Sociology of Diversity Research Project III
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
Throughout this course, you’ve been exposed to various concepts critical to the understanding of cultural diversity. The purpose of this assignment is to integrate these concepts as they relate to you, your community, and your desired career path. This project will enable cross-cultural understanding in your community. If you’ve completed the reading assignments from your textbook and study guide, you’ll be well prepared for this project. For this assignment, you’ll make recommendations as to how to facilitate an improvement in cross-cultural understanding in your community and write your findings in an integrated paper of at least three to four pages. Your writing should be supported by the required reading throughout this course, as well as consultation with outside sources. The specific instructions are described below.
Community Analysis and Identification of Needs (Employment Specific)
To complete section 3 of your project, follow the instructions below. In the first two sections of this project, the focus was on self-awareness. In this section, the focus shifts from self awareness to community awareness. This part of the project requires you to research the services and events available in your area specific to the issue of diversity. In many locations, city or town governments may have an office that addresses issues of arts and culture. If this is the case, contact them or visit their Web site to see a calendar of events. Another good
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starting point may be the “blue pages” of your local telephone directory. As you begin your community search, keep in mind some of the content areas (race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and so on) that you’ve read about in your textbook and study guide. In this section of your paper, you should focus on the services and events that are available with regard to two or three of the populations/cultures that have been a part of this course of study. 1. As you locate events and services in your community that address issues of diversity or provide services to people from diverse backgrounds, learn what the mission and goals are of the particular agency or event coordinators. To do this, contact the sponsors of events and/or the agencies or their Web sites. As you gather information, it might be helpful to keep the following questions in mind: • What need is there for this agency to exist? Or, what purpose does this event fulfill?
• How long has this agency or event been in existence?
• What is the mission of this agency/event?
• How is this agency/event funded?
• In the case of an agency, what services are delivered and what needs are they trying to meet?
• Does this agency/event enhance the lives of people in the community? If so, whose and how? If not, what’s the reason behind this?
2. After you’ve gathered information specific to two or three cultures in your community, prepare the content for section 3, dividing it into two parts. In part 1, report what you’ve discovered about your local community. You can use the questions outlined above as a guide to your reporting. Present your material in an integrated narrative in paragraph form as opposed to just reporting the answers to questions. In part 2, comment on how, or if, what you discovered about your community will
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impact you in your current or anticipated employment. This part of section 3 should be several paragraphs long. These paragraphs are expected to integrate • What you learned about your self-awareness from sections 1 and 2
• What you’ve learned about your community
• How this knowledge will affect your current or future employment
For example, if I were a pharmacist and could use a service in the community that reprints drug information in additional languages, it would enhance my job performance. The text for this section should be three to four pages in length. You will use a minimum of two sources for this assignment, your city’s official website and www.citydata.com. You should use additional reference sources that apply to the institution that you are discussing in reference to this part of the project.
GENERAL PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS
1. Create a title page with the following information: a. Title: Sociology of Diversity Research Project III
b. Your name
c. Your student number
d. Project number: 350866
e. Current date
2. Prepare a paper of at least three to four pages in Microsoft Word or a Word-compatible format. 3. Double-space your paper, with left and right margins of 1 to 1.25 inches, flush left and ragged right. Use a plain, 12-point font. Use headings to begin each section described above.
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4. Incorporate and properly reference the sources of information used to complete this assignment. To cite your sources, use the following procedure: a. Use in-text citations to indicate references to information from outside sources. Include the author’s name and the relevant year of publication in parentheses if you’re using another author’s idea. If you’re using a direct quote, the reference should include the page number. Here’s an example: Human beings have been described as “symbol-using animals” (Burke 3).
b. At the end of your paper, include a reference page, listing all of the sources you’ve consulted. Use APA format for this page. For information on how to prepare this page, go to the Penn Foster online library and click on Guidebooks and Tips in the main menu.
5. Your paper should include a. An introductory paragraph that describes the overall paper
b. Content that addresses each of the sections as previously outlined
c. A final concluding paragraph that summarizes the paper
d. A complete and correctly formatted reference page
6. Proofread your paper at least twice, paying careful attention to organization, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and typographical errors. Remember that this is a college course and your work should reflect college-level skills in all respects.
