Your final project gives you the opportunity to dive more deeply into the relationship between social institutions and social change, past, present, and future. Using sociological perspectives and concepts, your paper will explain the factors, sources, and consequences of change in two of the five social institutions we have studied. You must use religion as one of your two social institutions, and one other social institution to pair it so lets do education. And, like the TEDTalk presenters you have listened to throughout this course, the conclusion of your paper should provide your own perspective on social change and the impact of social change on your life.
This assignment requires you to develop a paper, 5-10 pages, formatting using APA Style.
Instructions for this assignment are found in the Module 5 Final Project: Perspectives on Social Change in Social Institutions: Past, Present, and Future section of this module.
Instructions
Write a research paper that documents past, present, and future social change in relation to two social institutions (religion and education) and demonstrates your understanding of sociological perspectives and concepts.
Your project should follow standard APA Style guidelines and include the following major sections:
Title page
Abstract
Introduction: A good introduction summarizes what you will cover in the paper; describe the problem or question you will be discussing or analyzing. It is a roadmap for the reader, so you may want to touch on each of the key points briefly (i.e., the importance of these two social institutions in the past, present, and future, and the key points about social change that will be covered in your project).
Main body/analysis: In this section, you will explain the findings of your research using the key points from your introduction to set up the organization and flow of the paragraphs. (You can give each paragraph a subheading if that helps you organize the content.) You should discuss your findings clearly and concisely, and use in-text citations to support your conclusions. Write in the first-person voice to avoid passive constructions and wordiness. This section of your paper is analytical, so you want to avoid including personal opinions or anecdotes. Those should be included only in the conclusion, where you provide your personal perspective.
Apply relevant sociological and theoretical perspectives and use sociological concepts to demonstrate your understanding of the subject matter, as well as the course material. In addition to other findings you choose to include, your discussion should touch on most or all of the following:
Characteristics, functions and dysfunctions, cross-cultural variations of the two social institutions
Marx, Durkheim, and Weber’s views on religion and social change
Perspectives on social inequality (i.e., race, class, gender) in social institutions
Functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives of the two social institutions relating to social change from preindustrial societies to postindustrial society
A comparison of the characteristics that define small, traditional societies with large, modern societies
A discussion on the role of power
Relationships, effects, and consequences of social change due to industrialization, modernization, urbanization, and/or globalization
Effects of social change, including technology, population, environment, and/or social movements
Intended and unintended consequences of social change
Conclusion: Your conclusion should restate what you covered in your paper and include the key points (match this to your points in the introduction so the paper is consistent). As part of the conclusion, offer your personal perspective of social change within the two social institutions. Reflect on specific changes that have happened in your life as a result of social change, as well as future changes that you think may happen or about which you are concerned. Then, write a final wrap-up sentence that sums up your thoughts about what you have learned from the project.
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