SOCIOLOGY SUMMER ASSIGNMENT 2014
1. Crime and Deviance Scrapbook
Using websites, newspapers, the news, and TV programmes I want you to start to develop a scrapbook of information relating to crime and deviance which address several key issues and questions. This could be a physical scrapbook which you stick articles in and make notes etc. on what you have discovered or through the creation of a blog (see overleaf on ideas on how to do this). There could be a theme or question that you want to answer (e.g. gender differences, ethnicity, ‘how does the media report crime happening here compared to abroad?’)
With each article/topic you need to think about a variety of things:
· Why did it interest you?
· Where are you getting your information from (is it reliable/objective/problems)?
· What impact is it having on society/the state/individuals/the family?
· Trends
· Theories
· Answers???????
This has to be a substantial piece of work. As a guide I expect a minimum of 20 different articles (and they need to be from different sources/media) which have been annotated, summarised, and analysed. As mentioned previously these can be totally independent of each other or follow a single theme/answer a single question.
The purpose of the scrapbook is to highlight your understanding of crime and deviance, as well as your ability to analyse information in a way which is critical and academic. Remember in second year you need to be more analytical than descriptive to get the high marks.
Instructions for setting up a blogspot.com account
The easy way of understanding how to do this is to just do it and mess around on the site, but here are some basic instructions on setting up an account.
Sticking a link to the BBC news website on to a piece of paper or in a physical scrapbook is going to be pretty hard, not to mention you have to buy the book in the first place. Setting up a web based blog to record you work is a great alternative and it means it can be viewed and commented on by me throughout the summer. I have personal experience of using blogspot so the instructions are based on that, but others are available.
You need a Google account to access it so if you haven’t already got a gmail account you will have to set one up. Once you have set this up you will have automatic access to blogspot (or blogger as it is also called) as well as other things such as your own Youtube channel. There is an issue in that college block access to the site for students using college PC’s, so I need to inform them if you are planning on using this online system so I can get it unblocked.
I suggest just calling your blog something simple like ‘John’s A2 Sociology Scrapbook’ otherwise you’ll be on hours thinking of a catchy name. Once this is sorted it’s just a case of adding posts which can include all sorts of things such as embedded videos, links to web addresses, copied and pasted texts or whatever YOU want to go on there. The most important thing remember is your ability to address the questions and topics analytically.
If you get stuck in any way then give me a shout, and if you do plan on using a blog let me know ASAP so I can contact IT and also make a note of your address so I can see it develop over the summer.
Have Fun!
Stephen J
