SOC 276: Families and Globalization Instructor: Jiping Zuo, Ph.D GUIDELINES FOR REACTION PAPERS

1. SOC 276: Families and Globalization
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SOC 276: Families and Globalization
Instructor: Jiping Zuo, Ph.D
GUIDELINES FOR REACTION PAPERS
1. If you opt out the service learning project, you will be required to
complete one reaction paper using
recent research articles in social sciences on a topic that interests you
the most. The topic must be relevant to
the theme of families and globalization. To accomplish this task, you
need to locate at least three fullfledged, peer-reviewed research
articles (usually at least 10 pages long) on the same topic published in
academic journals in fields of social sciences. Then you summarize
the main ideas/arguments/research
findings. The summary will be followed by your critique. The central
issues you are expected to address are
the extent to which you think the arguments raised in those readings
resonate with the lives of people
according to your personal observations and experiences, the
contributions they have made in understanding
the aspect of the family you are examining, and the issues that are left
unattended, and any need to be
addressed in the future. In other words, if you think that those
readings you review are good, then write your

2. review on why you think they are good, or why they are not so good
if you disagree with them. Draw on
what you have learned from this as well as from other course to
formulate your arguments. I expect your
own sociological insights to be reflected in your paper, which will
serve as a strong indicator of how much
you have gained from this course. To assist you to organize your
thoughts, I have come up with some
guidelines you might consider in constructing your paper, as listed
below:
A. B. C. Select a well-focused topic (e.g. parent-child relations in a
Somalia immigrant community).
Give an appropriate title for your paper, the one that highlights the
theme. Then summarize
the readings through integrating the main ideas (e.g. the issues
addressed, findings,
similarities/disputes in arguments or findings, etc.). When you do so,
integrate them across
the articles (e.g. find commonalities, note differences if any, etc). Do
not summarize them
article-by-article, which would break the coherence of and
connections among the thoughts in
the readings that share the common themes. Please try to avoid
quoting the articles in a
short essay like this unless it is absolutely necessary; use your own
words in summarizing the
main ideas of the articles as a way to show the extent to which you
understand them.

3. Review the reading material. Consider some of the following
questions: In what ways are the
points valid or plausible? Does the evidence given in the material lead
to the author(s)’s
conclusion? What contributions do you think the authors have made
in understanding the
issue you are examining? What issues are left unattended? Or in
which way do you think the
articles are misleading? How do your family experiences or
observations support or disagree
with the readings? What questions need to be resolved in social
research in order to enhance
our understanding of the issue? Don’t just say that a certain argument
does not make
sense to the world you live in. Give your accounts and reasoning from
the sociological
perspective.
The format and the grading policy is discussed as follows: Format
1. Each paper must have (1) title, (2) summary of the articles, and (3)
your critique, and (4) bibliography
(see item #6 for the details).
2. Integrate the ideas/arguments/research findings across the articles
(i.e. find commonalities, note the
differences if any, etc). Do not summarize the main points article by
article. 1 3. The paper must be typed, double-spaced with the font size
of 10 or 12 points and the margin of one inch

4. on each side of the sheet. Clarity/articulateness and conciseness in
expression, and good grammar and
sentence structure are expected. PROOFREAD.
4. Citation is required if the ideas you have used are from the readings
(e.g. Some studies (Smith, 1989)
also found that…).
5. All quotations must be enclosed in quotation marks, with the
indication of the source and the page
number from which they are taken (e.g. Thomas (1938:678) argues:
“If a man define the situation as real,
then he is real in his consequences.”)
6. Acceptable length is 4-6 pages, excluding the bibliography.
7. You need to provide the bibliography by either footnoting or end-
noting them (e.g. Sassler, S. 2004. The
process of entering into cohabiting relationships. Journal of Marriage
and Family, 66, 491-505). Do
NOT introduce the entire reference item within the text.
8. Do not introduce the entire reference item within the text.
Grading Policy
Your grade is based on five criteria:
1. Format (15%).