Final Research Project (FRP) Option C (Community)
Student Model C | Student Model B | Student Model A
Note: This document is about the FRP Paper assignment. Instructions and student models for the FRP Presentation assignment are on Canvas.
At the top of your assignment submissions, remember to include:
● Student full legal name (as it is registered with the college)
● Student ID #
● Student email address
● Course section number (e.g., 201, 202, 203) — look at your registration information on myWeb for this information
Not including all of these identifying details may result in not giving you the grade that you deserve.
Instructions:
Research any aspect about the Vietnamese American community in San Jose/the Bay Area (e.g., education, inter-ethnic and inter-racial relationships, community, politics, religion, media, business, etc.) and write a research paper about it. I recommend focusing on one topic and going in depth about it in your paper (rather than choosing many topics but only writing superficially about each one).
As this is a college-level paper, it must have:
● a clear research question/purpose/thesis. Underline and bold it.
● at least 3 academic references (at least 2 from our required course readings and 1 external reading that are NOT assigned in our class)
○ Your academic references do not have to be about Vietnamese Americans in San Jose/the Bay Area. (In fact, it’s very difficult to find any but I hope this will change in the near future!). However, you should relate those references to your paper’s topic: the Vietnamese American community in San Jose/Bay Area. For example:
■ Does the reading/reference support/contradict what you observe about the Vietnamese American community in San Jose/the Bay Area?
■ Does the reading spark a question in you about the Vietnamese American community in San Jose/the Bay Area?
● at least 10 concepts/ideas learned from our class (underline and number these concepts in your paper as 1, 2, 3, etc.). For example: #1. refugee, #2. race, #3. Cultural hegemony, #3. sojourners
○ To give you an idea, some (not all) of them are listed here.
○ You do not need to define these concepts. You will be graded on whether or not you have used them correctly in your paper.
You may work in groups of up to 3 individuals (or work by yourself). If you choose to work with others, you will have to find them on your own (e.g. use the Student Lounge). Everyone in the same group must have their names on the paper and everyone must submit the same paper (those who don’t submit the paper get zero points).
Technical Guidelines for the FRP Paper:
● Font Times New Roman (Size 12), Minimum 6 pages double-spaced, 1’’ margins
○ Must be full page to be counted as a page
○ Counts only from the Introduction to the end of the Conclusion section, along with the required sections in the middle
● The name(s) of all author(s), along with the page number, should be on every page at the top right corner
● Reference and In-Text Citation Style: ASA (American Sociological Association) 5th edition.
Recommended Paper Structure:
1. Page title (optional)
2. Abstract (optional)
3. Introduction:
a. Introduce your topic and explain why it’s important (to you, society, community, etc.) and how it leads you to your thesis.
b. Include your thesis, which is related to the topic. Underline and bold it.
i. External resource: How to write a thesis
c. Concisely explain what the paper is about
4. Argument 1 supporting your thesis
a. At least 2-3 pieces of evidence supporting argument 1
b. Make sure to integrate and include concepts/ideas learned from our class (underline and number these concepts in your paper as #1, #2, #3, etc. into your paper).
i. For example: “At the city level, Vietnamese #1. refugees in San Jose make-up the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam.”
ii. Zero points for simply listing out the concepts but not using them in sentences in your paper.
c. Integrate and reference one of your references.
i. Make sure to include the text citations following the ASA (American Sociological Association) style guide 5th edition.
d. Argument 1 can be written in 1 or more than 1 paragraph, depending on the complexity of the argument.
i. For example, if I have 4 pieces of evidence to support Argument 1, I may separate them into more than 1 paragraph.
5. Argument 2 supporting your thesis
a. Similar to Argument 1
6. Argument 3 supporting your thesis
a. Similar to Argument 1
b. ….and so on…You can have as many arguments as you want. The evidence supports the arguments, and the arguments in turn support the thesis.
7. Conclusion
a. Summarizes what you just wrote
b. Thoughts for future work (optional)
c. Personal reflection (optional)
8. References
a. Follow the ASA (American Sociological Association) style guide 5th edition for the references list.
9. Appendices (optional)
a. graphs, tables, images, etc. that support your paper
Grading Rubric:
● 20 points for each concept x 10 concepts = 200 points
○ Accurate application of the concepts
● 50 points for clarity/structure, grammar, spelling, formatting, and references.
Points are deducted accordingly if assignment instructions are not followed.