Constructing A Sociology Term Paper: A Manual For Students

Follow this manual and write the best term paper ever.

  1. Instructions
    • Take some time to read through the instructions that you tutor has given you.
    • Make a note of the number of words that you need to produce and the submission date and review the referencing style.
    • If you are not sure of anything at this point, ask your tutor.
  2. Check out examples
    • Ask your tutor if they have some examples that you could look at before you start your own work.
    • Look online for examples. There are several writing websites that will offer free examples of sociology term papers.
    • Ideally you need to look for examples of work that have been marked as good, poor or outstanding, preferably ones that have been annotated.
  3. Choosing a topic
    • You may already have an idea of the topic that you wish to write about, if so start brainstorming some ideas of the specifics that you will focus on.
    • If you are stuck, look online as there are several writing websites that offer lists of topics in different fields of study.
    • Still stuck? Choose a paper that someone else has written and approach it from a different angle.
  4. Base your work on sociological theories and examples.
    • One of the difficulties in writing social science papers is that sometimes it is too easy to write and forget the ‘science’ side of the matter.
    • If you are not sure, go back to some of the basic sociological theories and use that as a springboard for your work.
    • If you are finding this difficult, go back to the examples and look at the way the author handled the subject. Be a detective.
  5. Planning
    • Right from the start use a project diary. It can be a note book or a document page. Use this as a scratch pad for your ideas as they occur.
    • Make a note of what you have researched and how it fits in with your term paper. This will save you a lot of time when you are writing.
    • Always plan backwards from the submission date. Make sure that you allow yourself plenty of time to produce the draft, as well as editing.
  6. Draft
    • Best advice is, don’t miss out this stage! It is really important. Ideally you need to get someone to read through your draft.
    • Look at the basics. Make sure that paragraphs are correctly constructed with opening and concluding sentences.
    • Make sure that your work flows in a logical progression of ideas and you have fully explored your theme.

Good Luck