By the end of this assignment, you should have developed skills that align with Learning Outcomes 1-
6 that are detailed in the Course Outline.
• Transcend ‘everyday thinking’ of the world to develop ‘critical sociological thinking’.
• Identify social problems and engage in critical sociological thinking to make sense of them.
• Develop analytical writing skills in order to construct sociologically relevant arguments and
reflections built on foundations of clear writing, summary, paraphrase, and critical thinking.
• Identify and define key sociological arguments and concepts using course resources (modules,
slides, course textbook and additional required readings).
• Recognize the importance of information literacy principles that are needed for locating
scholarly sociological sources.
• Apply and implement principles of academic integrity.
OBJECTIVE
You are required to write a sociological essay that demonstrates your thinking, research and writing
skills.
DESCRIPTION
For this assignment, you are asked to write an argumentative sociological essay that develops the topic
(general social issue or social problem) you have been pursuing in the Winter term into a clear and
logical argument (defined clearly with a thesis statement). You will use your research from the
Annotated Bibliography to continue working on the same topic. This will allow you to develop the
Annotated Bibliography into a more detailed essay. However, if you encounter issues with your topic
(eg: you are unable to find enough research on it) and you wish to substantially change the focus of
your final paper please have the new topic approved by Christina Salavantis by Monday, February 28,
2022.
As you work through your topic, you might want to read more about a particular concept to improve
your sociological understanding of it. The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology is a helpful resource in
this regard and is part of the Queen’s library subscriptions. As a Queen’s student you are able to
download it in its entirety as a pdf [click here]. While this is a helpful resource to improve your
understanding of a social concept you are not allowed to use it as one of the sources in your essay!
You are required to write an essay that is sociologically specific by time (what time period are you
writing about?) and space (to which region of the world is your argument restricted?). Follow the
principles of ‘good sociology’ outlined in the modules throughout the year in order to situate your essay
in time and space.
Because this is a qualitative research essay, your argument should be shaped by the sociological
research you have conducted (as opposed to selectively forcing literature to fit an argument you have
made up).
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Upload a .doc or .docx file to onQ under “Winter Essay”. Submissions in a .pages format, or via
email will be ignored. Include your last name in the file name. For example: [Smith.docx]. All
Queen’s students have free access to Office365 from ITS [click here]. This provides you with the latest
versions of Microsoft Office for use on your PCs, Macs, tablets, and phones.
2. While approaches to argumentative essay writing vary, you will be assessed on the following:
a) the quality of your essay introduction
b) the quality of your thesis statement (situated in the introduction). The thesis statement takes a
position or offers an interpretation of the subject at hand. Remember, a good thesis statement is
not the starting point of research, but the product of your research throughout the term. The
thesis statement cannot be a statement of fact, opinion, or intent. It needs to include what, why
and how components, and may follow any of the three writing workshop guides: a simple
statement of position, a road map thesis, or a complex thesis (see Developing a Thesis
Statement here)
c) logical presentation of your paragraphs, clear relationships between your points and effective
use of your scholarly sources (see Developing an Essay Outline and Organizing the Body of an
Essay here)
d) a minimum of six scholarly sources
◦ at least three of which must be scholarly peer reviewed journal articles that you retrieve
from the Sociological Abstracts database and/or related scholarly databases [click here]
◦ at least two of which must be book chapters that are sociological in orientation
◦ The sixth source may either be a book chapter or scholarly peer reviewed journal article
from Sociological Abstracts or a related scholarly database. Research materials must meet
the requirements in the CRAAP test [click here]
e) 8-10 pages of double-spaced, 12-point text in Times New Roman font. The title page and a page
of references are in addition to the page count.
f) compliance with the ASA Style Guide [click here] [eg: correct format for margins, cover page,
page numbering, citation style, quoting, referencing, 2.54 cm margins].
To help you meet these requirements, you will find a number of resources in onQ. Click on
Content in the top menu then Writing Resources from the left sidebar.
3. You may not use book reviews, encyclopedia entries, dissertations or theses for the Winter Essay, so
ensure that you exclude them from your search results.
4. Only once you have met the minimum requirements for academic sources (stated above), are you
allowed to use additional sources such as:
• course readings • newspapers
• educational documentaries • news websites
• magazines • reports and/or statistics from government agencies
The main difference between the minimum six scholarly sources and additional sources is that the
former informs your argument in its entirety, while the latter may only be used to substantiate the
evidence that you provide from the six required sources. None of the additional sources count towards
the six required sources.
With all your sources, keep in mind that there is always a cultural and political bias which you should
consider in the context of your argument.
Not sure if your sources are appropriate with respect to the above restrictions?
◦ Ensure that you only use Sociological Abstracts and related scholarly databases to search for
scholarly peer reviewed journal articles. [click here]
◦ It is a good idea to double check with your Teaching Assistant.
◦ Remember to perform the CRAAP test to evaluate all your sources.
◦ Remember that news media can provide examples of phenomena but does not count as
evidence for an academic argument.
GRADING CRITERIA
A clear thesis statement located in the introduction (15 marks)
Use of the scholarly material incorporated into the essay (20 marks)
Crafting a strong and logical argument supported by the evidence (35 marks)
Control of syntax and mechanics (15 marks)
ASA Style Guide compliance (10 marks)
Page range (5 marks)