Studying Sociology
a Handbook for Students

Revised September 2004

III. Becoming a sociology major or minor

A. Declaring a major or a minor in Sociology.

B. Advising.

C. Major requirements.

D. Minor requirements

E. Registration priority and full sections

IV. The Classroom

A. What can you reasonably expect from your instructor?.

B. What can your instructor reaso nably expect from you?.

C. How to get the most out of your class time.

D. Knowing your limits

E. What if you are doing badly?.

Appendix A: Standards for Formal Written Work

Appendix B: Useful Websites

I. Why this handbook?

Congratulations. We are glad you chose sociology as your major and we welcome you to the department.

One of the things sociology emphasizes is the norms, the informal and formal rules, that are part of relationships. Confusions about these can lead to misunderstandings and in order to minimize these we have prepared this handbook to help you avoid the misunderstandings and do well in your courses.

This handbook is not meant to take the place of your seeing your advisor whenever you need guidance about the requirements in the Sociology Department. You should also make use of the services at the Advising Center in Morehead Hall for more information about the requirements at Montclair State.

We welcome your suggestions on how to make future editions of this handbook more useful. You can make your suggestions to one of your sociology course instructors or leave a note regarding these in the mailbox of Barbara Chasin, in the Department office, DI 304.

II. Other Resources

The first thing you should know is that there are many good study guides available on the Web. Take the time to visit some of these sites. One of them may click with you and provide some useful insights into the various aspects of successful study techniques. See Appendix B: Useful Websites for a list of study guides.

In addition to academic advising by your Sociology faculty advisor (see section on Advising in page 5), use the following services for Montclair State University students as often as you need:

Sociology Dept Dickson 304 655-5263

Academic Advising Morehead 131 655-7068

Child Care Center Stone Hall 655-7586

Dean of Students Student Center 400 655-4118

Educ Opp Fund Morehead 205 655-4385

Financial Aid College Hall 321 655-4461

Health/Wellness Blanton Hall 655-4361

ID cards Student Center 655-4147

International Svcs Global Ed 655-4253

Psychological Svcs. Gilbreth House 655-5211

Tutorial Services Morehead 144 655-5425

University Police Police Bldg 655-5222

Weather hotline 655-7810

Women’s Center Student Center 421 655-5114

Writing Lab Dickson 285 655-7442

For your convenience, here are the full-time Sociology faculty’s campus addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses:

Yasemin Besen	DI-305	655-7229	beseny@mail.montclair.edu
Barbara Chasin	DI-309	655-7224	chasinb@mail.montclair.edu
Peter Freund	DI-312	655-7227	freundp@mail.montclair.edu
Benjamin Hadis	DI-306	655-7276	hadisb@mail.montclair.edu
Gilbert Klajman	DI-307	655-7169	klajmang@mail.montclair.edu
Laura Kramer	DI-310	655-7168	kramerL@mail.montclair.edu
Jay Livingston	DI-303	655-4131	Livingstonj@mail.montclair.edu
George Martin	DI-308	655-7231	martingt@mail.montclair.edu
Janet Ruane	DI-316	655-7646	ruanej@mail.montclair.edu
Yong Wang	DI-311	655-7170	wangy@mail.montclair.edu
Gilbert Zicklin	DI-313	655-4168	zickling@mail.montclair.edu

III. Becoming a sociology major or minor

A. Declaring a major or a minor in Sociology

If you have already declared a major or minor in Sociology, you have gone through the process described in this section. Please go to the next section, on Advising.

By now, you have probably learned that there is a form for every possible official transaction at Montclair State University. And you may have also learned that specific blank forms can be found only at specific locations — with no inherent logic at that. We will thus reveal to you the steps involved in officially becoming a Sociology major or a Sociology minor.

