SOC 4318—Aging in a Changing Society—Spring 2018—Theme Paper Topic Proposal

SOC 4318—Aging in a Changing Society—Spring 2018—Theme Paper Topic Proposal

Your preliminary Theme Paper Topic Proposal—due (via “Projects to Turn In”) by Sunday,
March 11, for my approval and feedback—is worth up to 3 points toward your course grade.
See the following page for the criteria I will be using when evaluating your proposals.

Your proposal may be brief (perhaps a page or less). For a general idea as to what I will be
looking for, see the accompanying PDF file “Sample Theme Paper Proposal – Eliassen 10-2-
2000” (a paper topic proposal I wrote for a Fall 2000 graduate course I took in Aging and the
Life Course). In this first step in preparation for your final Theme Paper assignment, you are to
consider (and write about) the following:

1. Specify a preliminary title for your Theme Paper. The title (subject to change at this
point, as you continue your library research) should serve as a succinct statement of the
content in your paper; it should inform readers as to the main topic and key issues or
variables to be discussed. Your topic should be neither too broad nor too restricted
for adequate coverage in a review paper of eight pages or so.

2. What particular research question(s) or hypotheses are you interested in addressing?

(Try to phrase your research questions or hypotheses in such a way that they could be
tested—that is, so that someone could observe when and under what conditions the
phenomenon in question does or does not occur).

3. Develop and present a working bibliography containing at least 5 peer-reviewed

resources that are pertinent to your topic (in addition to any non–peer-reviewed items
you may be considering for use as examples to illustrate your points)—entered in correct
ASA or APA format.

Your Theme Paper (due Monday, May 7) will be a final demonstration of your active
engagement with course material and how you are making it your own. The Theme Paper portal
under “Projects to Turn In” will be open starting in Week 9, and full instructions will be
available there. At this point, keep in mind that you should be planning on a minimum of eight
double-spaced pages (12-point font, 1-inch margins), including a title page and separate
References section. Your paper must be written in either ASA style (used in most Sociology
journals) or APA style (required in Psychology, Social Work, and many Gerontology journals).
And you will need at least five peer-reviewed references (i.e., no Wikipedia or popular media!)
in addition to any non–peer-reviewed sources you might cite as examples to illustrate your points.

Please get in touch with me if you run into any snags or have any questions as you work on this
paper. Feel free to e-mail me or come by during office hours.

—A. Henry Eliassen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology

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 SOC 4318—Aging in a Changing Society—Spring 2018—Theme Paper Topic Proposal

SOC 4318—Spring 2018—Evaluation Criteria for Theme Paper Topic Proposal

Name___________________________________ Total Points:_________ out of a possible 3

Points/Possible Points

___/_1_ Preliminary title that adequately informs readers about your main topic and key issues
or variables to be discussed; topic neither too broad nor too restricted.

___/_1_ Testable research question(s) or hypotheses.

___/_1_ Working bibliography containing at least 5 peer-reviewed resources that are

pertinent to your topic.

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