Soc 007 Population and Society: Class Project objectives and guidelines
Objective: The main objective of the paper is for you to identify, discuss, and investigate empirically one of the issues surrounding the connection between population and society. It requires:
Identifying an issue, formulating a question, and providing hypotheses addressing it. You must choose a topic that directly pertains to the issues covered in class.
Conducting a brief literature review and basic empirical research to address the issue. Depending on your question, you can focus your analysis on a particular country or you can compare across countries. You need to demonstrate, though, that you have applied primary data to test your hypotheses or support your main argument.
This paper is not merely a traditional research paper/literature review. The objective is to get you to explore sources of demographic data and gain experience in using data to answer a research question and/or tell an interesting story. Your research question does not need to be original (something no one has looked at in the literature) or even that deep (though it helps). They key point is to use data to conduct a thoughtful analysis, and demonstrate the ability to present results and convey your findings with both tables/figures and text.
Guidelines:
Length: 5-7 pages, not including tables and references. It should be done in 12-point font and double-spaced. Since the paper is not long, a big part of the assignment is exploring different data sources to see what kinds of information is out there and what kinds of things you can do with that data.
Structure of the paper:
Introduction
Introduce issue connecting population and society, including compelling motivation for your particular topic, clearly stating its relevance
State question to be addressed / main hypotheses and explanations for them, based on previous theory and literature
Data and analytic strategy
Results
Empirical analysis and interpretation of data
Conclusions
Be sure to label graphs completely; cite all data used (for websites the complete URL, date, and organization publishing it). Do NOT use secondary data analyses based on results already presented in a published paper (with the exception of using it to support or buttress your own analysis) and do NOT forget to cite data and ideas taken from others.
Details on table/figure format:
Be parsimonious in your use of tables and figures. Do not merely make a figure/table of every piece of data you consider for your analysis. They should be directly relevant to your research questions and argument, and each must be discussed in the text.
The reader should not have to compile information from several tables/figures in order to see your point. If you are comparing population change across 5 neighborhoods, graph them together rather than in 5 separate figures.
Be thoughtful of the best way to represent your data. Is it best presented in a table or a figure? What type of figure facilitates the reader’s understanding of your point?
Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively as they appear in the text. Tables and figures may be embedded in the text after they are first discussed or included sequentially at the end of the paper, beginning with all tables and followed by all figures. The latter is generally easier to accomplish and is recommended. Do not submit the text and figures in separate files. If you generate tables/figures in excel, copy them into Word using “paste special.”
Do not present the exact same data in a table and a figure. Choose one or the other.
Do not present very simple data in a table (i.e., life expectancy for men is x and for women is y)
Each figure should have a clear title above and the source below
Be sure that the reader can clearly discern what you are measuring in your table/figure. Clear labels are essential.
Make sure figures are legible when printed in black and white or bring a printout of the color tables when the paper is due.
Make sure that all parts of the table/figure (title, main body, source) print out together on the same page.
As a general rule, the most effective papers tend to have 3-6 tables/figures, though there is no golden number. If you have none, this may make it more difficult to make your point effectively. If you have 30 you most likely have too many.
Some notes on social science writing
The type of writing you will be expected to do in class is analytical: proposing and defending a thesis, however simple it may be. Clear and convincing arguments and ideas, lucid writing, and clarity and precision are all important. Repetition and rambling are to be avoided. Also avoid the passive voice (i.e., “Using data from the 2000 Census I calculate that…” is better than “Census 2000 data were analyzed which showed…”). And avoid describing personal feelings and experiences, in favor of objective evidence supporting your argument.
Reference format
When you refer to a paper or book in the text: (Author, year). Do not use footnotes or endnotes to cite sources.
Include a reference list at the end of the paper of all cited work.
Provide a complete list of all data sources, including the name of the agency/organization providing the data (i.e., World Bank or U.S. Census Bureau), complete web address, and date accessed.
Paper outlines:
We will devote one class session to group feedback on paper ideas. Students will write and submit an outline of their paper (see syllabus for due date). The outline should briefly describe 1) the topic to be investigated 2) a short motivation of why it is relevant and 3) list the data to be used and how it will be presented. In class, students will be divided into groups of 3 and will present the main ideas to the group for feedback. (Note: failure to participate in this exercise will result in a 5-point reduction in the grade for the class project)
Example 1: Cross country comparison
Issue connecting population and society
Is demographic transition theory useful for understanding the population trajectories of Latin American countries?
Question to be addressed / hypotheses
Some say it is useful because Latin American countries fit the pattern. Thus I should expect: mortality to decline first, a lag between mortality decline and fertility, and then fertility decline.
Some say it is not useful because even if we see the pattern there is too much variation in the timing and sequence of events to make them generalizable. If this is the case, I should see that mortality declines at different points in time across countries, and that fertility also declines somewhat randomly across countries.
Empirical application and analysis
Look for data on mortality and fertility trends for Latin American countries. Generate tables and graphs illustrating the trends. Discuss what you observe.
Summary
Example 2: Within country comparison
Issue connecting population and society
Fertility behavior is affected by both ideas about family life and economic considerations regarding the cost and benefit of children. How are fertility differentials across groups in the U.S. connected to ideas and economic position? More specifically, do religious people have more children and do we see lower fertility among professional women?
Main explanations proposed and hypotheses
Some say that religion should lead to higher fertility because religion more directly connects with traditional ideas about family formation and size, leading to higher fertility. Thus the main hypothesis is that controlling for income religious people should have more kids than non-religious people.
At the same time, there are fertility differentials across income groups. Especially for women, employment might conflict with family life. The main hypothesis is that career oriented women should have fewer children than otherwise similar women.
Empirical application and analysis
Look for data on fertility behavior across religious and social groups in the U.S. Generate tables and graphs illustrating the differences. Discuss what you observe.
Summary
These are just illustrations – you are encouraged to think creatively about population issues. Consider topics such as the socio-economic correlates of malaria deaths in Africa, the impact of the European Union on migration patterns within Europe, etc.
SEE WEBSITE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (under ‘getting started’ tab) AND LINKS TO NUMEROUS DATA SOURCES (under ‘data sources’ tab):
http://guides.library.upenn.edu/soci007
Be sure to follow Penn’s code of academic integrity (for details see http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/PORT/documentation/plagiarism_policy.html). Cases of suspected plagiarism will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct for disciplinary action.
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