To add or to drop an academic program — whether it is a major or a minor — you need to go to the office of Academic Advising, located in Morehead Hall (1^st floor). Tell the receptionist that you wish to add a major or to add a minor. They will give you a form to add/drop academic programs. Click here to download change of major/minor form

Write your personal data (name, social security number, etc.) as requested by the form. Simply write the four-letter code for Sociology — SOCI — on the appropriate space where it calls for majors or minors being added. If you are dropping another major or minor at the same time as you are adding Sociology, you can use this same form. Write the four-letter code for the major or minor you are dropping on the specified space for majors or minors being dropped. If you do not know the code, check the latest semester’s Schedule of Classes. Usually the fourth or fifth page contains the “Index of Course Subject Codes by Department.” Of course, you can ask someone in the Academic Advising office as well.

The academic programs add/drop form has a box for the signature of the added major’s department Chair — if that signature is required. The Sociology Department does not require its Chair’s signature to allow you into the major. If the person who receives your completed form in the Academic Advising office tells you to bring the form signed by the Sociology Chair, tell them that the Sociology Chair’s signature is not required. Get your copy of the form and keep it for your records.

B. Advising

Once a copy of the academic program add/drop form arrives at the Sociology Department, you will be automatically assigned a faculty advisor. If that has not happened within a week or so, ask the department secretary to assign a faculty advisor to you.

A faculty advisor is a full-time member of the Sociology Department who will guide you through the process of selecting and registering for courses. A faculty advisor knows about your selected major and is an invaluable resource you should consult to get the best out of the discipline you have chosen. Your advisor will also help you to navigate all the academic requirements to graduate on time from Montclair State University. Don’t add your name to the long number of students who, a few weeks before they are supposed to graduate, discover they are a few credits short. If only they had consulted their faculty advisor, they would have discovered that a course they planned to take would not count toward the fulfillment of their academic requirements. A faculty advisor would also have alerted them that they were missing an academic requirement.

To find out who your faculty advisor in the Sociology Department is, consult what is called “Advisor/Advisee List.” This document can be found in plexiglass container on the wall to the right of room #306 in Dickson Hall, close to the Sociology Department office. All Sociology majors are alphabetically listed there. Next to the student name is the name of his or her faculty advisor.

To see your advisor, check this person’s office hours during the current semester and pay him or her a visit. There is a bulletin board to the right of the Sociology Department office entrance door. Under the heading “FULL-TIME” you will see a 6"x 9" card for each one of the full-time members of the Sociology faculty. In addition to the current semester schedule of classes for your advisor, you will find their office hours indicated at the bottom. The top of the card will also indicate your advisor’s office location and telephone extension. Calling from a campus phone, just dial the four-digit extension. Calling from off-campus, dial (973) 655 and then the extension. Office hours visits to your advisor do not require an appointment. If your advisor’s office hours are incompatible with your schedule, call your advisor for an appointment.

When you visit your advisor, it is important that you bring information about the courses you have taken so far. On the WESS, you can find your “audit” —the record of therequirements you have fulfilled and those that still remain, both in the major and the GER. (Go to the MSU home page and click in the “Quick Links” box on the lower right part of the screen. Scroll down to “Login to WESS.”) It is a good idea to use the “Sociology Major Program Worksheet”. You can find a copy of this worksheet on the plexiglass display set to the right of Dickson 306. Every time you complete a course, write in ink the course name under the corresponding General Education Requirements category and indicate the semester when you have completed such course. Sociology courses are pre-printed and you should just write in ink the semester when you complete each Sociology course. Write in pencil the names of the courses in which you are currently enrolled.

If you are a transfer student, bring your transfer evaluation document when you come to see your advisor for the first time. On future visits to your advisor bring this document or your updated Sociology Major Program Worksheet. Your advisor will probably be able to retrieve your Montclair State University transcript on-line but will not be able to determine how the transferred credits have been allocated to satisfy various academic requirements. This is why the transfer evaluation document is so important during an advisement session. Some of the credits transferred into Montclair State may have been brought in as “general free elective” credits. If you selected the Sociology major when you applied to MSU as a transfer student, some such general free elective credits may have been indicated as “departmental approval” required. Talk to your Sociology faculty advisor about any such credits that require departmental approval. Your advisor will guide you in the process of converting those credits to MSU approved sociology credits. Furthermore, if you identify any other credits from another institution that you think could qualify as sociology elective credits, discuss this issue with your advisor. In general, Sociology required courses cannot be transferred into the Montclair State University Sociology program.

