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2013/2014
SOCIOLOGY OPTIONAL COURSE REQUIREMENTS
HANDBOOK FOR:
(i) EDINBURGH STUDENTS TAKING AN OPTION AS AN OUTSIDE COURSE
(ii) VISITING UNDERGRADUATES
Welcome to Sociology! PLEASE READ THIS HANDBOOK CAREFULLY AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU. Clarify any queries with the course teacher.
This Handbook is intended to help you plan your assessed work for the Sociology Optional Courses that you are taking. It explains matters like assessment procedures. For details of these courses, their objectives and learning outcomes, see the course manuals for each course. Dates in this Handbook are given with respect to academic semesters. Dates of semesters are as follows: 2013/2014
Semester 1 16 September 2013 - 29 November 2013 (end of teaching)
20th December 2013 (end of semester)
Semester 2 13th January 2014 - 4th April 2014 (end of teaching)
23rd May 2014 (end of semester) If you have queries, please ask your course teacher.
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T
Page No.
ASSESSMENT OF SOCIOLOGY OPTIONAL COURSES 3
EXAMINATIONS 4
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR/FEEDBACK & FEEDFORWARD 5
THE LONG-ESSAY 6-7
WRITING LONG-ESSAYS
Presentation of Written Assignments Referencing Sexist, Anglocentric and Racial Language
8 10-11 12-15
INSTITUTE FOR ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT 16
AVOIDING PLAGIARISM 17-20
SUBMISSION PROCEDURES 21-24
APPENDIX
Sociology Teaching Staff – Telephone Numbers & Locations
Email Addresses
25 26
ASSESSMENT OF SOCIOLOGY HONOURS OPTIONAL COURSES
ALL STUDENTS will be assessed by two, or at the most three pieces of work:
• 75% of the final mark:
EITHER: A Long Essay to be submitted electronically using ELMA (please see submission procedures) no later than 12.00 noon on Monday 9th December 2013 (for Semester 1 courses), or no later than 12.00 noon on Monday 28th April 2014 (for Semester 2 courses). The essay must be between 3,500 and 4,500 words, excluding the bibliography. There are strict limits around which there is no latitude, and you will be penalised if you go beyond them.
OR: A two-hour examination taken in the December 2013 diet (Semester 1 courses) or the April/May 2014 diet (Semester two courses). Students will answer two questions from a choice of six.
COURSE TEACHERS DETERMINE WHETHER THE 75% ASSESSMENT IS BY ESSAY, EXAM, OR A CHOICE BETWEEN ESSAY OR EXAM. YOU MUST CHECK INDIVIDUAL COURSE MANUALS TO MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETE THE CORRECT ASSESSMENT FOR YOUR COURSE.
• 25% of the final mark:
A shorter piece of work, such as a 1500 word essay, a take home exam, a course exercise, individual or group presentations, or something comparable. Alternatively that 25% might be split into two 12.5% weighted units, such as a 750 word book review, a short exercise, or something comparable. To be submitted electronically using ELMA.. Please check your individual course manuals for the hand-in dates. COURSE TEACHERS DETERMINE THE PRECISE STRUCTURE OF THE 25% ASSESSMENT. YOU MUST CHECK INDIVIDUAL COURSE MANUALS TO MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETE THE CORRECT ASSESSMENT FOR YOUR COURSE. LATENESS PENALTIES FOR WORK SUBMITTED AFTER THE DUE DATE WILL BE APPLIED.
Examinations
Some honours options are assessed by examination. It is your responsibility to use MYED (www.myed.ac.uk) to check that you are registered for the correct courses and to check the times and locations of any exams you are required to sit using the on-line examination timetables when these are published. We recommend that you check that your course registrations are correct around the end of week 3 in each semester, and inform your Personal Tutor of any discrepancies. In each exam for a course taught by a member of Sociology you will answer two questions from a choice of six in two hours. (Arrangements for courses taught, for example, in Law may differ). Sociology optional courses are examined immediately after the semester in which they are taken (i.e. in December or in April/May). Examinations are marked anonymously and marks must be ratified by the full Board of Examiners. A sample of work is seen by one of the External Examiners. Remember that you must write legibly in examination scripts. Writing that is difficult to read may have a negative effect on your mark. Shorter, legible answers are better than longer, illegible answers. Students whose first language is not English are permitted to use a language dictionary during an examination. This must, however, be authorised in advance in writing by the course organiser and this authorisation taken into the examination room. The dictionary must, if necessary, be made available for inspection by the invigilators in the exam room. Electronic dictionaries may not be used. There are normally no re-sit exams at honours level, so it is especially important that you communicate with your Personal Tutor as soon as possible if you foresee a problem with an exam, or if you encountered difficulties during the exam. If there are legitimate mitigating circumstances these need to be brought to our attention as soon as possible so that they can be considered by the Special Circumstances Committee (see the section below on Submission Procedures) in advance of the final Exam Board.
