Title: Doing Sociological Analysis
Course: SOC 210 RTZ

Questions to Ask Yourself When Doing a Sociological Analysis:

1. Am I analyzing and NOT summarizing?  Try to be analytical and not just descriptive.  That is, describe what has been said, but do not accept it uncritically.
2. Define and clarify concepts you use, especially those most central.
3. Organize your paper in a logical sequence.
4. Document your statements, use social science and news source information, but do not plagiarize.  That is, if you got an idea from somewhere, cite the source!  If you use someone’s words, use quotes and cite them.  Make it clear which are your ideas and which are the other authors’.
5. If you make subjective or value statements, support your opinion with information.
6. Where appropriate, relate your paper to the reading material.  Use examples from the readings to support points.
7. Ask yourself:  Am I relating the topics to my personal experience and cultural values?
8. Ask yourself: Am I relating the topics to my understanding of history and culture?
9. Ask yourself: Am I discussing topics in a sociological way?
10. Ask yourself: Am I backing up my statements and personal opinions by giving reasons and examples?
11. Ask yourself: Am I using quotes, examples and details?
12. Have I sufficiently asked of myself these questions:  What, why, how?????

Due to concerns from former students about ‘expectations’ in sociological analysis I felt offering these tools would assist future students as they learn the “art” of writing sociological papers:

Some advice I can offer for the student:

Get “wrapped up” in the topic
Write freely as if the assignment is more of a self-exploration rather than an overbearing daunting task. Have fun with it!
Also, see:

A Guide to Writing Sociology Papers.  2007.  The Sociology Writing Group.  Worth Publishers.  ISBN: 071677626X.
Northey and Tepperman.  2007. Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing in the Social Sciences. Oxford University Press.  ISBN: 0195425901.

Schmidt, J. et.al.  2002.  Six Steps to Effective Writing in Sociology.  Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN: 0534172903.