Homework Assignment for Week 6 (Due Monday, Oct. 17, by midnight) Reading Assignment: Meredith Manze, Anna Lattanzio, Jenna Larsen, Julia Keegan, Nick Freudenberg & Heidi E. Jones (2022): The primacy of meeting public university students’ essential needs in the wake of COVID-19: An overdue higher education priority,” Journal of American College Health, DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2022.2076105 Homework Assignment: After reading the article by Manze et al., answer each of the following questions on the article in a few sentences: 1.) In one sentence, what is the main research question that the authors are trying to answer in the article? 2.) In one or two sentences, what is the main argument (or thesis) in the article? 3.) What methods are the authors using in the article? (Briefly describe them: Interviews; surveys; experiment; something else? What was the research site (or location); how was the research conducted?) 4.) What are the main findings of the article? (List at least 2). 5.) What did this study do well or do poorly? 6.) For your final paper, you are being asked to offer a sociological analysis to answer your research question. If you recall from our readings earlier in the semester, the “sociological imagination” refers to the ability to connects “personal troubles” and “public issues.” How does this article make this type of connection? Reading Assignment: week7 Porismita Borah, Bimbisar Irom & Ying Chia Hsu. 2021. “‘It infuriates me’: Examining young adults’ reactions to and recommendations to fight misinformation about COVID-19.” Journal of Youth Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2021.1965108 Homework Assignment: The reading for next week addresses the media environment that has developed around COVID-19 and its facilitation of the spread of false information. For your homework assignment 1.) In a few sentences, what are the main research questions that the authors are trying to answer in the article? 2.) What is the article’s main argument? [In this article, the main thesis is a bit buried and overlaps with the findings. You can find it in the abstract, however.] 3.) In no more than a paragraph, what methods are the authors using in the article? (Briefly describe them: Interviews; surveys; experiment; something else? Who was involved in the study? What was the research site (or location); how was the research conducted?) 4.) What are the main findings of the article? (List at least 2). 5.) In 1-2 paragraphs, what did this study do well or do poorly? How could it be improved? [Try to a bit aware of what methods reveal and don’t reveal. How would using a different method reveal different aspects of this research question or this issue?] 6.) Recall our earlier discussion on how the “sociological imagination” connects “personal troubles” to “public issues.” In no more than one paragraph, how does this article make this type of connection? ANT/SOC 400: Research Seminar in Sociology & Anthropology Homework Assignment for Week 9 In your final papers, you will need to develop a sociological analysis of the question you are researching. As we discussed earlier in the semester, a sociological analysis means that you want to look beyond the individual to understand the social dimensions of what you are researching. In other words, as C. Wright Mills put it, you will want to connect the “personal troubles” (or personal experiences) that you are collecting through your interviews with larger “public issues.” Please also recall that the assignment asks you specifically to consider the present moment and longer-term impacts of COVID: what does “getting back to normal” mean? Are there longer-term impacts of COVID that we will continue to live with? What has changed permanently, what hasn’t, and why? The homework assignment for next week is designed to get you thinking sociologically about your research question by connecting it to larger public debates as well as to get you thinking about it in terms of the present moment in the COVID pandemic. For your assignment, please respond to the following questions: 1.) What is your research question? 2.) Find three secondary sources that can help you answer your research question. At least two of the sources should be news reports published in newspapers or news magazines since June 1, 2022; at least one of these should be from one of the following reputable publications: The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, or The New Yorker (instructions on how to search for recent articles using two different databases are included below); at least one of the newspaper articles should also be 800 words or longer. The third source can be another newspaper or news magazine article, or it could be data from the official website of a government office or organization that includes information relevant to your research question; the third source can also be published at any time. [PLEASE NOTE: Do not just pick any random story that pops up in your search; you should do a bit of searching to find a story that is actually relevant to your research question.] A.) For each of the sources you identify, write the bibliographic citation, using proper bibliographic format. (Please review the examples of proper bibliographic format that I included at the end of the Final Paper Assignment, which is posted on blackboard. You can find additional resources for how to write references using APA style here, by clicking on the correct type of source you are citing (eg. Online newspaper article) in the menu on the left, under where it says “APA References”: https://owl.excelsior.edu/citation-and-documentation/apa-style/apa-references/ ) B.) Beneath each bibliographic citation, include a brief summary of the