Social Theory: Compare and Contrast Theories and/or theoretical movements.
12-15 full pages of text, not including reference page Need minimum of 10 sources total, 7 of which need to be research articles, from peer-reviewed academic journals 2 of these 7 research articles should be theory-strong sources that utilize different theories to understand/analyze your topic. The overall content should be double-spaced, 11 or 12 point times new roman/calibri/cambia font, with 1 inch margins, page numbers and stapled. Demonstrate a clear and logical review of your topic (this will require pre-writing—e.g., writing outline) Check your paper for grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc… Be sure you have a proper introduction, a clear supporting body (with evidence or illustrative examples to support assertions) and a proper conclusion. Be sure to cite your sources using correct in-text & reference page citations (APA format). Each source listed in the works cited page should inform the student’s thinking in some way. Remember also to cite your textbook when discussing the theoretical approaches/theorists’ work/theorists’ concepts. Instead use more direct quotes from the source work of the theorists (e.g., quote directly from Marx’s German Ideology, Collins’ Black Feminist Thought, etc.,). CONTENT The paper should be divided into 4 broad sections. Introduction: Present an overview of your topic of interest, including your research question. Explain how or why this issue is important…why is it a socially relevant research question. Offer a brief guide to the remainder of the paper. NOTE: Your more empirical (data-driven) sources will be helpful in the introduction. Brief Literature Review: Provide an overview of the research findings on your topic, including any major differences among study findings. Describe any disciplinary differences in how your topic has been studied Identify any gaps in the literature—angles that weren’t investigated NOTE: Your more empirical (data-driven) sources will be helpful in this section.
Social Theory: Compare and Contrast Theories and/or theoretical movements (Early Modernist, Marxist, Poststructural, Feminist, etc.,) used in the literature to understand/analyze your topic. Students need to: Bring out and explain clearly the core of reasoning / assertions that underlie each theory. Bring out and explain the differences and similarities between/among theories. Evaluate the use of theory in empirical work on the issue the student has selected. Compare and contrast how the difference (and potential similarities) in the theory shaped differences (and potential similarities) in how your topic was studied. Identify and assess operational definitions in the research for any concepts central to the theories reviewed. Also be sure to identify any central concepts that were not measured. Some researchers may attempt to operationalize a theory in their study. Example of Operationalizing: a researcher testing Foucault’s work on a disciplinary society may use a quantitative measurement of surveillance technology in the lives of urban teens of color as one way to prove or disprove that urban teens of color live in a disciplinary society. NOTE: This section is the core of your paper and will likely be the longest. NOTE: Your more theory-strong sources will be helpful in this section. Discussion and Conclusion Articulate which theory/ies the student considers most useful and why. Identify gaps in the literature on the level of theory in the research—were some theories more dominantly used to study your topic than others? Suggest directions for future research, an alternative theoretical approach, or policy or practical implications of theory application. Student may do any of the following, or some combination: How and why has existing literature not +been able to come up with a clear or complete picture or explanation of your issue? Discuss what future researchers should control for or what other variables might be employed in future research. Offer your own theoretical model or conceptual scheme for understanding or explaining the issue. You can draw on the authors and/or theories discussed in the paper to construct a hybrid theory or you may want to bring in an outside theory or perspective that will offer new insights. Students may also want to discuss policy implications of one or more of the theories discussed (what would it mean if they were correct). Sum up everything and conclude the paper.
Social Theory: Compare and Contrast Theories and/or theoretical movements