Description

This assignment involves individuals a) finding a current (published in the last 6 months) story about a health issue as it is reported in the media in a reputable newspaper or on a news oriented website. b) Using a sociological theory AND a minimum of two recent (published after 2009) sociological research articles to further unpack and explain the event or item outlined in the chosen health story.
NOTE:- I already have the article that is

Health Story Assignment Instructions and GuidelinesWhat?This assignment involves individuals a) finding a current (published in the last 6 weeks) story about a health issue as it is reported in the media in a reputable newspaper or on a news oriented website. b) Using a sociological theory AND a minimum of two recent (published after 2009) sociological research articles to further unpack and explain the event or item outlined in the chosen health story.
What is expected in this assignment?
1.As previously stated, each student will select a current health story
.2.Each student will prepare an individually written assignment
.3.The assignment must be four to six pages in length, not including a title page and a Reference list.
4.The title page will include the following: a) a title of the paper that summarizes the health issue or event being considered in the assignment; b) the student’s name; and c) the course name and number. This is to be put onto a separate page rather than being incorporated into the body of the paper. 5.References will be prepared using APA formatting on a separate page (at the end of the assignment).6.Papers are to be double-spaced, to have one-inch margins (2.54 cm) on all sides, and 12 pointfont (preferably Times New Roman). Each page should be numbered sequentially (using the insert page number option in word), including the Title and References page(s). A running head is required.7.The assignment will include three key components:a.An introduction in which the student briefly summarizes the health issue being considered in the chosen story. This should take up no more than one page of the total assignment, and preferably be done in half a page.b.The application of one sociological theory outlined in the course lectures and textbook and one or two of the accompanying key concepts that go with the chosen theory. Students will clearly identify which theory and concepts they are using and then apply them to their chosen story. This will include a consideration of how the theory/concept(s) explains the health issue. In particular, consider what the theory/concept(s) helps us to understand about the underlying cause(s) and ensuing implications or impacts of the issues presented in the health story.c.The use of a minimum of two recent (published after 2008) sociological research articles to complement and bolster the theoretical analysis of the health issue. The research articles should be applied to the chosen story to further explain and illuminate the issue being considered. This may include adding important informationabout the issue that was omitted in the story, providing additional nuances to the experience of or explanation for the health issue, and/or affording an alternative perspective on the health issue or event. Note: Students may opt to have three separate sections in their assignments (introduction, theoretical analysis, and research article application) OR they may find (depending on their chosen story, theory, andresearch articles) that the application of theory and the use of the research articles are best combined into one (rather than two separate) sections. In the latter case, assignments would only have two sections (introduction and theory/research). Using sub-headings in the assignment is not required but may be a helpful means of organizing the assignment and adding to the overall readability of the paper.
A few examples of suitable sources for health news stories:• Vancouver Sun (http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html)• Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/)• National Post (http://www.nationalpost.com/index.html)• CBC website (http://www.cbc.ca/news/)• New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/)• The Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/international)• Any article from any paper that has ‘AP (Associated press)’ or ‘Reuters’ in the bylineIf you find a story in a similar venue but are unsure as to whether or not it is appropriate, please check with your tutorial leader.Please note:1.Do NOT obtain your health story from a research oriented website (such as Statistics Canada, theNational Institutes of Health or a scholarly article published online) as the purpose is to get a current health issue or event as it is reported in the media and then apply theory and research. That said, you may obtain information from such research oriented websites to further your analysis (although this is not expected and these websites will not be considered to be one of yourrequired sociological journal articles). Additionally, it is acceptable if the health story refers to scholarly research.2.Do NOT obtain your health story from a magazine, tabloid, or pop culture website.3.If you do find something on an online ‘pop’ news service such as ‘Yahoo News’ then try to track it back to its original source – it may have been published in another newspaper.Be mindful of the original dates of publication.Examples of sociological journals:• American Journal of Sociology• British Journal of Sociology• Canadian Journal of Sociology• Canadian Review of Sociology• International Sociology• Journal of Health and Social Behavior• Journal of Sociology• Qualitative Sociology• Social Science and Medicine• Sociological Forum• Sociology of Health and Illness