If there are reasons that make it impossible for you to seek advise from your advisor, ask the Sociology advising coordinator to change your advisor. Ask the department secretary for the name and office number of the advising coordinator in the department. Students also go through an advisor change when their faculty advisor takes a leave of absence. Again, consult the latest “Advisor/Advisee List” in case of doubt.

C. Major requirements

The Sociology major consists of five required courses (18 SH) and seven Sociology elective courses (21 SH). At least three of the seven elective courses must be taken at the 300+ level.

Several of the Sociology required courses entail a sequence of prerequisites. Should you try to violate the sequence, the computerized voice response system will not allow you to register in courses for which you have not passed the prerequisites. The first course in the Sociology sequence you must fulfill is SOCI201 Foundations of Sociological Inquiry. This course, in turn, has Freshman Composition (ENGL105) as a prerequisite.

You can take SOCI240 Social Statistics immediately after taking SOCI201 Foundations of Sociological Inquiry. Do not postpone taking Social Statistics because, along with SOCI201, it is a prerequisite for SOCI301 Sociological Research Methods I. In turn, SOCI301 is a prerequisite for the Senior Research Project (SOCI400).

The fifth core Sociology requirement, SOCI313 Sociological Theory: Critical Analysis, can be taken any time after you have completed SOCI201 Foundations of Sociological Analysis.

The core requirements sequence has been established to help students. The Foundations course conveys a systematic understanding of key sociological concepts and lays out the principles of sociological analysis. Without these premises, it would be impossible to understand the materials discussed in Sociological Theory and it would be impossible to understand the complexity and logic of doing sociological research. In addition to these premises, a student taking Sociological Research Methods needs to understand both descriptive and inferential statistics as applied to sociological knowledge. In the Senior Research Project, the final requirement, students do their own original research, exploring ideas they have learned in Theory and other courses and using the methods and strategies they have learend in Sociological Research Methods I.

D. Minor requirements

The requirements for the minor in Sociology are faily simple. You must complete a total of 18 semester hours in Sociology with the following conditions:

a. The course SOCI 100 The Sociological Perspective (3 s.h.) is required.

b. Students take up to 9 semester hours from 100-200 level Sociology courses.

c. At least 3 semester hours should be taken at the 300-400 level in Sociology

E. Registration priority and full sections

Each semester, the Registrar’s Office mails continuing students a card that indicates the date and time when they can start to pre-register for the following term’s courses through the university’s phone registration system. The date and time each student is assigned corresponds to a priority system devised by the university’s registration computer. The earlier your registration date and time, the higher your chances of finding all of your courses still open and available to you. The priority system is directly related to the number of credits you have earned. The logic underneath this system is that students with a low number of earned credits still have time to take up necessary requirements. At the same time, students who have earned many credits and are close to graduation should be given higher priority to get into courses they need to fulfill so as to graduate on time.

The Sociology Department anticipates the course requirements of its majors and tries to arrange for as many sections of the required courses as Sociology majors will need to graduate on time. Bear in mind, however, that required courses are in high demand and that you will be closed off from them unless you pre-register without any delay according to your priority date and time. You should therefore seek your faculty advisor’s input with due anticipation. Do not wait until the last minute to seek your advisor’s advice. See him or her early in the semester rather than when many other fellow students will be competing for your advisor’s time.

Sociology classes tend to fill early in the preregistration process. The number of majors has grown rapidly while the faculty has increased by only one or two people, so demand outpaces supply. At the same time, sections in courses that use the computer labs and require more individual attetnion are limited to 24 students.

The more students in a computer lab, the more the teacher needs to go around the class to keep everybody in step.

IV. The Classroom

A. What can you reasonably expect from your instructor?

We expect the instructors in the Sociology Department to follow the norms outlined in the Student Handbook distributed by the Division of Student Development and Campus Life. There is a section called Students Rights and Responsibilities. You should read the parts titled Classroom and Students Rights Within the Instructional Context. We will summarize some of the points here. Each instructor should distribute a course outline very early in the semester. Your instructors should hold regular office hours and be available to you at that time. They should let you know other times they can be available if it is not possible to meet at the regularly scheduled office hour. Instructors should also make clear the basis for the grades they will give.

