Semester Paper Guide

Contemporary Social Problems
Semester Paper

Dear BS BSS 1-1 and Irreg. Students:

The following is the suggested outline for your semester paper. It is based on the usual outline used in Report writing. The difference with your paper, as it was, in the handling of this course, are the tools and perspectives that I taught you in analyzing social problems and with coming up with proposed solutions.

Suggested Outline:

I. Introduction Discussion of the problem and its context (Presentation of the national situation and/or local situation using indicators that the group identified such as poverty level, subsistence level, inflation, socio-cultural situation, and major indices such as the Human development index, millennium development goals, MTPDP, etc). Presentation of the research problem, objectives, hypothesis or assumptions (if applicable), scope and limitations, relevance of your study (to society, to PUP, and to your course as future engineers)

II. Discussion of the perspective that the group will use for analyzing the problem (Ex. Functionalist view, conflict perspective, constructivist, feminist, postmodern, including pathological, social disintegration, structural strain, etc). Discussion of the Tools for analysis that the group will use in presenting the arguments.

III. Review of Literature (related studies and literature/ foreign and local) Please do not copy and paste. If you are using direct quotation, acknowledge the author and use proper citation formats. Summarize each source, article or book. Just state the main points that the materials are saying and how is it related to your study.

IV. Methodology (how you obtained your data, what tools did you use, from whom, how did you choose your respondents/subjects, and how did you analyze)

V. Presentation of Data/Cases (Present the cases in narrative form. If quantitative, use tables and graphs)

VI. Analysis of Data (It is only at this point that you will present the content of your problem tree or fishbone analysis or whatever tool you chose). ALSO, use the thoery and perpsective chosen. Required: structual analysis, one of the Seven Perpsectives, and another tool.

VII. Conclusion and Recommendation (Your recommendation must include a short plan of action such as a campaign, an activity, a seminar, an amendment to a policy, a policy review, a program evaluation , etc. Provide a step by step plan on how to achieve this plan (pretend that you are already engineers.)

VIII. References (use proper format) For online resources, please get the URL and not the search engine. (ex. www.google.com is NOT acceptable)

IX. Annexes (copies of the questionnaire or interview schedule/ letters/statistics, pictures, etc.)

Reports will be short bond paper, double space, font 12. Each group will submit a book-bound copy of the report with an accompanying CD containing the soft copy of the report and a power point presentation. The leader will also provide a peer rating for the members of the group.

Submission will be on February 26, 2009. Please meet this date in order to allow some time for the computation of your grades.


Thank you.

Justin V. Nicolas
Subject facilitator