article; also, take notes on any information that might be useful for you in your final paper. This might include statistical data or examples included in the article that can help you answer your research question; anything that might help you link your research question to larger public debates; any information that might prove useful to helping you to think about your research question in terms of the current moment in the pandemic’s history, etc. When you’re done, turn in your completed assignment using the link I posted in the Readings & Assignments Folder for Week 9. SEARCHING FOR NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLES USING OUR LIBRARY DATA-BASE Our Library subscribes to a database called “Gale OneFile: News” that includes recent news articles from numerous newspapers and magazines, including recent articles from the New York Times. You can find a link to this database here: https://library.csi.cuny.edu/news 1.) Click on the link for Gale OneFile: News. If you are off campus, you will need your SLAS user name and password to access this. 2.) After logging in, click on “Advance Search” (underneath the blank that pops up for regular searches) 3.) When you reach “Advanced Search,” underneath where it says “Search Limiters”: a.) Make sure that “Documents with Full Text” is checked b.) Underneath where the checked boxes are, you will see “by publication date” –> Click on “after” and include 01/June/2022, to limit your search to articles published since June. c.) Where it says “By publication title” you can limit your search by writing “New York Times” 4.) Once you’ve limited your search, using the Search Limiters listed in Step 3, you can use the blanks at the top to search articles in the New York Times, using different keywords. You will note that the word length of each article will be included beneath each search result. ====== ALTERNATIVE DATABASE THAT INCLUDES ALL THE PUBLICATIONS LISTED ABOVE: Another option is to use the data base Nexis Uni, which is also included on the list here: https://library.csi.cuny.edu/news. Nexis Uni includes all of the approved sources I listed in the assignment above, but it is a little more difficult to use. To search on this: 1.) Using the link above, click on Nexis Uni; if you are logging in from off campus, sign in using your SLAS user name and password 2.) Click on Advanced search 3.) Where it says “Date Range” click in the drop-down menu, choose “Date is After”; in the little calendar that pops up, choose June 1, 2022 4.) Where it says “Source,” above the line, type in the approved sources listed above. You can type in all of them in, one at a time; when each one pops up, you can select it and then type the next one. 5.) After you have limited your search in this way, you can use the search spaces at the top to write keywords to help you search for relevant articles. Remember that including two or more words in quotation helps you search for the phrase as opposed to both words individually (for instance, “college students” or “healthcare professionals” 6.) When your search results show up, I recommend clicking on the top-right corner, where it says “Sort by” and selecting “Date (newest-oldest)” so that you can narrow your search results to more recent articles. Week 10 Homework: Scaffolding Assignment #2 SOC/ANT 400: Research Seminar in Sociology & Anthropology (Due Monday, Nov. 14, or Wednesday, Nov. 16, by midnight –> You should turn it in the night BEFORE we meet) By now, each of you has a preliminary research question. As I discussed in class on Week 8, your research question should help focus your research for the rest of the semester as well as your final papers. (NOTE: If you missed class on Week 8, please download and review the Week 8 Lecture powerpoint presentation that I posted in the “Class Resources & Recorded Classes” folder on Blackboard.) There is no reading assignment for next week. For your homework assignment please complete the following questions. The homework assignment is due the night before our meeting is scheduled: either on Monday, Nov. 14, or Wednesday, Nov. 16, by midnight, depending on whether our meeting is on Tuesday or Thursday. YOU SHOULD UPLOAD YOUR COMPLETED ASSIGNMENT USING THE LINK I POSTED IN THE WEEK 10 READINGS & ASSIGNMENTS FOLDER ON BLACKBOARD: 1.) Write your preliminary research question. 2.) HYPOTHESES: Take a few moments to sit down with your research question and come up with a few hypotheses, or educated guesses of possible answers to your questions. Write a paragraph stating a few (3-4) possible answers to your research question. Also include WHY you think these might be possible answers to your question. Try to come up with 3-4 possible answers; and try to go beyond what seems obvious to you. For now, it is not important to get the “right answer.” The purpose is to get you thinking about your research question and to flag things that you might look out for as you do your research. [PLEASE NOTE: You should keep a copy of this assignment; it is likely that you can use this paragraph, possibly with revisions, in your final paper.] 3.) You will be conducting in-depth interviews with two respondents from a particular population in order to help you answer your research question. What population or category of people should your respondents belong to in order to help you best answer your question? 4.) Finally, review the powerpoint presentation for Week 8, especially the slides on interviewing tips. Write at least 15 open-ended questions that you will use in your interview, keeping your preliminary research question in mind. Try to group the questions into 2-3 themes or areas related to your research question and/or to the “hypotheses” you came up with in your answer to Question 2 (above).

