Posted: May 1st, 2024

Social Foundations III, Research Paper Guide

Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
1
Research Paper Guide
The Research Paper is an opportunity for you to wade into the complexity of a contemporary or
historical question or text that is of interest to you through broad research and reading. Since writing
a research paper is a multifaceted process that is most successful when it unfolds over time, I ask
you to begin thinking about it and working on it in different ways as soon as possible. My grading
reflects the importance I give to the development of this paper over the course of stages.
I have prepared this Research Paper Guide to assist you throughout this process. Please refer to it
over the rest of the semester as you develop your area of focus, do your research, and write your
paper. Important requirements, useful resources, and helpful suggestions are included here. If you
do not find your questions answered here, please let me know.
Contents
– Finding Your Focus and Goal…………………………………………………………………………………… 2
– Identifying Sources & Doing Research……………………………………………………………………… 4
– Format, Schedule & Grading…………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
– Appendix A: Suggested Contemporary Issue Questions…………………………………………… 8
– Appendix B: Working with Your Sources, and Other Writing Tips…………………………. 10
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
2
Finding Your Focus and Goal
Broad Parameters
The paper (8-10 pages; 2400-3000 words) should aim to make an argument about a contemporary or
historical question or text in part through engagement with the work of one (or possibly more)
thinker(s) from our class. The paper should engage the ideas of the thinker in relation to new
material that is not directly addressed by their writing. Please make sure to address in a substantive
way the work of at least one thinker not addressed in your first paper. Below are a choice of three
specific guiding frameworks. The research component of the paper is described in greater detail in a
later section.
Guiding Frameworks
One of the most important steps in working on your research paper will be to select a question that
is both exciting to you and feasible as a project. I encourage you to meet with me early in your
process to talk about what topics interest you (you are required to meet with me at least once over
the course of your project). Below are different frameworks that you may use to arrive at a problem
for exploration.
A. Contemporary Issue –
Research paper writing help – Write a paper exploring a contemporary social or political issue, drawing on and engaging with the
work of one or two thinkers from the class. Please see Appendix A, at the end of this document,
with a list of suggested Contemporary Issue questions to help you brainstorm your own ideas.
B. Legacy of a Thinker –
What is the legacy of your chosen thinker in relation to a specific arena? How have their ideas been
taken up by other intellectuals, activists, or social or cultural movements? In what ways do these
individuals or movements build on or claim to be following in the footsteps of one of our thinkers?
In what ways do they transform, update or challenge those ideas? Research paper writing help – Write a paper that explores
whether, and to what degree, their work is in keeping with the specific ideas and broader “spirit” of
the thinker’s work. Here are some examples:
– In what ways did South African anti-apartheid activist, Nelson Mandela, build on,
transform and/or break away from the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi? (Alternately,
Martin Luther King Jr., or others)
– What is the relationship between the influential economic policies promoted by Milton
Friedman and the Chicago School of economics and the work of Adam Smith? (you
might begin by reading Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom and some critiques.)
– To what extent are Freud’s theories influential in psychoanalysis today?
– How have Marxist feminists taken up and/or challenged Marx’s rendition of class
society?
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
3
– Please come speak with me, if you have an interest but do not know how to pursue it.
There are many possibilities that we can brainstorm together.
C. Proposal to Add a Text to SFIII –
Write a proposal to the Social Foundations faculty for a text that you believe should be added to
Social Foundations III. The text should be a work from the 18th century to the present day, that you
argue has had significant lasting value and influence either regionally or globally, and brings a new
voice and/or perspective that is not already included in Social Foundations III. Please use my
syllabus as your reference point in your paper. Your paper should address:
1- Introduction – preview your proposal’s argument and include a very brief (no more than two
pages) overview of the author, the work, and the sections of the work that you would assign;
2- The significance of the text – What new perspective does this text bring to SFIII? How has
this text been significant (in its own historical and/or more broadly)?
