Urban Sociology Term Paper Guidelines

URBAN SOCIOLOGY 1st S emester
SY 2010-2011
Class of Justin V. Nicolas
TERM PAPER GUIDLINES

1. Based on the topic assigned to your group, try to identify several issues relevant to the Philippine urban situation. For example, for CRIME, the group might want to concentrate on Children in Conflict with the Law; or for Housing, squatters dwelling in abandoned buildings.
2. Your group may want to focus on a specific locality, say a city or a baranggay.
3. In gathering data, try to get the demographic profile of the locality you chose. Identify the social, political and economic organization of the locality. Describe the place thoroughly.
4. Then, describe the issue you chose and how it is prevalent in the locality you chose. Interview people, take pictures, and get case studies. For case studies, you might want to document your cases well, meaning, you have to transcribe your interviews and make a narrative of the data mentioned in the interview together with your observations.
5. Organize your data and try to present it in a more reader-friendly manner such as a matrix of responses or a tabulation of categories and specific data of your respondents.
6. Of course, we need not mention that you have to do a relatively significant review of literature found in books, journals, theses, magazines, documentaries, etc.
7. In writing your paper, provide an introduction and a background to your issue. Explain the issue and present the problem that your paper is trying to address. (The paper is like a deeper discussion of the papers you submitted in social problems and demography. This time, you can relate it to other issues of urbanization.
8. Your paper will also serve as an application of theories you learned not only in urban sociology but also, from you other subjects such as deviancy and demography. So part of your paper will have to be a discourse on a theory and the relevance of the study of urbanization in the discipline of Sociology.
9. Provide a Conclusion which should summarize your findings and serve as confirmation of your thesis. Provide for recommendations.
10. Propose an action plan, something that the Department can implement. In your proposal, describe the solution and specific activities to be undertake. Explain the rationale of your project, the expected outcome, and how you plan to go about the activity showing who will implement it and where you will get your resources.
11. Based on the above, your group may figure out how to present the paper. No format is prescribed. You may choose to present it in popular form but do not sacrifice the substance of the paper. You may include pictures and even pictures of the group members.
12. You may also provide a powerpoint presentation of your paper. Save you paper and powerpoint in a CD and include the CD with your hardcopy. Your written report should be ringbound or softbound.

IN addition to the term paper, please provide a powerpoint presentation of the topic you presented in class. You may include the Powerpoint in your CD. Also, take a picture of the map you did early in the semester and include the picture of the map together with the history of the assigned city (example: Quezon City History and its map) in the CD. For the group facilitators or key persons, please provide a peer rating stating your grade for your members and outlining the exact contribution of the member to the City History, Group Report, and Term paper. TARGET DATE OF SUBMISSION: September 30, 2010.