Homework Assignment for Week 6

(Due Monday, Oct. 17, by midnight)

 

Reading Assignment:

Meredith Manze, Anna Lattanzio, Jenna Larsen, Julia Keegan, Nick Freudenberg & Heidi E. Jones (2022): The primacy of meeting public university students’ essential needs in the wake of COVID-19: An overdue higher education priority,” Journal of American College Health, DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2022.2076105

Homework Assignment:

After reading the article by Manze et al., answer each of the following questions on the article in a few sentences:

 

• In one sentence, what is the main research question that the authors are trying to answer in the article?
• In one or two sentences, what is the main argument (or thesis) in the article?
• What methods are the authors using in the article? (Briefly describe them: Interviews; surveys; experiment; something else? What was the research site (or location); how was the research conducted?)
• What are the main findings of the article? (List at least 2).
• What did this study do well or do poorly?
• For your final paper, you are being asked to offer a sociological analysis to answer your research question. If you recall from our readings earlier in the semester, the “sociological imagination” refers to the ability to connects “personal troubles” and “public issues.” How does this article make this type of connection?

 

 

 

 

 

Reading Assignment:  week7

 

Porismita Borah, Bimbisar Irom & Ying Chia Hsu. 2021. “‘It infuriates me’:  Examining young adults’ reactions to and recommendations to fight misinformation about COVID-19.” Journal of Youth Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2021.1965108

 

Homework Assignment:

 

The reading for next week addresses the media environment that has developed around COVID-19 and its facilitation of the spread of false information.  For your homework assignment

 

• In a few sentences, what are the main research questions that the authors are trying to answer in the article?
• What is the article’s main argument? [In this article, the main thesis is a bit buried and overlaps with the findings. You can find it in the abstract, however.]
• In no more than a paragraph, what methods are the authors using in the article? (Briefly describe them: Interviews; surveys; experiment; something else? Who was involved in the study? What was the research site (or location); how was the research conducted?)
• What are the main findings of the article? (List at least 2).
• In 1-2 paragraphs, what did this study do well or do poorly? How could it be improved? [Try to a bit aware of what methods reveal and don’t reveal. How would using a different method reveal different aspects of this research question or this issue?]
• Recall our earlier discussion on how the “sociological imagination” connects “personal troubles” to “public issues.” In no more than one paragraph, how does this article make this type of connection?

 

 

 

ANT/SOC 400: Research Seminar in Sociology & Anthropology

Homework Assignment for Week 9

 

In your final papers, you will need to develop a sociological analysis of the question you are researching. As we discussed earlier in the semester, a sociological analysis means that you want to look beyond the individual to understand the social dimensions of what you are researching. In other words, as C. Wright Mills put it, you will want to connect the “personal troubles” (or personal experiences) that you are collecting through your interviews with larger “public issues.”

 

Please also recall that the assignment asks you specifically to consider the present moment and longer-term impacts of COVID: what does “getting back to normal” mean? Are there longer-term impacts of COVID that we will continue to live with? What has changed permanently, what hasn’t, and why?

 

The homework assignment for next week is designed to get you thinking sociologically about your research question by connecting it to larger public debates as well as to get you thinking about it in terms of the present moment in the COVID pandemic.  For your assignment, please respond to the following questions:

 

1.) What is your research question?

 

2.) Find three secondary sources that can help you answer your research question. At least two of the sources should be news reports published in newspapers or news magazines since June 1, 2022; at least one of these should be from one of the following reputable publications: The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, or The New Yorker  (instructions on how to search for recent articles using two different databases are included below); at least one of the newspaper articles should also be 800 words or longer. The third source can be another newspaper or news magazine article, or it could be data from the official website of a government office or organization that includes information relevant to your research question; the third source can also be published at any time. [PLEASE NOTE: Do not just pick any random story that pops up in your search; you should do a bit of searching to find a story that is actually relevant to your research question.]

A.) For each of the sources you identify, write the bibliographic citation, using proper bibliographic format. (Please review the examples of proper bibliographic format that I included at the end of the Final Paper Assignment, which is posted on blackboard. You can find additional resources for how to write references using APA style here, by clicking on the correct type of source you are citing (eg. Online newspaper article) in the menu on the left, under where it says “APA References”: https://owl.excelsior.edu/citation-and-documentation/apa-style/apa-references/ )

B.) Beneath each bibliographic citation, include a brief summary of the article; also, take notes on any information that might be useful for you in your final paper. This might include statistical data or examples included in the article that can help you answer your research question; anything that might help you link your research question to larger public debates; any information that might prove useful to helping you to think about your research question in terms of the current moment in the pandemic’s history, etc.