3- Teaching the text – How does the text relate thematically to other reading(s) in the course
(provide a specific analysis that connects the text to at least one reading in the course)?
Optional: how does the text relate to a contemporary issue that could be addressed during
class discussion?
I will be looking for substantive argumentation that draws from your reading of the text and of
secondary source materials. Please address all the required points above, but avoid repetition
between sections (if you already explicitly addressed a point in the last section, there is no need to
repeat it later). Finally, you are welcome (but not required) to indicate where on the class schedule
the text should be inserted, and whether it should replace an existing reading.
Defined Role, Goal, & Audience (optional)
As you develop your paper, I recommend elaborating for yourself a target audience and goal for
your paper (much like was defined for you in your first paper). In other words, think of your paper
as an effort to effectively communicate a message to a particular “real-world” audience. Position
yourself as an expert who is speaking to an intelligent and skeptical audience who likely knows
less about the topic than you do—in other words you need not write from your own perspective,
but rather may adopt a specific voice or role in the paper. Here are some examples:
– a politician arguing for campaign finance reform through Rousseau’s arguments about
wealth and politics;
– a business leader arguing for other business leaders to adopt a minimum living wage,
drawing from Adam Smith; or
– a feminist activist encouraging parents to join a campaign for making childhood as
gender-neutral as possible, in part through de Beauvoir’s writings.
If you define your paper in terms of a specific role and audience, you may either indicate them
explicitly in the writing, or add an explanatory note to the beginning of the paper.
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
4
Identifying Sources & Doing Research
In the proposal stage you should frame you central focus in terms of a question or problem rather
than a thesis. This is because your argument should emerge through the process of research,
reflection, and writing. As such, one of your main tasks in writing the research paper is to read
broadly and explore your central question from different perspectives.
To meet the minimum requirements of this paper you must draw on at least 5 outside sources (not
including any works we have read in the class). Of these 5 sources, at least 3 must be scholarly
sources, and 2 must be book sources (scholarly or not).
5+ outside sources total, including 3+ scholarly sources, 2+ book sources
However more important than the number of sources will be your selection and engagement
with these sources. You should seek out the most reputable and scholarly sources available for the
question you are exploring and you should include close readings and substantial engagement with
the arguments in at least a few scholarly sources (simply including a quote from a source is not
enough). Other sources may be drawn upon for different purposes (e.g., as a brief counter-point, to
give some historical background, to provide a relevant example to discuss, or to provide evidence
through pertinent research study).
Your research will include multiple elements:
A. Researching how scholars have interpreted the work of your thinker and the specific
texts of interest. This research should be drawn primarily from scholarly sources (explained
below).
B. Researching the issue area (if you are writing on a Contemporary Issue), or the
movement/individuals influenced (if you are writing on the Legacy of the Thinker). This
research could take different forms:
a. Scholarly sources
b. Reputable journalistic sources
Deciding whether a source is the best source available on a topic is a judgment call, but an important
one. Always begin your research by exploring scholarly sources, but in some cases other kinds of
sources may be appropriate or useful. The source you seek will depend on the purpose it serves.
For example, it may be appropriate to draw on newspaper articles to describe current events of
relevance, or to cite a policy report to describe a particular approach to an issue, or to draw on
editorials to give a sense of the range of positions being taken on a topic. However, the bulk of your
research should draw from books and articles that are scholarly in nature. Sources that are almost
always inappropriate include Wikipedia, and blogs or websites authored by laypeople. See below for
further guidance on selecting appropriate sources and please seek the assistance of a reference
librarian or come meet with me for further help in identifying the best sources for your needs.
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
5
What is a scholarly source?
These are sources written by academics and experts in the field that are subject to a peer-review
process by other experts in the field before being published. For an explanation on distinguishing
between scholarly and non-scholarly sources, please see these sources:
— A useful and succinct 2-minute video explanation.
— A more comprehensive explanation from a professor.
How do I know if an article is scholarly?
