In addition to un- or under-substantiated claims, another problem that students often encounter when writing these types of papers is lack of clarity regarding "voice," or whose ideas they are presenting. The reader is left wondering whether a given statement represents the view of the theorist, the student, or an author who wrote about the case Writing a thesis is the toughest yet the most exciting phase of your academic voyage. At this stage of studies, it has been noted that students are relatively well equipped and prepared for this challenging task. Yet our experience shows that even the smartest students find that difficult to write a Please note that according to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Seventh Edition, "A thesis statement is a single sentence that formulates both your topic and your point of view" (Gibaldi 42). However, if your paper is more complex and requires a thesis statement, your thesis may require a combination of sentences
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Skip to content. This document is intended as an additional resource for undergraduate students taking sociology courses at UW. It is not intended to replace instructions from your professors and TAs. In all cases follow course-specific assignment instructions, and consult your TA or professor if you have questions. Theory application assignments are a common type of analytical writing assigned in sociology classes. Many instructors expect you to apply sociological theories sometimes called "perspectives" or "arguments" to empirical phenomena, writing papers for students.
You can choose cases that confirm supportdisconfirm contradict[2] or partially confirm any theory. Theory application assignments generally require you to look at empirical phenomena through the lens of theory.
Ask yourself, what would the theory predict "have to say" about a particular situation. According to the theory, if particular conditions are present or you see a change in a particular variable, writing papers for students, what outcome should you expect? Generally, a first step in a theory application assignment is to make certain you understand the theory! You should be able to state the writing papers for students the author's main argument in a sentence or two.
For those taking sociological theory classes, in particular, you need to be aware that theories are constituted by more than causal relationships. Depending upon the assignment, you may be asked to specify the following:.
Theories vary in terms of whether they specify assumptions, scope conditions and causal mechanisms. Sometimes they can only be inferred: when this is the case, be clear about that in your paper. Clearly understanding all the parts of a writing papers for students helps you ensure that you are applying the theory correctly to your case.
For writing papers for students, you can ask whether your case fits the theory's assumptions and scope conditions. Most importantly, however, you should single out the main argument or point usually the causal relationship and mechanism of the theory. Does the theorist's key argument apply to your case? Students often go astray here by latching onto an inconsequential or less important part of the theory reading, showing the relationship to their case, and then assuming they have fully applied the theory.
Theory application papers involve making a claim or argument based on theory, supported by empirical evidence. Each class of problem is addressed below, followed by some pointers for choosing "cases," or deciding upon the empirical phenomenon to which you will apply the theoretical perspective or argument including where to find data. A common problem seen in theory application assignments is failing to substantiate claims, or making a statement that is not backed up with evidence or details "proof".
When you make a statement or a claim, ask yourself, "How do I know this? Put this evidence in your paper and remember to cite your sources. Similarly, be careful about making overly strong or broad claims based on insufficient evidence. For example, you probably don't want to make a claim about how Americans feel about having a black president based on a poll of UW undergraduates, writing papers for students.
You may also want to be careful about making authoritative conclusive claims about broad social phenomena based on a single case study. In addition to un- or under-substantiated claims, writing papers for students, another problem that students often encounter when writing these types of papers is lack of clarity regarding "voice," or whose ideas they are presenting.
The reader is writing papers for students wondering whether a given statement represents the view of the theorist, the student, writing papers for students an author who wrote about the case. Be careful to identify whose views writing papers for students ideas you are presenting. For example, you could write, "Marx views class conflict as the engine of history;" or, "I argue that American politics can best be understood through the lens of class conflict;" [4] or, "According to Ehrenreich, Walmart employees cannot afford to purchase Walmart goods.
Another common problem that students encounter is the trap of excessive summarization. They spend the majority of their papers simply writing papers for students regurgitating the details of a case—much like a book report, writing papers for students.
One way to avoid this is to remember that theory indicates which details or variables of a case are most relevant, and to focus your discussion on those aspects. A second strategy is to make sure that you relate the details of the case in an analytical fashion.
You might do this by stating an assumption of Marxist theory, such as "man's ideas come from his material conditions," and then summarizing evidence from your case on that point, writing papers for students. You could organize the details of the case into paragraphs and start each paragraph with an analytical sentence about how the theory relates to different aspects of the case. Some theory application papers require that you choose your own case an empirical phenomenon, trend, situation, etc.