 

When you’re done, turn in your completed assignment using the link I posted in the Readings & Assignments Folder for Week 9.

 

 

SEARCHING FOR NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLES USING OUR LIBRARY DATA-BASE

 

Our Library subscribes to a database called “Gale OneFile: News” that includes recent news articles from numerous newspapers and magazines, including recent articles from the New York Times.

 

You can find a link to this database here:

https://library.csi.cuny.edu/news

 

1.) Click on the link for Gale OneFile: News. If you are off campus, you will need your SLAS user name and password to access this.

 

2.) After logging in, click on “Advance Search” (underneath the blank that pops up for regular searches)

 

3.) When you reach “Advanced Search,” underneath where it says “Search Limiters”:

a.) Make sure that “Documents with Full Text” is checked

b.) Underneath where the checked boxes are, you will see “by publication date” –> Click on “after” and include 01/June/2022, to limit your search to articles published since June.

c.) Where it says “By publication title” you can limit your search by writing “New York Times”

 

4.) Once you’ve limited your search, using the Search Limiters listed in Step 3, you can use the blanks at the top to search articles in the New York Times, using different keywords. You will note that the word length of each article will be included beneath each search result.

 

======

ALTERNATIVE DATABASE THAT INCLUDES ALL THE PUBLICATIONS LISTED ABOVE:

Another option is to use the data base Nexis Uni, which is also included on the list here:  https://library.csi.cuny.edu/news.

 

Nexis Uni includes all of the approved sources I listed in the assignment above, but it is a little more difficult to use. To search on this:

1.) Using the link above, click on Nexis Uni; if you are logging in from off campus, sign in using your SLAS user name and password

2.) Click on Advanced search

3.) Where it says “Date Range” click in the drop-down menu, choose “Date is After”; in the little calendar that pops up, choose June 1, 2022

4.) Where it says “Source,” above the line, type in the approved sources listed above. You can type in all of them in, one at a time; when each one pops up, you can select it and then type the next one.

5.) After you have limited your search in this way, you can use the search spaces at the top to write keywords to help you search for relevant articles. Remember that including two or more words in quotation helps you search for the phrase as opposed to both words individually (for instance, “college students” or “healthcare professionals”

6.) When your search results show up, I recommend clicking on the top-right corner, where it says “Sort by” and selecting “Date (newest-oldest)” so that you can narrow your search results to more recent articles.

 

Week 10 Homework:

Scaffolding Assignment #2

SOC/ANT 400: Research Seminar in Sociology & Anthropology

(Due Monday, Nov. 14, or Wednesday, Nov. 16, by midnight –> You should turn it in the night BEFORE we meet)

 

By now, each of you has a preliminary research question. As I discussed in class on Week 8, your research question should help focus your research for the rest of the semester as well as your final papers. (NOTE: If you missed class on Week 8, please download and review the Week 8 Lecture powerpoint presentation that I posted in the “Class Resources & Recorded Classes” folder on Blackboard.)

 

There is no reading assignment for next week. For your homework assignment please complete the following questions. The homework assignment is due the night before our meeting is scheduled: either on Monday, Nov. 14, or Wednesday, Nov. 16, by midnight, depending on whether our meeting is on Tuesday or Thursday. YOU SHOULD UPLOAD YOUR COMPLETED ASSIGNMENT USING THE LINK I POSTED IN THE WEEK 10 READINGS & ASSIGNMENTS FOLDER ON BLACKBOARD:

 

• Write your preliminary research question.

 

• HYPOTHESES: Take a few moments to sit down with your research question and come up with a few hypotheses, or educated guesses of possible answers to your questions. Write a paragraph stating a few (3-4) possible answers to your research question. Also include WHY you think these might be possible answers to your question. Try to come up with 3-4 possible answers; and try to go beyond what seems obvious to you. For now, it is not important to get the “right answer.” The purpose is to get you thinking about your research question and to flag things that you might look out for as you do your research. [PLEASE NOTE: You should keep a copy of this assignment; it is likely that you can use this paragraph, possibly with revisions, in your final paper.]

 

• You will be conducting in-depth interviews with two respondents from a particular population in order to help you answer your research question. What population or category of people should your respondents belong to in order to help you best answer your question?

 

• Finally, review the powerpoint presentation for Week 8, especially the slides on interviewing tips. Write at least 15 open-ended questions that you will use in your interview, keeping your preliminary research question in mind. Try to group the questions into 2-3 themes or areas related to your research question and/or to the “hypotheses” you came up with in your answer to Question 2 (above).