The Student Handbook also details what you should do if you think you have been unfairly graded. This process can work for you; don't assume your arguments will be ignored. First, you should discuss the problem with your instructor. If that does not resolve the matter to your satisfaction, then you should meet with the Chairperson. If you still think you were treated unfairly you should go to the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. If this doesn't conclude the matter the Dean will notify the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs (Associate) VPAA. Finally, if the Associate VPAA thinks you have a legitimate grievance (and this has been the case sometimes) a special Grievance Committee will be organized to hear both sides and issue a recommendation.

The Student Handbook states the following, with which we strongly agree. "Students have the right to be treated in the classroom... in a dignified and respectful manner that is wholly free from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, creed, national origin, ancestry, age marital status, handicap or Vietnam-era veteran status." The Student Handbook also tells you what to do if you feel your rights have been violated.

B. What can your instructor reasonably expect from you?

Students and instructors must be respectful of all the other people in the room. Above, we have mentioned some of the things that instructors should do to make the class time most valuable to you. Now we want to talk about you. We have found that students sometimes do not realize that their actions can be distracting to fellow students and to the teacher. Students should:

■ Arrive on time.

■ Be aware of the attendance policy for each course.

■ Notify the instructor promptly if they have missed an exam or know they will be doing so for a justifiable reason.

■ Obtain the telephone number and/or e-mail address of another student to find out what work they have missed in case of an absence.

■ Have done the assigned work for each class session.

Students should not:

■ Leave the room once the class has started (unless there is an absolute emergency).

■ Have cell phones, beepers, alarm watches or other devices turned on.

■ Click pens, chew gum, eat noisy foods.

■ Sleep in class (and especially not snore).

■ Engage in conversations with other students.

■ Engage in non-class related work, e.g doing e-mail and other Internet browsing, studying for another class, reading The Montclarion, etc.

C. How to get the most out of your class time

Taking Notes in Lectures

Note-taking sounds like a fairly straight-forward task. You sit, listen and write. What could be easier? Take note: good note-taking is not as simple as it sounds. Actively listening to lectures while taking notes is a challenging juggling act. Good note-taking requires some deliberate planning.

Most note-taking tips are variations on the following two themes: 1) Organizing your notebooks in a way that will facilitate note-taking and 2) practicing the 5 R's of note-taking as outlined in the Cornell Notetaking System: Record, Reduce, Recite, Reflect, and Review

http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/cornell.html

Organizing your notebooks:

Organizing starts with the very paper you use to record notes. You should use loose leaf paper--not a spiral-bound notebook. Loose leaf paper allows you to order and reorder the pages of your notebook as needed (e.g. you may need to insert pages from a missed lecture or you may want to add a page of clarifying notes after you've reread the textbook).

By way of organizing, the experts also agree that you should divide each page of paper into distinct sections. The main area for recording notes should occupy the the far right section of the page (about two-thirds of the page). Leave approximately 2-3 inches of the left of the page for a "review/cue column." The bottom 2 inches of the page should be left blank for summary statements--i.e. as you reread your notes, write one or two sentences that sum up each page of notes.

The 5 R's of note-taking:

RECORD--In the main section of each page, record the most important points of each lecture. You should not try to capture the lecture verbatim. Instead, develop a system where you record the main ideas in an abbreviated form--i.e use sentence fragments or words in shortened form. After lecture, you should review your notes and fill in or expand your abbreviated notations. If you're not sure about your expansions, ask for clarification at the beginning of the next class.

REDUCE--As soon after lecture as possible, you should edit/annotate/summarize the key facts and ideas and write them in the "review/cue" section of the page. This step helps to clarify, reinforce and strengthen your memory of the notes.

Good note-taking does not end at the end of the class period. Taking notes in class is only the first step. The most important steps are those you take after class.

