SECOND ASSIGNMENT

Course: Modern Sociology

ACADEMIC ARTICLE REVIEW (50 points)

As I have decided to cancel the final exam, your Article Review Assignment will serve as your final task for the class and will be due at the end of finals week by Friday, April 30 @11:00 pm. Hopefully, this will allow you enough time to complete the assignment without stress. We have spent several weeks this semester looking at how social problems are presented in academic articles, as well as the general structure that academic articles in social science journals follow. For this assignment you are being asked to select an academic article from a social science journal dealing with a social problem *(the only stipulation is the article cannot be one I lectured on).

 I have provided a list below of articles that you are welcome to choose from if that makes it easier! After reviewing your chosen article write up a brief description of the answering each of the following 5 questions:

What is the social problem being analyzed in the article? 10 pts

What is the major concept(s) that the author develops in the article? 10 pts

What social/ historical framework does the author provide for their analysis? 10 pts

What method or methods are used by the author? 10 pts

What are the major findings presented in the article? 10 pts

Your responses can be brief, a sentence or two for each of the 5 questions is fine. if you are unsure how to navigate any part of your chosen article let me know and I will guide you!

While most of the articles you find will be long and dense, the one major skill we have focused on has been how to efficiently find all the most important information you need to evaluate if the article is something you want to read in depth or not. As an academic you always have way too much to read; so, this skill is crucial!

For this assignment I am just asking you to do the initial stage of skimming for the important stuff. Most of the answers for this assignment will likely be in the abstract or under clearly labeled headings throughout the article. 

Look for bold, underlined, italics; these are all good clues. Please don’t stress about needing to do an in-depth reading, just skim for what you need! 

Let me know if I can help in any way! I have open availability for Webex meetings every afternoon and evening between now and finals, so do not hesitate to schedule one if you’re concerned.

LIST OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS (CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING)

Unemployment

Politics

Climate change/sustainability

Hate of the “other” (racism/politics etc)

Racial injustice/ law enforcement

Cancel culture

Immigration

Domestic violence

Political conflict/violence

Poverty

Racial Inequality

Gender wage gap

Femininity/sex

Minimum wage

Workplace conditions

Housing/homelessness

Debt

Education

Social media

Mental illness

NOTE: Article reviews will be submitted to dropbox on e-learning and will be due no later than April 30 @ 11:30 pm.