SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology: Spring 2025 - Exploration

Goal of activity: Learning how to assess an article 

Format: This is a two-part activity: Exploration and Discussion

Instructions: 

1. working in pairs
2. open the article below
3. without reading the full article, just scanning it, what elements help you assess whether this is a scholarly article ? 
4. be prepared to discuss your finding with the group

Goal of activity:  Investigating academic journals

Format:  Two-part activity: Exploration in small groups then Discussion. Each group is assigned one journal. 

Group 1: American Sociological Review 

Group 2: Qualitative Sociology

Instructions: 

1. Locate the journal website 
2. Find information about the editor(s) of the journal. What do you notice? What surprises you and/or gives you pause? 
3. What information can you find about the publisher of the journal and how is that relevant to consider when assessing publications? 
4. Be prepared to share what you noticed, what surprised and your questions. 

Goal of activity: Learn about biases in academic publishing process

Format:  Two-part activity: Exploration then discussion.

Instructions: 

1. Working in small groups open the article below 
2. Scan the article, focusing on the introduction and conclusion 
3. What do you notice?  What do you wonder?  [Be prepared to discuss] 

Goal of activity: Start mapping out a research path for a project 

Format: Brainstorming in pairs followed by large group discussion

Instructions:  

1. Share with each other one topic that interests you and that you may want to research? 
2. Together brainstorm:  
   1. who do you want to hear from?  who are the people (voices) and perspectives you want to engage with?  
   2. think of the sources that would express these voices/perspectives (what would these sources be)? 
3. Enter your list of sources in this shared Google Doc