By now you'll have worked out your own revision strategy and exam technique, but you may still find it useful to take a look at guides such as Eileen Tracy, The Student's Guide to Exam Success (Buckingham: Open University Press, 2002).
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR In assessing coursework there will be greater emphasis on the breadth of material, more engagement with the literature and a more refined presentation. Exams require more concise and focused answers, with less emphasis on the literature incorporated, or on sophisticated expression and presentation. CRITERIA FOR GRADING COURSEWORK AND EXAMINATIONS School of Social and Political Studies grading criteria can be downloaded at: www.sps.ed.ac.uk/undergrad/honours/assessment_and_regs/marking_descriptors GETTING FEEDBACK AND “FEEDFORWARD” ON YOUR ESSAYS Our aim is to get you feedback on your essays within three working weeks of the deadline for their submission (i.e. not including vacations). It’s important for you to read the feedback, since feedback is also “feedforward”: i.e. learning what was good and not so good about an essay will help your future essays.
THE LONG-ESSAY Some of your courses (see section on Assessment Procedures) may be partly assessed by a “long-essay”. All long-essays must be submitted by the following days and times: Semester 1: by 12.00 noon on Monday 9th December 2013, Week 13. Semester 2: by 12.00 noon on Monday 28th April 2014 of Week 2 of the consolidation and examination period which follows the spring vacation Timing: Because long-essays must be submitted and assessed immediately after the semester in which the relevant course was taken, you should begin working on them as soon as possible. You should be planning and thinking about the long-essay while the course is in progress. Topic: The long-essay offers an opportunity to pursue in more depth a course topic that has interested you. Choosing a topic for a long-essay offers the opportunity to be creative, inventive and adventurous, but a long-essay MUST always be relevant to the course and on an appropriate topic. ALWAYS AGREE YOUR TOPIC WITH YOUR COURSE TEACHER. Use the course teacher's office hours to discuss feasible and appropriate topics, or approach her/him before or after the class.
BE SURE TO CONSULT THE COURSE TEACHER OR YOUR PERSONAL TUTOR IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS REGARDING THE COMPLETION OF LONG-ESSAYS. Title page: You must make sure that you give your long-essay a title which should be at the top of the first page. The title page should also include the name of the course to which the essay relates, your exam number (NOT YOUR NAME) and the word count. Length: Long-essays must be between 3,500 and 4,500 words in length, including footnotes/endnotes but excluding the bibliography. Essays above 4,500 words will be penalized using the Ordinary level criterion of 1 mark for every 20 words over length: anything between 4,501 and 4,520 words will lose one point, between 4,521 and 4,540 two points, and so on. Note that the lower 3,500 figure is a guideline for students which you will not be penalized for going below. However, you should note that shorter essays are unlikely to achieve the required depth and that this will be reflected in your mark. You must include a word count (which your word processing software can produce) on the title page. Style: The long-essay should meet normal academic standards concerning grammar, citations, footnoting, referencing and bibliography, data presentation, and the organisation of arguments and evidence. Pay careful attention to the overall presentation (e.g. proof-reading, use of subheadings, consistent quotation style). See the section below on WRITING ESSAYS AND THE PROJECT.
Format: The long-essay must be word-processed. Please follow the guidelines on font size and line-spacing in the section below on WRITING LONG ESSAYS AND THE PROJECT. Plagiarism: What is submitted must be your own work, and there are severe penalties for plagiarism. See the section of this Handbook on AVOIDING PLAGIARISM. DO NOT DUPLICATE MATERIAL OR TOPICS IN THE WRITTEN MATERIALS YOU SUBMIT FOR ASSESSMENT (short essays, long-essays, project, etc.); you will be penalised if you do. See the section below on AVOIDING PLAGIARISM.
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ALL LONG ESSAYS ARE MARKED ANONYMOUSLY. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME OR MATRICULATION NUMBER ON THE ESSAY, BUT PLEASE PUT ON YOUR EXAMINATION NUMBER.
WRITING LONG ESSAYS
1. Presentation of Written Assignments
Long-essays and project reports must be word-processed. There are strict word limits and assignments will not be accepted without a word count on the title page.
