Written Assignment Outline – Looking Sociologically at Current Events Objective The objective of the outline is to assist you in the preparation of the writing assignment. This is an opportunity to receive feedback on your social issue, concepts, theoretical paradigm and references before submitting the final paper. Learning Outcomes  Analyze a current event from a sociological perspective.  Explain how the selected event(s) are relevant to human society.  Apply sociological concepts and theory to a contemporary Canadian social issue.  Demonstrate how topics and ideas from sociology can be used to help us understand social issues in a new or different way. Outline Directions The outline should be 1 page in length. Outlines should include the following 4 components: 1. A short description of the story or issue that has been in the news (also known as current events). In a few sentences, describe the current event in your own words (e.g., what happened? What does the reader need to know in order to understand this story?). – The story must relate in some way to topics, themes, or other material covered in Introduction to Sociology. – The story must be relevant to Canadian society. – The story should be no more than three years old. – Ask your instructor if you are unsure whether a news story is acceptable for the paper or if you are having trouble finding a news story. 2. A brief discussion of the 3 sociological concepts. o A ‘sociological concept’ is an idea or term to describe something in society. There is a list of concepts at the end of each chapter in the textbook. o For each concept, you should 1) explain what the concept means, and 2) show how the concept can be used to better understand some aspect of the news story. o Each concept can come from any chapter of the textbook. SOCI1101 – Written Assignment © Bow Valley College 2016 2 3. Summarize 1 sociological theoretical paradigm. o A ‘theoretical paradigm/approach’ is a basic image of society that guides thinking and research. o Pick one of the three approaches discussed throughout the textbook: Structural Functional; Social Conflict; or Symbolic Interaction. o For your selected paradigm, you should 1) briefly explain some of the central ideas of the theory, and 2) show how the theory can be used to better understand the news story. **Hint: Discuss the concepts and theory as if the person reading the paper has never taken a sociology course. 4. A reference list that includes at least 3 peer-reviewed sources and one or more references to the news story. Guidelines At least three peer-reviewed sources must be used. You may use the textbook as one of these three sources. Peer-reviewed sources do not need to be from Canada; however, all sources must provide insight into the issues from your news story and/or the course material used in the paper. Check with your instructor if you are not sure whether a source would be considered acceptable. Proper APA citations must be provided for all sources. Because this assignment is about events that have been in the news, please also include one or more references to the news story you are discussing. You must also cite any additional sources you use for information included in the paper Outlines and papers must adhere to the APA formatting guidelines. Outlines/papers must be wordprocessed and submitted electronically via the Dropbox through D2L (click on “Assessments” and then “Dropbox”). Correct grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and terminology are expected.