Assignment: Sociological Concept or Theory
Assignment: Sociological Concept or Theory
upport your argument with recent Australian data and at least one sociological concept or theory. Scope: The essay should include: The following points provide the scope for what you need to cover: Structure and Referencing: Your essay should use the following structure: See also the Essay Assignment Planner, available on FLO for you to use as a more detailed planning tool. Essay Outline: Title Introduction (approximately 200wds) Overview of credible epidemiological data (approximately 500wds) In-depth discussion of sociology (approximately 1600wds) Conclusion (approximately 200wds) All words in these 3 sections are counted in the word count, including in text citations but not the reference list 2500 wds +/-10% Reference list (minimum of 10 references, see list of appropriate sources) This assessment item relates to the following Learning Outcomes: LO1 Critical social analysis of statistics on health in Australia through the application of sociological theories and concepts LO2 A questioning and ‘transformative’ approach to health issues LO3 Sourcing and presenting high quality statistical data on a particular health issue in Australia LO4 Identifying population patterns and inequalities evident in health statistics, especially in relation to vulnerable groups LO5 Understanding of the relationship between individuals and society, and the impact of power relations on health LO7 Communication and justification of the value of critical social analysis of health to a practice-based audience Tips for Essay preparation
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Health Observatory (GHO) http://www.who.int/gho/en/ It is always important to explain the global context of the issue you are looking at. What are the international patterns in relation to the issue? How do these compare to Australia? A good starting point for global health data is the WHO. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) http://www.abs.gov.au/ The main source of Australian health statistics is the Australian Bureau of Statistics. You could start by searching the results of their Australian Health Survey, and look at the information on the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA). The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) http://www.aihw.gov.au/ The AIHW is a major national agency set up by the Australian Government under the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act to provide reliable, regular and relevant information and statistics on Australia’s health and welfare. Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU)
Assignment: Sociological Concept or Theory
Assignment: Sociological Concept or Theory
http://www.publichealth.gov.au/phidu// Social Health Atlases providing lots of charts, data and reports are available here from the PHIDU. Led by Director John Glover. Other sociological textbooks: Collyer, F. (2015) The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine, Basingstoke: Palgrave. Germov, J. (2014) Second opinion: an introduction to health sociology, 5th edn, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic. Gray, D. (2006) Health Sociology: An Australian Perspective, Pearson Education Australia, Sydney. Giddens, A. & Sutton, P. (2014) Essential Concepts in Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press. Giddens, A. & Sutton, P. (2013) Sociology. 7th Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. Grbich, C. (2004) Health in Australia: sociological concepts and issues, 3rd ed., Pearson Longman, Sydney, NSW. Nettleton, S. (2013) The Sociology of Health and Illness. 3rd Edition. Cambridge: Polity Press. Schofield T. (2015) A Sociological Approach to Health Determinants, Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. White, K. (2006) An Introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness 2nd Edition London: Sage Publications. Willis, K, & Elmer, S. (2007) Society, Culture and Health: an introduction for Nurses, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Articles in sociological or health related peer reviewed journals: American Sociological Review Australian and New Zealand Journal of Sociology Australian Journal of Social Issues Australian Journal of Public Health Critical Public Health British Journal of Sociology Health Sociology Review International Journal of Health Promotion International Review of Health Services Qualitative Health Research Social Science and Medicine Sociology of Health and Illness Appropriate sources do NOT include: Lectures, lecture notes/slides Wikipedia Websites YouTube Newspaper articles Health promotion material
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS
Discussion Questions (DQ)
Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation
Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality
Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes
I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy
For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy
The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication
Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.