As the above sources indicate, a scholarly article generally has certain features:
– It is published in an academic journal which subjects its articles to a “peer-review”
process (google the journal title to find out more about it);
– It presents original research or analysis, rather than a commentary or a book review;
– It often includes an “Abstract” (this is not a requirement);
– It includes a list of references to other scholarly works.
In general if you have come across the article in a library database (JSTOR, Academic Search, etc.)
and it has the above features, you can be fairly certain that it is a scholarly article. But even
databases that have mostly scholarly articles, include articles that are not scholarly, such as book
reviews or articles from popular magazines and newspapers. Look for an option to limit your results
to peer-reviewed journals.
How do I know if a book is scholarly?
To check whether a book is scholarly, look up the publisher and see how they describe themselves
(look for “academic,” “scholarly,” or “peer-reviewed”). Books published by university presses (e.g.,
Cambridge, NYU Press) are generally scholarly. In some cases well-researched books written for
popular presses may be acceptable, but please check with me on that.
Are textbooks scholarly sources?
No. A textbook is a useful reference tool, but it does not count as a scholarly source and in general
is not an appropriate source for a paper.
Should I use Google to find sources?
Even Google can be a useful resource for finding scholarly sources if used correctly, using Google
Scholar and Google Books rather than the general search engine. See “A Scholar’s Guide to
Google” (the tabs at the top of the page lead you to specific resources).
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
6
Format, Schedule & Grading
Paper Format (first & final drafts)
– No cover page
– 1 inch margins
– 12 pt. Times New Roman font or another similarly-sized font
– Double-spaced, no extra spacing between paragraphs
– Page numbers
– Attach a bibliography in a consistent format (preferably, Research essay writing service – MLA or Chicago). Please use
either parenthetical citations (preferred) or footnotes, not both.
Schedule of Tasks
A. Variable – Meeting with me. I require that you meet with me at least once over the course
of the semester to discuss the research paper. When you would like to do so depends on
when it would be most useful to you. Of course, you are welcome and encouraged to meet
with me multiple times.
B. March 29 – At this point you should be narrowing down your topic. Although it is not
required, you should feel free to email me 2 or 3 paper topic ideas. I will respond with a
brief comment — saying this seems feasible or not. Please meet with me for more thorough
feedback on how to shape and specify your topic.
C. April 5 – Summaries of scholarly sources. Separate instructions distributed.
D. April 19 – Paper proposal and annotated bibliography. Separate instructions distributed.
You are committing to the topic, but need not keep these sources; if you want to change the
topic you will need to have a new proposal approved by me. Please note: I will not accept
your final Research Paper on a topic that has not been approved via the paper proposal
process.
E. Sun. April 29 by 11 pm– First complete draft (for peer review) (7-10 pp.). Cannot be accepted
late.
F. May 1 by 11 pm – Peer review of two other students’ papers. Cannot be accepted more than 1
day late.
G. May 1 and 3 – Student presentations
H. May 3 – Final Paper (8-10 pp.; 2400-3000 words); Please submit with a cover letter (~200
words) that explains how your paper developed and what choices you made in relation to the
feedback you received via the peer review. Submit electronic version to NYU Classes. I may
also ask you to bring a hard copy to class on Thursday Dec. 14.
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
7
Additional instructions will be distributed for most of the assignments. There will be deductions for
tardiness. If you have a serious, unavoidable and documented reason for needing an extension on
any assignment, please contact me at the earliest point possible.
Grading Research Topics – Criteria
Total: 35 points (please note that skipping any step will greatly affect your grade)
Meeting (1 point)
Scholarly Sources Summaries (2 points) – Close readings and summaries of two scholarly sources,
one on your topic and one on your thinker.
Paper Proposal and Annotated Bibliography (1 point)
First draft (3 points) – Full credit if on time, in the correct format, and 7-10 pages of original
prose. Cannot be accepted late.
Peer Review (2 points) – Full credit if on time and answers all the required questions for both
papers. Cannot be accepted more than 1 day late.
