Sociology Data and Initial Analysis Report
Data So Far
In this section, you will do the following:
- Describe 2 patternsthat you have observed in your virtual community. Patterns are relatively consistent and repeated incidents, interactions, ways of using the virtual community, etc. that you have observed.
- For each described pattern, provide at least 1 specific examplethat illustrates the pattern. This could include screenshots, but could also just be your description of what occurred.
- For each described pattern, brainstorm a short list of relevant course conceptsthat relate or connect with the described pattern.
- Describe 1 abnormal or strange interactionthat you observed in your virtual community.
- Again, provide a specific examplefor this abnormality.
- Again, create a short list of relevant course conceptsthat relates to the observed strange interaction
Possible Course Content
In this section, you will do the following:
- Choose 2 course conceptsfrom the lists you made in the first section.
- For each chosen course concept, start by listing the most relevant lectures and readings that connect to the concept (e.g. “Social capital is a key concept in the readings from… <insert author names>. It is also discussed in the lectures on… <insert lecture titles>.” Be sure to look AHEAD in the syllabustoo!
- For each chosen course concept, using readings and/or lecture, explain the conceptpaying special attention to the parts of the idea that relate most to your data.
- Then, connect the concept to your data. Either show how your data agrees or disagrees with the course content; or show how the course content pushes you to understand the data differently.
Grading Rubric
Each section is worth 50% of the total grade. In the first section, your descriptions should be detailed and clear–easy to picture and understand. In the second section, your listing of course content should be relatively complete and your explanations of the course content should be accurate.
The reader should be able to see not only how much time you have spent interacting with the virtual community, but also how well you are able to start seeing connections to course material.
FAQ:
- How do I write this report? Should I literally write out the question and then answer it? Should we answer the questions in order?
I personally would not do it this way–I think it will feel a little difficult to read. Instead, use paragraphs that clearly answer one (maybe two) of the questions that are listed in each subsection. Use transitions and clear topic sentences (the first sentence in each paragraph) to show which question you are answering.
I would generally answer the questions in the order that they are presented above–they follow a fairly logical progression. But technically you do not have to answer them in order if it makes more sense not to.
- Do we need citations in this report?
If you are only citing readings from course material, you just need the parenthetical, in-text citations. If you are citing anything outside of course material, you need to provide the full citation in a works cited page at the end of the report. You do not need citations outside of course material to do well on this report. I assume you will likely have some citations from readings or lectures to answer part 2 of the report.
