A sociological episode is a “micro” social event having a clear beginning and ending. For example, a social episode might range from the exchange that takes place between a customer and bartender or behavior that is part of a ride-along with police. Studying the episode allows students to develop research skills including the developing of theoretical formulations, observational skills, collecting data, interpreting of data and writing up findings.
Students will select from a predetermined list of existing research articles and then use this as a foundation for their own qualitative research.
Students will document their research findings as follows:
I. Introduction: This section tells what the researcher does in the paper. It is an introduction to the entire paper.
II. Theory: This section is an introduction to the theory or theories used in the paper.
III. Data Sources: This section of the paper describes the various ways the researcher collected data. No detail is unimportant.
IV. Narrative: In this section the researchers describes what was observed. It should reflect the temporal dimension of the event in some way (When did things happen in the event?).
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V. Analysis: In this section, the researcher brings together theory, narrative and data interpreting the social episode.
VI. Bibliography: In this section, the researcher uses APA format for citations of articles used in the research process (not just in the paper).
This writing will be shared in class and will be evaluated and feedback given to students. The student will then have an opportunity to revise and resubmit this work for possible grade improvement.