Research Proposal Guidelines
For your final you will produce a research proposal, for which you will conduct some literature research and a cumulative overview of the semester’s efforts.
You will begin with your topic of interest, and return to chapters that analytically relate to your topic. From Chapter 2, you will evaluate and select an appropriate research methodology that suits the topic of your interest. From Mills’s sociological imagination and Chapter 9’s review of social stratification and inequality you will elaborate on the sociological problem of interest.
You will explain the topic reflected through the 3 main sociological perspectives/theories (functionalism, symbolic interactionism and conflict approach) as well as additional theories and concepts from the semester to apply to the social problem. And you will address social structures and institutions that affect the social topic. Revisiting your literature research skills, you will find primary sources that speak to the sociological topic of interest.
Source: Table 1.2 Sociological Theories or Perspectives Different sociological perspectives enable sociologists to view social issues through a variety of useful lenses. (2015). Retrieved from https://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@13.15:QMRfI2p1@13/1-3-Theoretical-Perspectives
Encyclopedia of Sociology
Winner of the 1993 Dartmouth Medal, this classic reference has been updated to reflect many changes in society and in the field of sociology in recent years. Articles covering core issues such as race, poverty, violence, economics, pregnancy and abortion have been updated and expanded, and completely new articles have been written on topics such as the Internet, privacy and epidemiology.
The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology by
Written by three eminent professors, it has been updated to reflect the shifts of sociological thought in the last five years, making it the most comprehensive, authoritative and up-to-date dictionary available. It is essential reading for all students and teachers of sociology and other related courses - and also the general reader.
Contemporary Sociological Theory by
This volume is designed as a basic text for upper level and graduate courses in contemporary sociological theory. Most sociology programs require their majors to take at least one course in sociological theory, sometimes two. A typical breakdown is between classical and contemporary theory. Theory is perhaps one of the bro- est areas of sociological inquiry and serves as a foundation or framework for more specialized study in specific substantive areas of the field. In addition, the study of sociological theory can readily be related to various aspects of other social science disciplines as well. From the very beginning sociology has been characterized by alternative theoretical perspectives. Classical theory includes the European founding figures of the dis- pline whose works were produced during the later half of the nineteenth century and the first couple of decades of the twentieth century plus early American th- rists. For most of the second half of the twentieth century, a fairly high consensus has developed among American sociologists regarding these major founders, p- ticularly with regard to the works of Durkheim and Weber in analyzing the overall society and of Simmel in analyzing social interaction processes. Since the late 1960s and early 1970s the influence of Marx has also been recognized. Recent decades have also witnessed an increased emphasis on the important contributions of several pioneering feminist perspectives in the early years of sociology.
