Observation Paper
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DUE DATE
The Observation Paper is due on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.
Because this is a large part of your grade, I do allow you to turn in this assignment up to 48 hours late (by Friday, June 28, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.). However, if you do turn in the assignment late, you will automatically and without exception be penalized 20 points.
Please pay attention and understand that once the late deadline has passed, you will not be able to submit a late paper for any reason whatsoever, including any technical difficulties that you may encounter. I thus highly recommend that you submit this paper in advance of the due date in case you have any trouble submitting it.
OBSERVATION SELECTION
For your Observation Paper , you will be observing a regular religious service or ritual of an established religious group. As you will be learning throughout the course, there are many different types of religious groups for you to choose from. While I have no way to verify this and certainly will not attempt to do so, I want you to select a religious group that you are not a part of, and a religious group for which you have never previously attended or participated in one of their services or rituals.
Along these lines, you must:
Select an established religious group that you are not a part of, and a religious group for which you have never previously attended or participated in one of their services or rituals.
An established religious group means a religious group that has been regularly meeting for at least one year.
Physically attend a regular religious service or ritual of this established religious group between the dates of Monday, May 13, 2024 and Friday, June 28, 2024. You must attend in person between these dates. An online event is not acceptable nor is a recollection of an event you may have attended before the semester began.
A regular religious service or ritual means an activity that happens on a regular basis (i.e., weekly or monthly). Do not attend a special event such as a wedding, funeral, picnic, fair, dinner, social gathering, or other occasional activity. Instead, I want you to observe the regular and central activity of the religious group.
Your observation must be of an activity that lasts at least 45 minutes.
OBSERVATION PREPARATION
Before you conduct your observation, do some background research about the religious group that you will be observing. If your religious group is a part of a larger denomination, church, affiliation, collective, etc., read up on this larger group and learn as much as you can before you attend. In addition, if your religious group has a website or other information available, review that material in advance.
OBSERVATION INSTRUCTIONS
Plan on being early for your observation to make sure you can find the location and get settled in before the event starts. While you are observing the event, or as soon as possible after observing, take some time to write down and organize your memories and thoughts. You might consider questions such as: Did your
observation match your expectations? Did your observations exemplify or help illuminate any of the
sociological theories or approaches that we have been studying in this course? Did your observation
challenge any of the ideas that have been presented in this course?
PAPER INSTRUCTIONS
Based on your research, observation, and subsequent reflections, write a 1,200 to 1,500 word Observation Paper that gives equal attention (as in approximately 600-800 words each) to the following 2 areas:
Describe the regular religious service or ritual that you observed. Identify and describe the religious group as specifically as you can and make sure that you indicate exactly where and when the event occurred. (Include a specific address if possible and the exact date and time that you attended as well as how long you were there. If you do not include this information, you will lose substantial points.) What was the location like? What happened during the event? What happened before and after the event? What was surprising? What was expected?
Engage in theoretical analysis. What did you learn through your observations? Did your observations exemplify or help illuminate any of the sociological theories or approaches that we have been studying in this course? Did your observations challenge any of the ideas that have been presented in this course? Did your observation change your views or perspectives on any matter related to the sociology of religion?
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Your Observation Paper must be between 1,200 to 1,500 words long, including the title as well as any references or works cited list. Papers that are shorter will lose points, and Moodle will not allow you to submit a paper with more than 1,500 words.
If you quote or cite any sources in your paper, you should follow one of the standard style guides (APA,
Chicago, MLA) and list your references at the end of your paper. As you will be submitting your paper through copying and pasting, you do not need to include a title page or header information; just include a title, the body of your text, and your reference list (if you cited any references).
Along these lines, I recommend that you write, edit, and save your paper in a word processing program. When you are doing so, write it in single-space format with single line spaces between paragraphs; do not indent.
When you click on the appropriate link in Moodle, you will be prompted to copy and paste the text of your paper into the submission form. If you have any problems with the submission process, please contact me immediately to ask for help. It is your responsibility to double-check that your paper has been submitted correctly. A missing or incomplete submission will result in a score of 0 points.
To be clear, you must submit the actual text of your paper into the submission form. Do not submit a link to another site or program (e.g., no links to a separate Google Docs file). You must submit the actual text. If you only submit a link, you will receive a grade of 0 for your paper.
All papers must be submitted on the course Moodle site (elearn.isu.edu). Hard copy and emailed papers will not be accepted under any circumstances.
GRADING CRITERIA
Your Observation Paper is worth 100 points. Your grade will be determined by the use of a grading guide. To begin, you will receive 20 points if your paper is “submitted on time and within word count guidelines,” or 0 points if not. You will then receive up to 20 points for each of 4 categories: (1) “Clearly and fully addresses writing prompt from the syllabus”; (2) “Appropriate use of examples and/or citations”; (3) “Organized and clear writing”; and (4) “Appropriate use of spelling and grammar.” This totals to a maximum grade of 100 points.
Note that grammar and style are very important. Accordingly, please make sure that you proofread your papers. Particularly if English is not your first language, I highly recommend investigating the writing resources available to you at the Student Success Center (isu.edu/success). Additionally, you would do well to find other persons to proofread your papers. (Of course, you must write the papers, but others can help you with grammar and style.)