Many students find choosing their own case rather challenging. Some questions to guide your choice are:. Data is collected by many organizations e. The UW libraries make your job easy: on the front page of the library website www. eduin the left hand corner you will see a list of options under the heading "Find It" that allows you to go directly to databases, specific online journals, newspapers, etc.
For example, if you are choosing a historical case, you might want to access newspaper articles. This has become increasingly easy to do, as many are now online through the UW library. For example, you can search The New York Times and get full-text online for every single issue from through today! If you are interested in interview or observational data, you might try to find books or articles that are case-studies on your topic of interest by conducting a simple keyword search of the UW library book holdings, or using an electronic database, such as JSTOR or Sociological Abstracts.
Scholarly articles are easy to search through, since they contain abstracts, or paragraphs that summarize the topic, writing papers for students, relevant literature, data and methods, and major findings. When using JSTOR, writing papers for students, you may want to limit your search to sociology which includes 70 journals and perhaps political science; this database retrieves full-text articles.
Sociological Abstracts will cast a wider net searching many more sociology journals, but the article may or may not be available online find out by clicking "check for UW holdings". A final word about using academic articles for data: remember that you need to cite your sources, and follow the instructions of your assignment. This includes making your own argument about your case, not using an argument you find in a scholarly article.
In addition, there are many data sources online. For example, you can get data from the US census, writing papers for students, including for particular neighborhoods, from a number of cites. You can get some crime data online: the Seattle Police Department publishes several years' worth of crime rates.
There are numerous cites on public opinion, writing papers for students, including gallup. There is an online encyclopedia on Washington state history, including that of individual Seattle neighborhoods www. These are just a couple options: a simple google search will yield hundreds more. Finally, remember that librarian reference desks are expert on data sources, and that you can call, email, or visit in person to ask about what data is available on your particular topic, writing papers for students.
You can chat with a librarian 24 hours a day online, as well see the "Ask Us! These include societal trends, events, or outcomes. They are sometimes referred to as "cases. Moreover, if you choose a case that disconfirms a theory, you should be careful that the case falls within the scope conditions see above of the given theory. For example, if a theorist specifies that her argument pertains to economic transactions, it would not be a fair critique to say the theory doesn't explain dynamics within a family.
On the other hand, it is useful and interesting to apply theories to cases not foreseen by the original theorist we see this in sociological theories that incorporate theories from evolutionary biology or economics. Return to Reading. Empirical evidence may be quantitative e. Empirical evidence must be observable and derived from real-world conditions present or historical rather than hypothetical or "imagined".
For additional help, see the "Where You Can Find Data" section on the next page. About These Assignments Theory application assignments are a common type of analytical writing assigned in sociology classes. How to Apply Theory to Empirical Phenomena Theory application assignments generally require you to look at empirical phenomena through the lens of theory.
Level of Analysis: Macro-level theories refer to society- or group-level causes and processes; micro-level theories address individual-level causes and processes. Scope Conditions: These are parameters or boundaries specified by the theorist that identify the types of empirical phenomena to which the theory applies.
Writing papers for students Most theories begin by assuming certain "facts. Using Evidence to Make Your Argument Theory application papers involve making a claim or argument based on theory, supported by empirical evidence. Some questions to guide your choice are: Can I obtain sufficient data with relative ease on my case?
Is my case specific enough? If your subject matter is too broad or abstract, it becomes both difficult to gather data and challenging to apply the theory.
Is the case an interesting one? Professors often prefer that you avoid examples used by the theorist themselves, those used in lectures and sections, and those that are extremely obvious. Where You Can Find Data Data is collected by many organizations e. Return to Reading [3] By empirical evidence, we mean data on social phenomena, derived from scientific observation or experiment. Return to Reading [4] If your instructor does not want you to use the first-person, you could write, "This paper argues…" Return to Reading.
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, time: 11:56What Is Academic Writing? | Dos and Don’ts for Students
This page lists some of the stages involved in writing a library-based research paper. Although this list suggests that there is a simple, linear process to writing such a paper, the actual process of writing a research paper is often a messy and recursive one, so please Explore writing in the first person as you share your ideas and opinions about assigned topics, as well as other relevant areas of interest to you. Review each post for spelling and grammar errors to publish the best writing possible. Read other students' blogs to learn The dos and don'ts of academic writing. Academic writing is a formal style of writing used in universities and scholarly publications. You’ll encounter it in journal articles and books on academic topics, and you’ll be expected to write your essays, research papers, and dissertation in academic style.. Academic writing follows the same writing process as other types of texts, but it has
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