Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper
Please review the instructions for the Final Research Paper in Week Five before you begin working on this assignment. This assignment is designed to help you begin working on your Final Research Paper by requiring you to choose the sources you are going to use and summarize their contents. It will also give your instructor a chance to provide you with feedback on your thesis statement and your topic.
Your Final Research Paper will consist of two main parts. See the for a quick overview of the assignment.
Part I
To begin, select one aspect of your own culture from the following list. In your Final Research Paper, you will be describing this practice from an etic (or outsider’s) perspective, using the textbook and the article by Miner (1956) as a guide.
| Aspects of Culture(Choose One) | Relevant Research Section in the Textbook |
|---|---|
| Race | Chapter 3: Biology and Culture: Race and Ethnicity |
| Education | Chapter 3: Biology and Culture: Race and Ethnicity Section 3.2: Race, Cultural Ability, and Intelligence Chapter 4: Language and CultureSection 4.6: Language Change |
| Communication | Chapter 4: Language and Culture |
| Gender | Chapter 5: Gender and Culture |
| Childrearing | Chapter 6: Social Organization and Lifecycle Section6.4: Lifecycle – Enculturation, Childhood, and Adolescence |
| Courtship and Marriage | Chapter 6: Social Organization and LifecycleSection 6.4: Lifecycle – Courtship and Marriage |
| Rites of passage | Chapter 6: Social Organization and LifecycleSection 6.4: Lifecycle – Rites of Passage |
| Religion | Chapter 7: Religion and Culture |
| Politics | Chapter 8: The Political System |
| Economics | Chapter 9: The Economic System |
Next, identify at least one reputable scholarly source to back up your ideas. This can be a scholarly article from the Ashford University Library or a source of reliable statistics. Below are potential sources you can use to support your analysis (you can also conduct your own research to find other sources):
Part II
Now, choose one of this week’s to use to describe an aspect of another culture from an emic (insider’s) perspective.
Once you have identified the sources you will be using for the Part I and Part II sections of your paper, you are ready to complete the Make sure that you cite and reference each source in APA format. Refer to the Ashford Writing Center’s
- For each of your chosen sources, you should provide a brief summary (one to two paragraphs) of the source. This summary will help you identify and explain the main points in the source. This will help you think about how to apply the material in these sources to the Final Research Paper.
If you are unsure of how to correctly summarize your sources, please visit the Ashford Writing Center’s page.
- Once you have read and summarized your sources, you are ready to write the working thesis statement for your Final Research Paper. This does not have to be the exact statement that you use in your Final Research Paper, but it should tell the reader what you plan to analyze, discuss, or explore. What is your main point or argument? Think back to the thesis statements you read and identified last week. If you are concerned about your thesis statement, consult the Ashford Writing Center’s
- You may have come across additional scholarly sources as you conducted your research on your etic or emic topics. If you would like to use any additional sources, be sure to list them in APA format. You are not required to have any sources beyond the two you summarized, but additional sources may help you better support your points.
Late Policy: Written assignments (essays, journals, presentations) are due on the specified days in the course. Written assignments will be subject to a late penalty of up to 10% per day up to three days late. If written assignments are submitted after 72 hours past the due date, instructors can give a penalty up to and including a grade of 0 for the assignment.
Carefully review thecriteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.