RECITE--Test yourself about the contents of your notes. Cover the main section of your notes and use the "review/cue" section to prompt yourself to restate, in your own words, the information recorded in your notes. Repeat this step until you can accurately paraphrase what's in your notes.

REFLECT--Read and think about the points in your notes. Draw your own opinions, form your own questions. You can record your questions in the "review/cue" section and follow up on them in the next class. In reflecting on your notes, you should also try to anticipate likely "test" questions. This kind of active reflection will help you remember the content of your notes.

REVIEW--Spend some time each week in a quick review of your notes. Reviewing your notes for as little as ten minutes each week should help you retain most of what you have learned.

Some additional tips:

♦ include headings and dates for each page of notes

♦ record names of guest speakers, videos, etc.

♦ pay special attention to lecture handouts or overheads

Taking Notes on Readings

Before leaving the topic of note-taking, we should say a few words about taking notes on your assigned readings. Here you are not limited by the contingencies of class meetings. You can control the pace of your own reading. You should take advantage of this difference. Again, experts have some tips to offer about good note-taking on readings.

1. Delay your note-taking.

Resist the temptation to take notes as you are reading through materials for the first time. Premature note-taking will likely result in your taking too many notes that you really don't understand.

2. Review what you've read.

After the first read-through, go back and force yourself to locate the main points of the reading. Force yourself to paraphrase this information--i.e. put the reading information into your own words. This is a critical step for retention--it is much easier to remember your own words than it is to remember someone else's words.

3. Write out your paraphrased ideas as your "notes" on the reading.

Paraphrasing forces you to engage the reading material. It precludes you from simply "copying" text that you don't understand. Copying text will only give you a false security about the reading material. For you to know what a reading says, you must be able to say it in your own words. Notes based on paraphrasing will help you "own" a reading.

WARNING: Be careful about the translation process of paraphrasing. Not all translations are accurate restatements of the original materials. Check your paraphrasing by comparing it to the original reading or ask your instructor for feedback on your translation of the reading.

Asking Questions

Very often, students hesitate to ask questions in class because they are afraid they will sound foolish. Improving your note-taking skills should help you overcome this fear. Good note-taking forces us to assess and evaluate what we've heard and read. Tying your questions to your notes should help you feel secure about posing questions in class. There is nothing foolish about asking your professor to clarify or elaborate on points made during lecture or points raised in the readings. Indeed, your questions indicate your commitment to learning the material. To paraphrase Martha Stewart, asking questions – it's a good thing.

As you practice the 5 R's of note-taking, you should find it becomes progressively easier to ask questions during class. For instance, Reflecting on the content of your notes should prompt you to pose some questions about your notes. "Has this theory been tested?" "Does this explanation work for both men and women?" "When is it appropriate to use this statistical technique?" "Are there times when sampling is a bad idea?" As these questions occur to you, write them in the "review/cue" section of your notebook and be ready to ask them the next time your instructor asks if there are any questions. Questions that show you are engaging the material can never hurt you.

Asking questions usually yields important dividends. The chances are good that the questions you have about course materials are also the questions of your fellow classmates. The advantagein asking questions is that you receive credit for making a class contribution. Everyone wins: you get credit for voicing the question, you and your classmates benefit from hearing the answer to the question, and your instructor is thrilled that someone is actually thinking about the lecture/readings! Seize the moment, make the most of the situation and ask away!

Class participation

Class participation is frequently a "required" component of college courses. We expect our students to be more than passive learners. Participation demands that students actively engage in the learning process – demands that learning be brought front stage and center.

As you hone your note-taking skills and increase your confidence about asking questions, you should also find you are better prepared to participate in class discussions. Class discussions are frequently driven by good questions--questions posed by your instructor or by your fellow students. The more you become attuned to "finding" the questions raised by lectures and readings, the easier it will be for you to contribute to the give and take of a classroom exchange.

