The most crucial step in getting started, is being sure that you understand the question. In particular, be sure that you understand all the terminology used in the question. For example, if the question contains the sociological term "socialization," be certain that you know what the term means. Check in the glossary of your Blackboard class (see "Course Tools" and click "Glossary") or the textbook for a brief definition. Use the index of your text to find the term in the body of the text and read any relevant sections. This may also give you some ideas for the essay itself. Do NOT use the regular dictionary for technical terms, including those that have every day meanings such as "family." If you are still unclear, ask your instructor to clarify any terms for you.
Also be sure that you understand the meaning of any words that are not technical terms. For example, if the instructor uses the word "inherently" (as in the statement: "there are no inherently criminal acts"), this is the time to use the dictionary. Many students, who are unsure of a word, may misunderstand a question. The word "inherently" refers to the essential characteristics of a thing. The sentence given previsious then means that there are no acts that are in and of themselves essentially criminal. But many students who guess at the meaning will think "inherently" sounds a little like "inherited," a word that has to do with the passing of things (genes, money, etc.) from one generation to the next.
An important thing to notice about a question is whether it has one part, or multiple parts. Are you asked to do only one thing, or several things. Some questions ask you to describe AND to evaluate. Sometimes the instructor provides guidance to the student by spelling out various aspects of an issue that should be considered. It is essential to address all the elements of a question. Return to top of page.
The answers to a take home essay examination should have a formal three part structure.
The body of the essay should be thoroughly developed, with concrete references to specific information from all the sources for the course (lecture, text, discussions, supplementary readings, videos, etc.). The body should be organized into paragraphs for each new idea or point to be made. The paragraphs should be arranged in a logical order, with transition sentences used to make links from one idea to another. Each paragraph should be well organized as well. Your essay may have as few as three paragraphs in the body or as many as twenty (much depends upon the length of the essay).
Students should use standard English grammar. They should avoid using slang or colloquial phrases and avoid using abbreviations for ordinary words.
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Students often forget that essay examinations serve several purposes. Among these are to demonstrate:
Excellent essay answers will contain information that is drawn from all the sources available through the class. An excellent essay will also show that the student has given the material some thought, and considered how his or her own experiences and previous knowledge relate to the course materials. Excellent answers will NOT draw upon other sources than those that are assigned. The essay is a test of your ability to process assigned reading material, not to find other people's opinions on the internet.
It is important, then that students review all of the materials covered by an examination. They should not only review the textbook and readings, but they should go back over their notes. The best essays also include material from lectures and all reading materials provided by the instructor.
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A truly educated person is not necessarily one who remembers a lot of facts, but one who knows where and how to find the facts that are appropriate to support the points he or she wishes to make. One reason an instructor may make an essay examination take home and open book is to allow students to make use of all the resources that are available to them to find the facts to support the points they wish to make in their essay.
In the social sciences, we look to empirical research, both qualitative and quantitative to provide support for our ideas. As students in the social sciences, you must also provide support for your ideas from empirical research. It is not enough to say that "this is my opinion." While personal opinion has a valid place in some essays (not all) in a social science class, it is never sufficient by itself for a good essay. On the other hand, social science students should not "throw in a few numbers" just to have data in their essay. Empirical data needs to be relevant to the subject under discussion.
The sources for empirical research findings available to you depend upon the course that you are taking the requirements imposed by your instructor. Most courses have a textbook and other required readings. Most courses have lectures, during which research findings are presented. In a telecourse, the video segements substitute for lectures, and present research findings. The instructor may hand out tables, charts, and other information to students that provide empirical data on various topics. Some times the instructor may require students to search for empirical data in resources available on the World Wide Web, or in other on-line and computer data bases. The instructions for an essay examination will tell you whether you should use only those sources already required as part of the course or whether additional library, internet or other research is required.
As a general rule of thumb, if you have been given information, in your text, in lecture, in a handout, through a video, of empirical data on a topic it should be included in any essay on that topic. If you have the information readily available and don't use it, then you haven't written an "A" or even a "B" essay.
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Failure to provide appropriate references is one of the most common mistakes that college students make. Any time a person makes use of an idea, a piece of information, a concept, a theory, that is neither common knowledge held by most educated people in our society nor a largely original idea of his or her own mind, they must provide a reference. When a person uses the EXACT words of another person found in a written source, or in a recorded speech, movie, song, etc. then it is necessary to place those words within quotation marks as well as to provide a reference. As a rule of thumb any time that one copies one entire sentence, or even the majority of the words in one sentence it is necessary to use quotation marks to encompass all the borrowed words.
Sociologists, anthropologists and other social scientists have specific formats for making references to source materials. There are several ways that references can be made, and several style books available to college students to use, such as the style manual of the MLA and of the APA. Sociologists generally use the reference styles found in their primary journals, the American Journal of Sociology and the American Sociological Review. In these sociological journals references to sources are made in the text following a sentence by placing the author's name, the year published and the page for quoted materials within parenthesis. An example would be (Botterweck et al. 2006, p. 2) for a book authored by a group of people beginning with some one named Botterweck, with the last name first, published in 2006, when quoting something from page 2. When this reference format is used, a bibliography list is placed at the end of the essay, in which all the sources referenced are listed alphabetically according to the author's last name, with the complete information for the source. In this example the reference in the biliography would look like this:
Botterweck, Michael C., et al. 2006. Everyday Sociology. Fifth Edition. Elmhurst, Il: NorthStar Press.
In my classes I do not ask students to do research on the internet and as a general rule, tend to discourage it, as many students use internet sources as a way of avoiding doing their own thinking. However, should you insist on using a source from the internet it must be properly referenced. Because the internet is a relatively new tool, the format for references is not as standardized as the format for books, and articles. The best approach is to keep in mind the purpose of a reference. We give references to acknowledge who is the source of the ideas we present, and to alllow others who might have an interest in a subject to follow up and find the same sources that we have used. So an internet reference should have the following things:
Sometimes it is easy to figure out who the author is, because his or her name will be shown clearly at the beginning or at the end of an internet document. At the end of the document it may say "This site created by" or "This site maintained by" and a persons name. This is usually the "author." For many site the "author" is an organization or a group. You may get information from the U.S. Census Bureau, or the FBI, or the Democratic Party, and so forth. When no individuals names are given as authors, the "author" is the name of the organization that maintains that website.
This is either the date that the information was originally written or published somewhere other than the internet (which is usually given on the web page), or it is the date that the material was "published" or placed on the web page. Sometimes you may have to use the "last date updated" date usually found at the very end of the web page document. If no date published or updated is available, then use your date of access (when you found it).
Most Web pages have a "title" at the top of their first page. The title you should be using is the title found in the text window, where the body of the web page is found or it may be found in the title that appears in the colored bar at the top of your computer screen.
If you have the name of a specific individual or individuals who "authored" the web page document, you will also need to include the name of the sponsoring organization if any for the web page. For example, if you are getting information about global warming, and use material authored by Bill Smith, that is found on the web site of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) then Bill Smith is the "author" but the EPA is the "publisher."
This is the unique element for a source from the internet. You must provide the exact internet location for your source, so that another person can enter that information into their own computer program and end up in exactly the same place you did. Most of the time a URL from the world wide web begins with http:// but on occasions students may obtain information from gophers which have addresses beginning gopher:// It is very important to be sure that you have the full, correct URL for your information.
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Sue Greer-Pitt/Southeast Community College, Whitesburg, Kentucky/ /updated June 17, 2007Return To: Main Sociology Resources