a guide to writing sociology papers by sociology writing group worth publishers 5th edition february 15, 2001 english isbn: 1572599510 208 pages pdf 109 kb ideal for instructors and students in a wide range of sociological courses, this guide makes the case that thinking and writing are integrally related and that writing, therefore, exercises the sociological imagination. Written in a clear and conversational style, a guide to writing sociology papers examines a wide range of writing assignments for sociology courses at all levels of the curriculum. Employing a variety of writing samples as a means to illustrate effective writing, this brief and inexpensive text teaches students how to deftly research and write about sociology. Before you can write a clear and coherent sociology paper, you need a firm understanding of the assumptions and expectations of the discipline. You need to know your audience, the way they view the world and how they order and evaluate information.

So, without further ado, let’s figure out just what sociology is, and how one goes about writing it. Unlike many of the other subjects here at unc, such as history or english, sociology is a new subject for many students. Therefore, it may be helpful to give a quick introduction to what sociologists do. For example, some sociologists focus on the family, addressing issues such as marriage, divorce, child rearing, and domestic abuse, the ways these things are defined in different cultures and times, and their effect on both individuals and institutions. Others examine larger social organizations such as businesses and governments, looking at their structure and hierarchies. Still others focus on social movements and political protest, such as the american civil rights movement.

Finally, sociologists may look at divisions and inequality within society, examining phenomena such as race, gender, and class, and their effect on people’s choices and opportunities. Thus, it is not the subject matter that makes a paper sociological, but rather the perspective used in writing it. So, just what is a sociological perspective? at its most basic, sociology is an attempt to understand and explain the way that individuals and groups interact within a society.

Wright mills, in his book the sociological imagination 1959 , writes that neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both. Why? well, as karl marx observes at the beginning of the eighteenth brumaire of louis bonaparte 1852 , humans make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past. Thus, a good sociological argument needs to balance both individual agency and structural constraints. That is certainly a tall order, but it is the basis of all effective sociological writing. What are the most important things to keep in mind as you write in sociology? pay special attention to the following issues: the first thing to remember in writing a sociological argument is to be as clear as possible in stating your thesis.

Of course, that is true in all papers, but there are a couple of pitfalls common to sociology that you should be aware of and avoid at all cost. As previously defined, sociology is the study of the interaction between individuals and larger social forces. Different traditions within sociology tend to favor one side of the equation over the other, with some focusing on the agency of individual actors and others on structural factors. The danger is that you may go too far in either of these directions and thus lose the complexity of sociological thinking.

Although this mistake can manifest itself in any number of ways, three types of flawed arguments are particularly common: the individual argument, the human nature argument, and the society argument. The individual argument generally takes this form: the individual is free to make choices, and any outcomes can be explained exclusively through the study of his or her ideas and decisions. While it is of course true that we all make our own choices, we must also keep in mind that, to paraphrase marx, we make these choices under circumstances given to us by the structures of society.