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SOC 324: Social Stratification: Home

Policy Paper assignment

Your paper has 6 components:

1. Identify the community to be served.  This can be local, county, state, regional, national, or international.  It may be rural or urban, a particular age group, etc.

2. Identify the dimension of stratification you are addressing - e.g., income, housing, food, health care, education, criminal justice.

3. Review literature that bridges the gap between academic research and policy recommendations. This should include recognition of the theoretical frameworks upon which these recommendations are based.

4. Summarize at least 2 positions with respect to policy recommendations addressing the issue you have selected.  You are encouraged to consider positions outside of mainstream political discourse.

5. Develop a proposal for recommending the policies you think are most appropriate for addressing your issue. 

6. Address issues of costs, benefits, alternative approaches, and sources of resistance.

(Adapted from the SOC324 syllabus)

Welcome to the SOC 324 Library Guide

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This is the library guide for your SOC 324 course. Its purpose is to help you identify useful resources to complete the Policy Paper assignment. If you have any questions about these resources or need help finding further information, please contact Carmichael Library.

Research Log

Research can take several days, even weeks, to complete and if you can't remember what you've already done, you can find yourself repeating steps you've already taken.  You don't want to feel like you're always starting over!!

A research log can help you remember where you have looked before and where you need to look.  Feel free to print this document out as many times as you need, or save a copy on your computer and use it electronically. 

This is just one example of a research log, as you develop your own skills and ways of collecting data, you'll likely develop your own log.   


Charlotte Ford's picture
Charlotte Ford
Carmichael Library, Station 6100
Montevallo, AL 35115