• Symbolic InteractionExamples of journals that publish sociological research articles:Please note: Increasingly, many journals are interdisciplinary in nature, thereby publishing articles from a range of disciplines, including (but not exclusively focused on) sociology. To determine whether a particular article adopts a sociological perspective, you can: a) consult the departmental affiliation of the author(s), b) read the abstract to see if the authors explicitly state their discipline (which they often do), and/or c) examine the theoretical perspectives employed in theresearch paper.• Ageing and Society• Body and Society• Canadian Journal on Aging• Disability and Society• Gender and Society• Health, Risk and Society• Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine• Journal of Aging and Health• Journal of Aging Studies• Journal of Women and Aging• Men and Masculinities• Qualitative Health Research• Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health• Sex RolesHow do I find the above-listed journal articles?To find appropriate journal articles, students have a variety of options:a) Go directly to the individual journal websites (via Google or another search engine).b) Use the Langara library website (https://langara.ca/library/articles-in-journals/) where you can use the journal titles tab. Alternatively, you can conduct searches via the library website in specific databases. c) Use Google Scholar (although you may not be able to get access to complete articles in some cases).Sociological theories:For further details, please refer to your lecture notes and course textbook. That said, the key theories covered in this course include the following:
• Structural functionalism• Marxism (‘Conflict theory’)• Weberianism• Symbolic interactionism• Feminist theory (Feminism)• Human rights and anti-racist approaches• Post-structuralism/postmodernismHow do I decide which theory to choose?To a certain degree, you may choose a theory based on which one makes the most intuitive sense to you. Additionally, lecture notes and your textbook may prove very useful in deciding what theory to apply to your chosen story. Some questions to consider when picking a theory:•What is the level of analysis (individual, organizations, etc.)? Theories like structural functionalism, Marxism, Weberianism, and feminism are particularly useful when striving to explain or understand institutions, organizations, cultural norms, and health policies. In contrast, symbolic interactionism and some strands of feminism may be more applicable for the explanation of the experiences of individuals.•What types of questions does each theory best lend itself to? The application of a theory is best determined by its underlying assumptions as well as the key concepts, which direct our attention to particular aspects of social life. For example, if you have a story about health problems among poor individuals, you likely want to use Marxism and the concept of social stratification to explicate and illuminate the issue. Conversely, if you want to utilize a story about a person’s experience of mental illness, you may find symbolic interactionism and the concept of stigma to be useful and relevant.Academic integrity pointersUnfortunately, every year we find examples of academic dishonesty (aka plagiarism) with unpleasant consequences for students and their grades. Note: Evidence of plagiarism will result in an automatic zero on the assignment and may result in more severe disciplinary action. Here are a few pointers to get you started:•Back up all of your key points with references. Given that the purpose of this assignment is to apply sociological theory and research to a current health issue, it is important to show where youare using other peoples’ ideas or words AND demonstrate that you are making effective use of the literature. A strong assignment will be well referenced. •If you use someone else’s words, use quotation marks and cite your source(s), including page numbers (see an APA guide). If you use someone else’s ideas, cite your source(s).•The Writing Centre is a helpful resource on campus Additional Guidelines and Information•Do not use slang, contractions (e.g. don’t or I’d), or non-inclusive (e.g. sexist, racist, etc…) language in the assignment.
•You can either write in first (‘I think…’) or third (‘One might think…’) person.•For help with APA formatting, please see http://wiki.ubc.ca/images/6/6f/Apastyle.pdf.•Additionally you can consult one of the many APA guides available through the Langara library system.•Your reference list should be a complete listing of all sources used in the assignment. Do NOT include articles you may have read but did not use/cite in your paper.•Be sure to cite lecture notes and the appropriate chapters of the textbooks when you use them in your assignment. Please note that the textbook is an edited collection – so be careful to cite properly.•Read your assignment out loud before you submit it and/or ask a friend to read it over. You will be amazed at the mistakes you catch just by doing this.•Late assignments will be accepted with a penalty of two marks per day, including weekends (out of the 30 marks available for the assignment).•Extensions for the assignment will only be granted in cases of medical or serious family emergencies and with appropriate documentation. Extensions will NOT be granted for academic workload reasons. Students must contact the instructor prior to the due date of the paper in order to obtain an extension.GradingYou will be graded on the following elements: Style/grammar (10 marks), application of the theoretical model and key concepts (10 marks), and use of sociological research articles (10 marks).