Topic: Comparative HC systems – Canada vs. USA; Canada vs. Britain or Nordic countriesComparative HC systems – Canada vs. USA; Canada vs. Britain or Nordic countries
RULES
Must have a minimum of 8 peer reviewed sources i.e. academic journals, chapters from peer-reviewed books, sociology textbooks. You may also use “grey” sources i.e. magazine & newspaper articles, TV shows, movies, etc. However, grey materials are not peer-reviewed and will not count as part of your 8 min. references.You must have a minimum of 8 peer reviewed sources i.e. academic journals, chapters from peer-reviewed books, sociology textbooks. You may also use “grey” sources i.e. magazine & newspaper articles, TV shows, movies, etc. However, grey materials are not peer-reviewed and
will not count as part of your 8 min. references.
Your references should be from within the last 10 years, unless your topic is no longer
popular or timely. If this is the case, you need to mention that you are using older articles and
why. For example, if the article was an important early study, or there is a lack of recent
literature etc. Your must utilize the most recent literature on your topic.
Bibliography
You must cite all the articles, sources that you use in the body of your paper in your
bibliography. Do no “pad” your bibliography – add articles that you do not reference.
Structure of paper
Paper should consist of 5 parts – each part has its own heading that you bold.
1. Introduction – this is a summary of the existing literature that relates to your topic.
2. Research or thesis statement – what you are going do, argue, or address in your paper.
3. Methodology – your theoretical approach – SI, Feminist, Intersectional, etc., and
concepts you are going to use (e.g. medicalisation, affective neutrality,
professionalisation) – these all must be defined and explained in some detail and are
directly related to your topic.
4. Findings – consists of the evidence (from your peer-reviewed sources) you are using to
support your research/thesis statement in the form of themes (see below for an example).
Be sure to use subheadings to organise your arguments/evidence in a logical manner.
5. Conclusion – a summary of the main arguments that you developed in your paper.
Introduction/Background
In this section you are to provide the reader with some contextualizing or background
information about your topic. This information is related to what you are going to argue
or address in your paper – i.e. this section helps you to ‘set up’ your argument by
“painting the reader a detailed picture” of what your research topic will be about. For
example, if your research topic is about the impacts of COVID-19 on long-term care
(LTC) facilities, you could begin by providing details about the history of LTC in Canada
and how this type of care is organised, or existing problems with and/or demographic
information about the users of this type of care, etc. This will all depend on what your
research focus is about.
Research statement
The research or thesis statement is the central idea that any paper will explore. It is
important that in any sociology writing assignment you take the time to develop a clear
research statement, the clearer the better. The hard thing about developing a research
statement is that it forms over time and often changes as the writing starts. A good
statement consists of a subject (topic) and a number of assertions or arguments. Your
research statement tells the reader what you are going to argue or “do” in your paper
(i.e. “In this paper I focus on the legalization of the practice of midwifery in Canada in
the late 1980s, and the forces that led to its legalization…”) and the assertions are the
major arguments/themes (usually 3) that you use to build and support your
research/thesis statement or “claim” (e.g. The Women’s Liberation Movement, The
Natural Childbirth Movement, Struggles for Legitimacy and the Medical Profession).
The key to a good research statement is for it to be clear and as concise as possible.
Your research statement must be appropriate for the discipline for which you are
writing – it must be sociological, and it must be in some way related to the Canadian
health care system.
Methodology
In this section you will identify, define and describe in detail the theoretical perspective
or perspectives (Symbolic Interactionism, Social Constructionism, Feminism, etc.,)
and/or major concepts (e.g. medically necessary, professionalisation, ghettoization) that
you will be using to frame your arguments. You should choose a theoretical approach
that is appropriate to your topic. For example, if you are critically analyzing how gender
relations structures and informs the profession of nursing, then a Feminist approach may
be the most appropriate because Feminism specifically addresses the social construction
of gender and gender relationships of power. The perspective you take will also depend
on how you see the world, i.e. your own perspective on the topic. If you are focusing on
“meanings” – how social reality is understood/interpreted/negotiated – then a Symbolic
Interactionist or Social Constructionist approach would be appropriate. Your approach
can also be a ‘hybrid – Feminist-Symbolic Interactionist – again, this will depend on
what your focus is. You also need to explain why you choose the theoretical approach
that you did, and how it relates to your topic – i.e. explain why a Neo-Marxist-Feminist-
Symbolic approach is appropriate or relevant to explaining your research topic (1-2
sentences in length).
The articles you use for your paper should reflect your theoretical approach. If you are
taking a Feminist approach to understand the practice of midwifery, most of your articles
should be feminist in their approach/content (theoretical orientation and methodology).
Feminist articles are usually found in feminist and critical sociology and health journals.
Check the methodology section of your articles for the approach taken. It is here that
authors identify the theoretical framework they employ in their analysis.
Findings
These include the themes related to your research/thesis statement and are the main
arguments you are using to support your research/thesis statement. For example, to
support my research focus on the return of the practice of midwifery to Canada, I use data
from research on the women’s liberation movement, the natural childbirth movement,
and the struggle for professional legitimacy. I present this information as 3 separate
themes and use the following bolded subheadings to organise and present my arguments:
The Women’s Liberation Movement
The Natural Childbirth Movement
Struggles for Legitimacy and the Medical Profession
Conclusion
The conclusion of your paper summarizes the evidence you have provided in the body of
your paper, and includes a final assertion of your argument. Refer briefly to each major
point in your paper and how it reinforces your research statement. Do not introduce new
material in this section. You should also discuss what is problematic about the concepts
or theories that your utilised in your paper – e.g. are they gender-blind, do they fail to
account for the experiences of radicalised minorities, do they ignore the effects of power,
etc. Also, comment about the current state of the literature, are there gaps (areas of study
that have not been addressed), is there a predominant approach to (the theoretical
approaches have been mostly Structural Functionalist, or Feminist), and where new
research should could beginYour references should be from within the last 10 years, unless your topic is no longer
popular or timely. If this is the case, you need to mention that you are using older articles and
why. For example, if the article was an important early study, or there is a lack of recent
literature etc. Your must utilize the most recent literature on your topic.