Before we leave this topic, it's worth reflecting for a moment on the message sent when students don't participate in class. Lack of participation suggests that students haven't prepared for class--they haven't read assigned materials and/or they haven't reviewed their lecture notes. Neither of these messages are good ones to send to your professor. Neither will serve you well in your quest for good grades. Think of the classroom as your student stage. Class participation is your performance on that stage. Your classroom behaviors constitute your efforts at managing your professor's impression of your performance in the student role. Don't blow it! No one should go on stage unprepared; no one should go to class ill prepared to participate. Do yourself a favor and be ready to perform when in class. It is one of the few areas in your life as a student where you have total control over your fate. Don't waste the opportunity.

D. Knowing your limits

Your college years are supposed to be an exciting and eventful period. It is a time to become acquainted with knowledge in diverse disciplines, meet different people, and participate in extracurricular activities. However, for too many students, the college years consist solely of classes, employment, commuting, and participating in a few social activities. So, how can you meet the academic requirements of your sociology major while enjoying the college years?

First, you have to practice being centered. There are 168 hours in a week, so you have to decide how you want to spend these hours. To make such a decision, you need to take an inventory of these 168 hours. Next, you need to list your primary and secondary goals and prioritize them. If your priority is to maintain a B average in your sociology major, then you may need to limit employment to 10 (ten hours) a week. If you must work, maybe you should consider limiting the number of courses in which you enroll for the semester. Rather than take a full load, we recommend 12 hours or less. We also recommend that you balance your course load. For example, you do not want to take theory, methods, and another 400 level course in one semester. We recommend that you take two sociology courses and complete your load with general education requirements and electives.

Second, once you have prioritized your academic goals, you have to focus on achieving them. This process involves a daily schedule or a daily to do list for each course. The list enables you to focus on your goals and away from insignificant areas or demands. Furthermore,you are less likely to procrastinate.

Finally, you can say no, to your roommate or friend who wants you to attend a party when you know you have paper to complete in one of your sociology courses. Likewise, you have a right to say to friends or roommates: “I cannot listen to your problems today, I need to complete my assignment (s).”

E. What if you are doing badly?

If you have practiced being centered, have prioritized your academic goals, and said no to friends and roommates when you needed to complete your assignments, and you are not doing well in your courses, then you need external help.

First, we recommend that you speak with your professors. Have specific questions; ask for concrete ways to address your academic concerns. Do not limit your office visits, but go as often as you need. If you are too shy to visit the professor, then you can always use e-mail.

Second, while visiting with your professors, you can also obtain help from the Sociology Peer Mentoring Program. This program has been in existence since Fall 1997 . It provides tutoring in required core courses, offers peer support, and acquaint students with available academic resources.

Peer mentors are available Mondays through Fridays and have available hours posted on the Sociology Conference Room Door DI 340.

Finally, if you feel you still need additional academic assistance, help is available from the Academic Advising Center. This Center is located in Morehead Hall and offers help in academic support, advisement, and career development. With these available services, the Department feels certain that you will have a successful academic tenure at MSU.

Appendix A: Standards for Formal Written Work

Most courses at Montclair State require written assignments because writing is one of the best ways to explore, refine, and demonstrate knowledge. The following statement describes the mental operations and the writing skills that the faculty expect in your formal written work. (You should assume that an assignment requires formal preparation unless your instructor states otherwise.) The Freshman Composition course provides a solid foundation in these abilities, but that is only the beginning. The written work that you do in all your courses will build on the foundation established in Freshman Composition, developing your ability to think and to communicate your thoughts in writing.

In the academic world, as in the world at large, readers will judge your written work primarily on the basis of its content; that is, on the quality of the information and ideas it contains. However, the careful organization and the clear, concise expression of that content are essential if your readers are to grasp your full meaning. The faculty will therefore evaluate the organization and expression of your written assignments along with the content. Grammar, mechanics, and appearance will also be considered, because problems in these areas can interfere with readers’ comprehension of your work, or even prevent them from giving it their serious attention.

Individual departments and instructors may add their own requirements to this statement, and each instructor will decide how the various elements will influence grading in a particular course. However, in the course that you will take to satisfy your graduation requirement in writing, you will be given a grade of Incomplete and referred to the Writing Workshop if your writing has severe problems. This will apply regardless of the average grade of any other work done in that course.

