about your question?)
IV. How will I find the answers to my question/s? (The Methods)
What (data) sources would you consult? Which sources have others used in examining similar questions? Why are you using these methods and not others? How will you find out if your thesis makes sense? What additional sources would you recommend others (interested in this question) to use?
One additional question that is relevant to this class:
V. How do I define race in my research? (The Definition)
Given the scope of your project and the group you are studying, what is your definition of race or ethnicity? Who is included in your study and who isn’t included? Why or why not? For this part of the proposal a simple 1- or 2-sentences is enough for stating your definition.
What follows is an example (though incomplete) of what your proposal should look like:
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[ENTER YOUR NAME HERE]
[ENTER DUE DATE HERE]
Proposal
[ENTER YOUR COURSE SECTION NUMBER HERE]
Academic Achievement of Latina/o High School Students:
Single-Parent and Two-Parent Households
I. How do students from two-parent households differ in their academic performance
when compared to children from single-parent households? [MORE: Address the questions listed
above]
II. I am a high school teacher and I am interested in exploring how household
composition affects student performance. [MORE: Address the questions above]
III. Though I have seen many students from single-parent households out-perform their
counterparts, I suspect that these students are the beneficiaries of social networks that value education over other aspects of life. Still, for the most part, my experience has been that students from two-parent households perform better than students who come from single-parent households. [MORE: Address the questions above]
IV. First, over the course of one grading period, I will track the academic performances of
my own students. Second, I will consult the literature on the sociology of education. Lastly, I will apply a sociological perspective to this question in order to suggest other ways to view this social issue and how more research can be conducted. [MORE: Address the questions above]
V. The group I will be exploring is Latina/os. Included in this group are people who…
[MORE: Begin to construct your working definition of race and/or ethnicity as it relates to your group]
REFERENCES
This assignment is designed to help you get started on another aspect of your
research/presentation paper: The bibliography, or references section. It is worth 20 points. Using EBSCO and/or Sociological Abstracts, list 10 references that you will use for your paper. There should be 10 different references listed. ALL of these references MUST be from peer-reviewed journals. Note that these must be listed in APA style (see below) as well.
This assignment is to be type-written, on 8.5×11 paper, using Times New Roman, size 12 font, with 1-inch margins all around the page. Also, all assignments should be stapled at the top left corner of the page.
Directions:
1. Go to the home page of John Jay College’s Lloyd Sealy Library website and click on
the “APA & MLA citation” link under the “Quick Links” section.” Once directed to
the new page, click on “A Guide to the APA Documentation Style.” It is strongly
recommended that you print this 8-page document and keep it for your own records.
2. Using EBSCO and/or Sociological Abstracts – two search engines commonly used by
sociologists and researchers alike – find 10 publications that you intend to utilize for
your research paper (from your proposal), and build your reference list accordingly.
Remember, all entries in a References Section must be in alphabetical order (see the
APA guide for more details).
This assignment is to be handed in at the beginning of class. (See lateness policy in your
syllabus).
What follows is an illustration of what I’m looking for, but in order for this assignment to be complete, there must be 10 references from scholarly journals, not from magazines, newspapers or books.
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Academic Achievement of Latina/o High School Students:
Single-Parent and Two-Parent Households
Budig, M. & England, P. (2001). The wage penalty for motherhood. American Sociological Review, 66, 204-225.
Dauber, S. (1993). Characteristics of retainees and early precursors of retention in grade: Who is held back? Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 39, 326-343.
Davis, K. & W. E. Moore. (1945). Some principles of stratification. American Sociological Review, 10, 242-249.
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Teaching Writing at John Jay College 