The purpose of the myth/reality paper is to conduct some basic research and determine if common statements about society that we are exposed to are really true or are simply myths.
After choosing ONE of the THREE options below, conduct some preliminary library research on the topic to determine if the statement is a myth or is actually true. If the statement is true, then please justify and/or explain why it is true. If the statement is found to be a myth, then you must also find evidence to support what the reality is!
Be sure to read the statement very closely! If you are unclear at all as to what I am asking, then do not hesitate to email me for clarification.
Please note that you must quote sociological/social science-related books, peer-reviewed journals, and/or online peer-reviewed journal articlesto make your claim. If you are unsure about an article (i.e. whether it is peer-reviewed or not), then please ask before using it! Generally speaking, standard “online” articles are not peer-reviewed (unless they are found through a library website and are also printed in bound journals in the library).
Note that there may be contradictory evidence available for a given topic, so as long as you support your claim with research then you will be successful (even if your response differs from another student’s response). You must cite the sources you use and you must use at least 2 distinct “peer-reviewed” sources.
Please provide all of the relevant info for me to find the sources you have used. For books, this includes: author name, year published, book title, publishing co, and city/state of publication. For articles, this includes: author name, year of publication, article title, journal name, volume (and edition, if necessary), and INCLUSIVE page numbers. If any part of this information is missing, then I will NOT count the book/article as a valid source and your grade will be drastically reduced. Sources USED should be listed on a separate page/section of your paper.
You must cite the sources you list in your works cited page/section in the actual TEXT of the paper. If you do not directly use a source in the paper, then it cannot be listed on your works cited page. Simply reading an article/book and “generally” using it to influence your paper is not a source that can be counted toward the 2 source minimum.
Your in-text citations must conform to the following standard(s):
o General paraphrase or broad idea from a work:
.. (Smith 2009).
o Direct quote from a range of pages inside a work:
” (Smith 2009: 43-45).
o Direct quote from a specific page of a work:
.” (Smith 2009: 47).
When the work has 2-3 authors, your citation should look like this:
” (Smith and Johnson 2009: 43).
” (Smith, Johnson and Anderson 2009: 43).
When the work has 4 or more authors, your citation should look like this:
…………..” (Smith et al. 2009: 43).
The paper must be at least 1 page single-spaced (although it can be as long as you wish!).
Paper Options:
Statement #1: The difference in IQ test scores between African Americans and non-Hispanic white Americans can be attributed almost entirely to different patterns of socialization and environmental factors.
Statement #2: Minority group members (i.e. non-white Americans) constitute the largest group incarcerated in U.S. prisons (that is, in terms of raw numbers of inmates—not as a proportion/percentage).
Statement #3: Based on his popular writings, Karl Marx would have clearly supported the Soviet and Chinese versions of communism that existed in the 20th century.
Grading Rubric: your grade will be based on a combination of the following 5 criteria.
1) Do you follow the formatting and structural guidelines?
2) Is your myth paper well written? This means that there are no errors, you use language properly, and you have the correct sentence structure.
3) Is the argument that you present in your response compelling and creative in nature?
4) Do you cite peer-reviewed material thoroughly and adequately and is it used to determine if the statement is a myth or not?
5) If the statement is found to be a myth, do you use research to discover the truth about this topic?
* Important note: A major portion of your grade will be based on the peer-reviewed research that you use and cite. As such, if your paper is well-written, but you fail to use peer-reviewed work, then your grade will be drastically reduced.
