our term paper should address a topic related to social class and mobility, broadly speaking. You may write on a topic not covered in class readings/discussion or included in reading/discussion, as long as you are focused on readings above and beyond class requirements, so if you write on a topic covered in class (low income housing), your bibliography should go well beyond the assigned reading by Desmond.
The paper should be approximately 13 pages long (Times Roman 12 point font, 1 margins, double spaced), with at least 10 scholarly references. The paper should be organized around a central thesis and your argument should be based on evidence and scholarship. Sources may be interdisciplinary, but they should be scholarly rather than from the mass media or advocacy organizations. [Note: Mass media or social media sources may be included, but they are not part of the 10 scholarly sources.]
The strongest papers will include a theoretical framework and include analysis as well as description. For example, rather than just describing the increasing polarization of incomes, a stronger paper would discuss this issue as an example or case study of a theoretical issue (eg. Marxist or Weberian theory, the role of cultural capital, cohesion of the ruling class, etc).
Citations must be included, in a standard professional format. For ASA citation guidelines, see this link: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/formatting_in_sociology_asa_style/references_page_formatting.html
