Stratification and Inequality
G93.2137
Spring 2005
Robert Max Jackson
Each of you will write four brief papers during the semester. These papers should critically assess some part of the reading material discussed the day that you give submit it. A paper may also refer to material from past topics, but it should focus on the current week. The papers should not exceed five pages.
You should always read with careful attention to the causal arguments being advanced; the definitions, assumptions, and empirical observations on which they depend; and both the internal consistency and external adequacy of the theory. Pay attention to questions of logical order: which propositions depend on others that have already been advanced (or that are implicitly assumed)?
The papers should analyze the assigned readings with this concern for the explicit and implicit causal arguments. You may choose to emphasize logical critique or empirical adequacy. You may compare theories or propose research that would help to advance or potentially refute a theory. You are not expected to consult any readings beyond those assigned in this class (but of course you may).
You may use any part of the readings assigned for a topic as the subject for a paper. The scope is your choice. A few words of caution, however. Usually, smaller, more restricted topics result in better papers. Don't dampen your ambition, but try to aim it at modest goals that fit the brevity of the papers and the limits of your experience.
Prepare your papers carefully and submit only finished work. This means work that you have thought through carefully, both with attention to the clarity of your writing and argument and with attention to its substance. Submit assigned papers on the day of the class in which the works they considered are to be discussed.
Your prose should aim for high quality, understanding that journal articles are the accepted standard for comparison. This implies, among other things, that you should never submit first drafts. Instead, always edit your papers carefully before they go to their final typing or printing. No matter how short, each paper should be well formed: it should focus on a sustained argument, it should have a proper introduction and conclusion, and it should follow a logical sequence of presentation. (On questions of style, two old books are still useful: Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, and Graves and Hodge's The Reader Over Your Shoulder. A more recent work is Joseph Williams, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. You also might consult Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish your Thesis, Book, or Article by Howard S. Becker.)
If
you are uncertain what constitutes a critical paper, try reading Neil
Smelser's assessment of what a good social theory must include; it's in
the book, Sociological Theory, Historical and Formal by
Smelser
and Steven Warner. The papers should conform to the style rules of the
University of Chicago Press (see K. Turabian, A Manual for Writers).
A good general guide to writing for the social sciences, which you can
buy, is A Short Guide to Writing about Social Science by Lee
Cuba.