Pick any topic that deals with any social issue related to the course materials or lectures. Write a sociological paper that is analytical and critical. It is imperative to note that the writing of a sociological paper requires the primary use of scholarly sociological sources, such as sociological scholarly journals, sociological books, and sociological edited collections. The paper must include a minimum of FIVE sociological scholarly sources (books, scholarly journal articles) not including the course text books and relevant course materials.
The essay should be 6-8 pages in length, with one inch margins, size 12 font and double-spaced, not including the bibliography or title page. Students are required to include a full bibliography of all materials used in the paper.
Students should also note that government websites and statistical data are not scholarly sources and will not count as one of the five scholarly sources required for this paper. Government websites and statistical data provide information that is not scholarly and not analytical. Statistics denote a social trend but can be interpreted in numerous and contradictory ways. Statistics themselves are devoid of analysis. Simply stating a statistic does not explain or explore any critical sociological analysis. Similarly, government websites state government policy that is devoid of analysis, and usually reproduces mainstream stereotypes, assumptions and misconceptions. Critical sociological analysis provides a critique of mainstream stereotypes and assumptions. The use of government data requires critical sociological analysis. Please note that these government websites and statistics include, but are not limited to the following:
- Statistics Canada
- Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship
- Government of Canada website
- Government of Ontario website