Presentation – (1 points)
Final draft and cover letter (25 points) (if you choose Option C and have your paper topic/proposal
approved by me, then these grading criteria will be adapted to fit the goals of your paper)
– Thesis or goal – Has a clearly articulated argument or goal for the paper and explains why it
should be of interest to the reader.
– Examination of the central question – Explores the central question to examine multiple
perspectives and provide a compelling analysis that demonstrates breadth of knowledge and
sophistication of thought.
– Engagement with a thinker’s work – Critically examines and creatively extends the
thinker’s intellectual work in order to consider its relationship to the central question.
– Sources and evidence – Develops and substantiates arguments through engagement with
appropriate sources, including at least five outside sources (including at least three scholarly
sources and two books). Whenever possible, draws on scholarly sources. All sources are
quoted, paraphrased and cited correctly.
– Writing – Writing is interesting, compelling, clear and well-organized; it is also free of
grammatical, spelling and sentence-level errors. Paper is formatted correctly and includes a
cover letter.
– Deductions – Late submissions: minus 1/2 point for each 24 hours late; not accepted
after final exam. Plagiarism on any stage of this paper-writing process will lead, at
minimum, to an F on the entire final paper.
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
8
Appendix A: Suggested Contemporary Issue Questions
The below suggestions are presented to help you brainstorm your own ideas. Please meet with me if
you are having difficulty identifying a question of particular interest to you and we can brainstorm
together. If you do select a question from the list, do make sure to further specify the focus as
you do your research and develop your argument.
Questions Applicable
Thinker(s)
How do technological advances (e.g., internet, the self-driving car) affect inequality?
Are smartphones refashioning human morality?
Rousseau, Gandhi,
Marx, Smith
What is necessary to create a true democracy in (name a specific country or context)?
What does the relationship between money and politics in today tell us about the
relationship between capitalism and democracy?
Rousseau
Smith
To what extent are capitalist market forces effective in meeting our essential human
needs (specify, e.g., housing, healthcare)?
How are communism and capitalism each implicated in the conditions of Chinese workers
manufacturing U.S. products?
Marx, Smith
Marx, Smith
What is the relationship between public education (specify, e.g., racial/economic
segregation, standardized test) in the US today and liberty, equality or democracy? Is
education alienated labor?
Mill, Fanon, Marx
What social purpose does religion serve today (specify – in relation to a particular
religious tradition or religious community)?
Marx, Mill, Freud,
Gandhi, Ahmad
What do guns mean to Americans? Freud, Mill, Fanon
In revolutionary movements, when are non-violent approaches effective or not effective
(specify a particular movement to analyze)?
Gandhi, Fanon
Are post-colonial societies (specify which ones) today liberated? Gandhi, Fanon
What would Black Lives Matter learn from Gandhi or Fanon? What would Gandhi or
Fanon learn from Black Lives Matter?
Fanon, Gandhi
Why are there different social expectations of men and women (specify, e.g., in different
cultures, in the classroom, in appearance)?
de Beauvoir,
Kauffman
Should men participate in feminist movements? de Beauvoir,
Kauffman
What are the politics of romance? (politics here refers to any power relations) de Beauvoir,
Hartman, Marx
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
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Are microaggressions in daily life a serious element of racial or gender inequality? Fanon, de Beauvoir
What are the implications of the increasing objectification of men in fashion? Marx, De Beauvoir,
Kauffman,
How do/should feminists in Muslim-majority societies (specify which one) advocate for
women’s greater control over their lives?
Ahmed, Amin,
Fanon, de Beauvoir
How effective has cross-cultural feminist solidarity been? (specify the context and time
period)
Ahmed, de
Beauvoir, Fanon
These are simply suggestions, and all of these would require specification. The best paper ideas
emerge from students’ own interests. For example, students have recently written papers on: the
economics of college sports; Nepali Sherpas and the economics of mountain-climbing; dance,
pleasure and pain; food production, health, and sustainability; autonomous vehicles and individual
liberty; beauty norms and individuality in South Korea; domestic workers in the post-colonial
context; and gender in the culinary arts. You are welcome to stop by my office to brainstorm ideas
or read some sample papers.