If you have questions about this Appendix A, you may seek clarification from your instructors, or from the Writing Workshop staff. The Writing Workshop offers consultation and tutorial help to all students on a drop-in basis, Dickson Hall 250, (973) 655-7442. There is no charge for this service.

Writing and Thinking

You should be able to perform with college-level competence the mental operations on which written work depends. These include:

∙ Generalization: Finding the common element that relates particular examples or instances to each other; abstracting.

∙ Inference: Drawing out meanings that are implied but not stated explicitly; reading between the lines.

∙ Analysis: Examining parts of the whole, such as causes, effects, and processes.

∙ Synthesis: Forming ideas into new relationships; creating.

∙ Evaluation: Making judgments according to criteria.

You should be able to apply to new situations the knowledge you have gained from your classes, your reading, and your investigations.

You should be able to draw your own conclusions, rather than simply to restate or summarize the ideas of others.

You should be able to state a thesis clearly and support it with reasoning and evidence.

You should be able to organize the parts of a paper in an orderly sequence, governed by a controlling purpose that is clear to the reader. Paragraphs and subsections should also have their own internal order.

You should be able to adapt what you write to the needs and expectations of your intended audience, whether it is your peers, your teacher, other scholars in a discipline, or the general public.

The Writing Process

Successful writing is seldom merely the recording of the writer’s first thoughts. More often it is the result of a process involving several stages. You should know how to use strategies that will help you to:

● Choose and limit a topic

● Produce rough and polished drafts

● Collect information

● Revise and edit

● Develop ideas

● Proofread

Library Research and Documentation

You should be able to find and use materials published in various forms, including books, periodicals, newspapers, government documents, ab-stracts, microforms and recordings.

You should be able to summarize or paraphrase the written work of others. Paraphrased material must be completely restated in your own words, and should blend smoothly into your style.

You should be able to identify your source material according to the method your instructor requires. Data or distinctive ideas taken from sources must be identified by a footnote or some other form of citation, even if those ideas are not quoted directly. Direct quotations must be identified by a citation as well as by quotation marks or block indentation.

Failure to treat source material properly may be construed as plagiarism, a serious academic offense. (See Plagiarism under Academic Policies and Procedures in the Student Handbook.)

Standard English, Grammar, Style

Your papers should be written in formal, standard English. They should be free of nonstandard constructions (such as double negatives) and of informal usage (such as “The experiment went O.K.”).

Your sentence structure should be free of major grammatical problems, such as sentence fragments, subject-verb disagreement, inconsistent verb tenses, unclear pronoun reference, and misplaced modifiers.

Your sentences should be clear and concise, showing capable use of the tools necessary to a mature writing style, such as coordination, subordination, parallelism, and transitional devices.

Your choice of words should be precise and appropriate to your subject. You may sometimes find it essential to use technical terms, but you should always avoid unnecessary jargon.

Mechanics and Appearance

Your papers should contain no errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or typing.

You should show careful attention to matters of appearance, including legibility, neat corrections, and suitable presentation.

The use of a word processor is encouraged, provided that the printout is easily readable.

Your pages should be fastened together, preferably with a staple.

If your instructor does not specify how you are to present your paper, you may follow these recommendations:

Use a cover sheet that includes:

∙ your name

∙ the title of the paper

∙ the title and section number of the course

∙ the name of the instructor

∙ the date

Make margins at least one inch all round.

Number the pages.

Type all your papers.

∙ Use standard typing paper: 8 1 /2 x 11 inch, white, medium weight.

∙ Double space.

∙ Proof-read all your work. Make corrections prior to printing. If you discover an error at the last minute, make a neat correction right on the paper.

Appendix B: Useful Websites

You might find some of the following sites to be quite helpful as you negotiate your way through major requirements and electives.

Course Relevant Sites:

Bill Trochim’s Center for Social Research Methods:

www.socialresearchmethods.net

Dead Sociologist’s Society

http://www2.pfeiffer.edu/~lridener/DSS/DEADSOC.HTML

A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace:

http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/index.html

Finding and/or evaluating info on the WEB:

Web tutorial:

http://www.mayfieldpub.com/webtutor/