Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology

Assessment 2 - Essay

Gender and Sexuality

SOCI218
2011/12 [15 credits]

Module Coordinator: Dr Jude Robinson Tel: 0151 794 2981 E-mail: j.e.robinson@liverpool.ac.uk

Module assessment
You must obtain a copy of the Departments Undergraduate Student Handbook and read the regulations relating to the format and submission of assessable work, which are to be found therein. There are two parts to the assessment: 1. 2. A review of an academic journal article related to one or more of the seminar topics which will count for 40% of the final mark. An essay which will count for 60% of the final mark.

Essay deadline is Monday, 21st May, 2012

The essay should be no more than 2,500 words long. It should be written to a title chosen from the list below. Whilst none of these questions are trick ones, all of their implications and ramifications are not obvious. In order to gain a good mark, you will need to read widely and think deeply about the issues; there are no simple answers. In particular, dont fall into the trap of thinking of each question only in relation to the lecture most obviously concerned with the topic; there are many connections between them and a good essay will draw on material relating to many parts of the module. 1. Describe and assess how class and gender can influence employment prospects and experiences of paid work for men and women. 2. Critically assess the idea that men and women have different expectations and experiences of relationships. How is this mediated by sexuality? 3. How does gender help us understand criminality and how useful is the concept of gendered crime?

4. Describe and evaluate the extent to which womens and mens contribution to unpaid work in the home is gendered. 5. Briefly outline gendered theories of embodiment and assess how notions of aesthetics may lead men and women to modify their appearance.

Tips on essay-writing
Choosing your Sources It may seem obvious but make sure you have access to the right sources for the essay you have chosen. If you havent - choose a different title. A lecture or a textbook chapter on the topic should tell you what the key sources are. If you are not sure, ask your tutor. Use internet sources by all means but not at the expense of printed books and journals. Check internet sources carefully (see below). Researched informational news sites such as The Guardian Online may provide acceptable sources. However, more general and publicly edited 2

informational sites such as Wikipedia or About.com are not academically sound and should not be included in your essay, even if the article is relevant. Please do not quote or reference material from these such sites. In addition to sources on your specific topic, make sure you read some more general works relating to the module so you know where your topic fits in. After the first year dont use general introductory sociology textbooks as key sources. They may have a chapter relating to the module you are studying which can be useful for preliminary reading but not for much else. Textbooks and readers relating to the specific module are a different matter and you should find them useful but dont rely on them exclusively. Use primary sources including journal articles as much as possible. These often fill gaps in research and knowledge as they are more regularly printed and offer contemporary information. Assessing your sources Be critical. Just because something is published in a book, newspaper or website doesnt mean it is reliable or unproblematic. As a general rule you should use only academic books and articles (and sometimes these are available over the internet). Assessing your sources means thinking about such things as; When was it written/published? Recently published material is not necessarily better than older material but research carried out in, say, 1973 needs to be set in context. Where was the research carried out or what society is the author writing about. What is true of Norway is not necessarily going to be true of England. How adequate was the research? What is the basic theoretical/philosophical/political position of the author/s Does what the author says make sense? Is it logical?

Use the Internet Detective to assess the quality of internet resources. Planning the essay Plan your essay. Make sure it has a structure or framework and that the various parts and paragraphs relate to each other. There are usually several positions from which to approach any essay topic. Make sure you know what they are and work them into your essay in a clear way. Often other topics covered on the module can be used to throw some light on the topic of your essay. Because the social sciences deal with issues that relate to our own lives/societies, you will already have some knowledge of the topics you write about gleaned from television, newspapers, talking to friends, personal experiences and so on. You may not even be aware of some of this knowledge; much of what we know we just take for granted most of the time. Or you may have developed strong opinions about some of the issues and problems in our society today. But before you start on an essay you should sit down and work out what is your starting position; what do you already know about the topic; what do you think about the issues involved. Then try to be even-handed about opinions and knowledge which goes against your preconceptions. Dont just choose a source because it reinforces your own views or reject one that doesnt. 3

Referencing and citations Make sure you know how to reference and set out a bibliography correctly. If not see the Schools Undergraduate handbook or consult the resources in the study skills section of the Schools student intranet. Poor use of citations and an incomplete or poorly put together bibliography is not good academic practice and will inevitably detract from your work overall. Writing the essay Write clearly. Remember the main aim is to communicate you ideas clearly and concisely and to build a coherent and convincing argument. By all means use your computers spell-checker but you must still read through your work carefully. Reading aloud is even better as often it is only then that we can hear our mistakes or note omitted words or phrases. Your computer wont pick up if you are using where when you should be using were or their instead of there. Does your essay make sense? Is all that you write relevant? You dont have a lot of words. Ask yourself if each sentence/each paragraph is making a contribution. It is often possible to edit down a paragraph to reduce the number of words, but still keep the essential meaning. Think about paragraphing. Each paragraph should cover basically one point and should be related to both the paragraph preceding and the one following When you make a point or statement, it must be supported. This usually means that it is logically argued from a previous point or that you can give some empirical evidence to support it rather than providing personal opinions. Before using a quote ask yourself if it is really necessary? There is a tendency to think that your essay is improved by using an authoritative voice, but often it is more effective to express the idea or whatever in your own words (with an appropriate citation to the source of the idea of course). This will both aid your understanding and also demonstrate that understanding to your reader. An essay full of quotes strung together with text is unlikely to get more than average marks, if that. But sometimes a quote will be needed to illustrate a point or to provide evidence support it. Make sure you introduce or discuss it: otherwise the quote itself may be meaningless. Remember that there is little if anything in the social sciences that holds true in all situations at all time so be cautious in what you say. Use phrases like according to research carried out by Smith (1987)or according to the research of Jones (1988) it appears that.. Avoid wild generalisations. Dont write men are more criminal than women; instead write something along the lines of according to official statistics (Home Office, 2006) men are more likely than women to be convicted of a criminal offence. Phrases to avoid: research shows that. This is meaningless unless you can refer to the actual research you have in mind. it is well known that How do you know what is well-known and why should well-known be a recommendation? It could still be wrong! 4

Avoid plagiarism! Plagiarism is cheating, it means copying or closely paraphrasing someone elses work, published or not without acknowledgement. It is theft - you are stealing someone elses ideas and work. It is also fraud - you are pretending someone elses work is your own. It is a serious offence and as well as receiving a zero mark you could be asked to leave the course or (if it is discovered at the end of your course) you may not be awarded a degree. So when you are preparing an essay, making notes etc, make sure that you clearly distinguish your own words from those in the books or webpages you are reading. There is no danger then of later putting someone elses words in as your own by mistake. We know how undergraduates write and we can easily tell when something has been copied from somewhere, or if you have colluded with another student, and because we read the books and articles too, we can usually track down the source. We also have access to computer software that can detect whether something has been copied from the web or has come from an essay bank and software which can compare the work of two or more students to detect collusion. You must also avoid self plagiarism so you must not include material that you have submitted in another assignment. If in doubt, substantially re-write and revise the section but make sure you cite any references. So - BE WARNED! Further help with essay writing There are many books designed to help you to develop your studying and writing skills. Have a look at a few. And here are some useful webpages on the topic. Essay Writing Tutorial http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/DaveKing/essay-writing/s-a-index1.htm Basic Guide to Essay Writing http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/ ABC of Academic Writing & ABC of Essays http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/Gloess.htm