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
10
Appendix B: Working with Your Sources, and Other Writing Tips
Reading, Taking Notes, Reflecting – After you have examined a number of different sources and
have gathered a smaller number of key sources, give yourself some time to work through each
source, reading closely, taking notes, and critically reflecting on the source. Knowing your sources
well—in terms of their broader goals and arguments, and the specific points that connect with your
own arguments and goals– is essential to writing a strong research paper.
Using Sources When Writing – When developing your paper, use your written summaries and
notes to guide you, referring to the text to check your page numbers and direct quotations. When
writing, you will make use of sources in different ways, conveying their information or analysis
through your own words, or direct quotations. Please write in your own words (with citations),
using direct quotations only when a passage is written is particularly compelling way that is
important to your analysis.
In any case, it is important to maintain your authorial voice, even as you integrate direct quotations
from outside sources. Each time you provide a direct quotation, you should introduce the passage
(e.g., “Gandhi says…”) and then comment upon the passage (e.g., “This argument suggests…”).
These techniques keep the writing in your voice, and ensure that you are explaining how a quoted
passage connects to the points that you are making.
Citing Sources – Whenever you are using a source in your paper—whether summarizing it,
paraphrasing a specific point, or quoting from it directly–you must cite the source. While a
citation is not necessary when a piece of factual information (not an interpretation or analysis) is
common knowledge, I would err on the side of providing more citations than necessary. Citations
are essential for substantiating your arguments, as they tell the reader where the analysis comes from
(i.e., you did not make it up, it is not simply your opinion), and allows the reader to check how
reputable that source is. An absence of citation suggests that the ideas and words are entirely your
own, which, if untrue, is a form of plagiarism. The consequences for plagiarism are grave, so always
cite your sources! Please check with me if you have specific questions.
A few writing tips, based on common errors that I see:
1 – When using parenthetical citations, put the citation outside the quotation marks, but within the
sentence, with punctuation after the citation. Example of parenthetical citation:
CORRECT: As Jane Smith says in her recent book, “blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah” (Smith 45).
NOT: As Jane Smith says in her recent book, “blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
(Smith 45).”
NOT: As Jane Smith says in her recent book, “Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah.” (Smith 45)
2 – All quotations that are more than 4 lines long must be set off from the main text as a block
quote (a separate indented paragraph without quotation marks).
Social Foundations III
Dr. M. Rastegar
Spring 2018
11
Example of block quote:
As Jane Smith says in her recent book,
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah. (Smith 45)
This argument implies that [your analysis]…
3 – When integrating a quote into a paper, your new sentences must be a complete and
grammatical sentences. While it is fine to shorten a quoted passage, using ellipses (three dots) to
indicate that words have been taken out, do not do so if the remaining sentence is ungrammatical
(you may insert a new word in brackets to fix such a problem). Check for mistakes by reading your
paragraph, including the quotation, out loud. If anything does not sound like a grammatical
sentence, then you need to fix it.
4 – Learn these simple, but often misspelled, words:
– lose vs. loose
o Don’t lose your keys.
o The shirt is loose.
– affect vs. effect
o The effect of the noise was to make the room feel smaller. [noun meaning outcome]
o The noise effected a change in the mood of the room. [verb meaning caused or
brought about]
o The noise affected her mood. [verb meaning had an effect on]
o The woman’s affect shifted after it became noisy. [noun meaning emotions, feelings]
– its vs. it’s
o It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood. [it’s = it is]
o Give the dog its bone. [its = possessive form of it]
Resources
Purdue OWL Guides on writing, researching and citation: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
– Research essay writing service – MLA format
– In-text citations

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