SOCI 111 – Introduction to Sociology

SOCI 111 – Introduction to Sociology

APUS

Assignment 2: Current Event

Assignment 2 meets the following course objectives:

• Apply a sociological perspective to the social world.
• Analyze contemporary social issues using the sociological imagination and use sociological theories and concepts to analyze everyday life.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify, locate, and retrieve information related to the topics in the course.
• Develop written communication skills and critical thinking skills.
• Apply American Psychological Association formatting and citation style when completing course assignments.

Purpose:

The primary goal of this exercise is to apply your developing sociological knowledge and skills to the analysis of a current event.

Directions and Suggestions:

Choosing a Current Event. A current event refers to something that is happening in the world at present and they are usually described on the news and in mass media. You must choose a report (written, from the radio, or televised) of an event that has been reported on within 3 months of the assignment deadline. Remember, the event you choose must have some relevance to the study of society, and you must properly cite the source from which you got your report.

Describe the Current Event. Second, you will need to provide a brief summary of the current event. This should include details such as location, timing (i.e is this an ongoing event, does it appear to be a one time event, is this an example of an event that happens frequently), people involved, and any analysis offered by the report(er).

Analyzing the Current Event. The final step in the process is conducting an analysis of the current event using knowledge you have gained from the course to-date. The most important thing here is that the analysis should not just be your opinion about the current event, but grounded in sociological theory and prior research. You will need to use at least 6 sociological concepts covered in this course to analyze the current event (i.e. social construction, stratification, social control, crime, deviance). (hint: sociological concepts should be clearly identified, defined AND then applied; ANY paraphrasing or direct quotes used from another source should include APA formatted in-text citations and a full citation at the end of the essay)

References. Remember you must cite the source from which you found your current event report as well as any of the readings you directly or partly referenced.

Proper APA citation style for a TV episode is:

Writer (Writer), & Director (Director). (Date of broadcast). Episode title [Television series episode]. In producer (Producer), Series title. City, state of origin: Studio or distributor.

Example: Jones, M. (Writer), & Smith, A. (Director). (2008, May 25). The war in Iraq [Television series episode]. In L. Michaels (Producer), Everyday News. Jersey City, New Jersey: WABC Studios.

Proper APA Citation style for a magazine or newspaper article (not a journal) is:

Author’s last name, first initial. (Year of publication, followed by the day). Title of

article. Name of newspaper/magazine, Issue number of magazine, page number.

Examples:

-Magazine

Jana, R.. (2000, April 24). Preventing culture clashes – As the IT workforce grows more diverse, managers must improve awareness without creating inconsistency. InfoWorld, 1, 95.

-Newspaper

Rimland, B. (2000, April 26). Do children’s shots invite autism? Los Angeles Times, p. A13.

Proper APA citation style for an electronic resource is:

Author. (Date of publication). Title of source/website. Retrieved from: complete url.

Example: Ng, M. (2005, May 5). Doing sociological research. Retrieved from: mc.maricopa.edu/mymcc/1423.html.

If the author does not appear, replace the author with the page title. If the date does not appear, replace it with n.d. If you can’t figure out the difference between the page title and the source title, they may be the same.
Example: “Great Titles for Papers.” n.d. Great titles for papers. Retrieved from:
http://www.greattitlesforpapers.com

More detail on APA citation style may be found under Materials and Resources in the Resources folder.

Format and Grading. This should be 2.5-4 pages long, double-spaced, 11pt font (arial or times new roman), with 1″ margins. Your essay will be graded based upon (1) the clarity of your presentation of your chosen current event and its relevance to the study of society; (2) the insightfulness of your general analysis of the current event from a sociological perspective, and (3) your usage of ideas and examples from the class to frame and develop your analysis. Specifics are available in the rubric below.

CATEGORY	Outstanding	Above Average	Average	Below Average	Unacceptable
Current Event Description	Found current event from the past 3 months and included brief, yet informative, summary (4 pts)	Current event summary needed some elaboration (3.2 pts)	Summary of current event lacked clarity in some areas. (2.8 pts)	Summary of current event not clear, needs much elaboration. (2.4 pt)	No summary of current event included (0-2 pts)
Sociological Concepts Identified	Clearly identified 6 relevant sociological concepts from the readings. (6 pts)	Clearly identified 5 relevant sociological concepts from the readings. (4.8 pts)	Clearly identified 4 relevant sociological concepts from the readings. (4.2 pts)	Clearly identified 3 relevant sociological concepts from the readings. (3.6 pts)	Did not clearly identify any sociological concepts (0-3 pts)
Sociological Concepts Defined	Clearly defined 6 relevant sociological concepts using the text and/or other source(s). (6 pts)	Clearly defined 5relevant sociological concepts using the text and/or other source(s). (4.8 pts)	Clearly defined 4 relevant sociological concepts using the text and/or other source(s). (4.2 pts)	Clearly defined 3 relevant sociological concepts using the text and/or other source(s). (3.6 pts)	Did not include text definitions of sociological concepts (0-3 pts)
Analysis	Clearly applied 6 relevant sociological concepts to analysis of the current event. (6 pts)	Clearly applied 5 relevant sociological concepts to analysis of the current event. (4.8 pts)	Clearly applied 4 relevant sociological concepts to analysis of the current event. (4.2 pts)	Clearly applied 3 relevant sociological concepts to analysis of the current event. (3.6 pts)	Did not apply sociological concepts to analysis of current event. (0-3 pts)
APA Formatted Citations	Included APA formatted in-text citations and full references for ALL paraphrased and quoted work from other sources. (1 pts)	Minor errors in APA formatting of citations. (.8 pts)	Multiple errors in APA formatting of citations. (.7 pt)	Missing some citations, and errors in APA formatting. (.6 pts)	No citations included. (0-.5 pts)
Grammar & Spelling	Author makes no errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. (2 pts)	Author makes a couple errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. (1.6 pts)	Author makes a few errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. (1.4 pt)	Author makes multiple errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. (1.2 pts)	Author makes so many errors in grammar and spelling that the intent of the paper can not be understood. (0-1 pts)

–Please do not hesitate to consult with the Instructor if you have any problems or questions with this assignment.