Select the topic from the list provided below
Topics you can choose from
A Comparison of Male and Female Predictors of Retirement
Ever-Single Women: Informal Support and Life Course Events
Elder Care Issues Among Indigenous Peoples
Discrimination against the Aging Worker: Challenges and Solutions
Are the Baby Boomers Aging Better Than Earlier Generations?
Aging, Social Institutions, and Public Policy
Barriers and Facilitators of Utilization of Formal Services by Asian-Canadian Elderly
Age-friendly Programs Targeting Rural Elderly: Do They Work?
Contradiction and Inconsistencies in the Pension Debate
Proactivity and Environmental Adaptation
Sexuality and Institutionalization: What Does the Research Say?
The Social, Environmental, and Health Contexts of Aging
What are the Most Important Social and Social-Psychological Factors Affecting Physical Activity Participation among Older Adults?
Do Childlessness Elderly have Adequate Levels of Social Support?
What Are the Major Determinants of Workforce Aging?
Labelling Theory and Media Stereotypes of the Elderly: Their Effects and How Are They Changing?
Music Therapy and the Elderly: Does it Work, Why, and for Whom?
The Use of Psychoactive Drugs among the Elderly: The Role of Social Structures
Social Support and Well-Being among Widowed Elders: Can Social Support Buffer Stress?
Adjustment to Widowhood: Gender Dynamics
Women as Caregivers: “Women in the Middle”
Arthritis Self-Management Programs for Older Adults: Does it Work?
Social Explanations of Sexuality and Aging: The Role of Ageism
How Important Are Healthy Lifestyles for Aging?
Financial Elder Abuse in a New Age
Longevity and Quality of Life: Are They Synonymous?
Resilience and Aging: Why do Some People Bounce Back Better than Others?
Multimorbidity and Aging: What Does the New Research Say?
The essay involves a review and summary of pertinent literature on a focused topic in the field of Sociology of Aging/Social Gerontology. A review of literature is an integrative summary of the evidence for and against a particular theory, idea, or point of view. It may involve comparing and contrasting opposing views on the same topic. It may help to organize your essay around one or more questions. The paper should also suggest how future research could better our understanding of the social phenomenon under study. Do NOT write a position paper in which you selectively report the literature to support a view that you hold. Rather, describe and critically evaluate the research literature in such a way that you end up with substantiated conclusions. Also, do NOT conduct your own interviews for this paper.
The essay requires a sociological or social-psychological perspective, develop and linked to a theory, conceptual framework or model. In other words, relevant theoretical and conceptual material to these fields needs to be included in the paper, typically in a separate section. For example, it is NOT appropriate to develop a paper solely on the physiological aspects of aging without a sociological perspective. The theoretical components incorporated into the essay should reflect the literature that you are covering. For example, in a paper on media stereotypes and the elderly, one might describe and apply labelling theory to the topic (this should go before the review of research studies), and then revisit the applicability of labelling theory to the area in light of research findings. Some papers will include more than one theory, but you should be guided by the literature you are covering coupled with knowledge accrued from the course.
The essay should be based on your reading of primary literature on your specific topic.
Use mainly journal articles, specialized books, and monographs and reports, not general textbooks. Using journal articles is crucial in producing a good essay because the research tends to be the most current. As a rule of thumb, I expect a minimum of 10 journal articles to be integrated into the paper. You can a few books, reports (etc.). It is preferable to weave information together, rather than summarize each article separately. Use few, if any, Internet references, since these are unreliable sources, unless you access a peer reviewed article directly from the Internet.