By now you will have developed your own way of putting material together and writing but you may still find it useful to consult guides such as Phyllis Crème and Mary R. Lea, Writing at University (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1997). However you tackle your work, you must obey certain writing conventions and you must spend time editing your work before submitting it. It is normal to rewrite in order to improve on first drafts (see example on next page), so remember to leave time for this and for shortening to keep within word limits. (Nearly all pieces of writing are improved by the shortening needed to meet word limits). Most published work has gone through several drafts before reaching the printed page. When editing, pay attention to the following considerations:
Introduction: Your work should have an Introduction outlining the topic of what follows, specifying the aims, and indicating and justifying the scope of literature to be covered. Relevance and Ordering Material: In the main body of the work, ensure that you are addressing the topic at hand and not going off at tangents. The content should follow a logical order that is made clear to the reader. Sections/Subsections: It is helpful to the reader to divide your work into clearly labelled sections and subsections. This is particularly true for the Project Report, since this is a long piece of work, but is useful in long-essays too. Within the sections, remember to break your work up into paragraphs. Conclusion: There should always be a conclusion which will normally summarise the main points without introducing new material. Page numbers: Be sure to get your word processing package to add page numbers. Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar: Check that your spelling and punctuation are correct and consistent, that your sentences are grammatically correct, and that your meaning is unambiguous and comprehensible. The spell-checker on a word-processor can help, but you should be able to identify the four mistakes in the sentences “I borrowed one of my friends book’s” and “its hard to see what it’s point was”! (There is a useful guide to apostrophes at http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/). If you feel your written English is letting you down, there are resources on the website for the Institute of Academic Development (IAD). Plain English: Good academic writing may need to use technical terms, but should not include long words for their own sake. Your sentences should not be long and contorted. Don't overuse the passive voice: write "reflects", not "is reflective of". Use of the first person is perfectly permissible: you can write "I conclude that…", not "It is concluded here that…". Cutting out waffle and long-windedness when you edit your draft work will also help you meet word limits.
2. Referencing
You must reference properly all your essay work and your project report. Proper referencing is the method of attributing the sources of the comments and ideas that you are presenting, if they are not your own. If you do not reference properly, you may be plagiarising other people’s work, and will be penalised severely: see the section of this Handbook on Avoiding Plagiarism. Full references are not required in exam answers, but you should at least mention the names of the authors you are drawing on. Our preferred style is taken from the journal Sociology (available electronically through the Library). Check some articles from Sociology for what it looks like in practice.
References in the Text:
The preferred style entails using the author's name, date of publication and page references like this:
'.... MacDougal (1959: 106) reports the same practice in the Hebrides……..'
References in the Bibliography:
All sources referred to in the text must be listed ALPHABETICALLY and CONSISTENTLY in the bibliography, in a SEPARATE section at the end of your work. The following specimens indicate the mode of citation for journal articles, books and papers in edited books:
Chadwick-Jones, J.M. 1965. 'Italian Workers in a British Factory: A Study of Informal Selection and Training'. Race 6: 191-8.
Firth, R. 1964. Essays on Social Organization and Values. London: Athlone.
Macrae, S. 1990. ‘Women and Class Analysis’. In J. Clark, C. Modgil, and S. Modgil (eds.) John H. Goldthorpe: Consensus and Controversy. London: Falmer.
References from Web:
Increasingly, you may be citing material from the web for references in the text:
• If the author of the piece is stated, give their name as usual e.g. (Brown, 2000). If not, give the name of the organization e.g. (The Vegetarian Society, 2000)
• The date for the reference in the text is not the date you accessed the site but the date the piece appeared on the website. If this is not stated say “n.d.” as in (The Vegetarian Society, n.d.)
For references in the Bibliography:
• List the author of organization first
• Then give the year of publication (or put n.d.)
• Give the title of the piece in quotation marks
• Then say ‘Available at’ and give the website
• Finally, say ‘[Accessed]’ and give the date accessed within the square bracket, e.g. [Accessed 20 May 2011]
• Example: McCartney, P. (2008) ‘Why the Beatles were Better than the Stones’. Available at https://www.beatlesaregreat.com [Accessed 10 April 2010]
Footnotes or Endnotes:
If you want to make further points that are not appropriately included in the main text, you may use numbered footnotes (at the bottom of the page) or endnotes (at the end of your long-essay or Project report). Remember: footnotes or endnotes will count in the word limit, so don’t overdo it.
3. Font Size and Line Spacing
Choose a font size and line spacing so that your work is easily legible. Size 11 or 12 font, and double or 1.5 line spacing are generally fine. Make sure there are page numbers on all your pages, except the title sheet.
4. Sexist, Anglocentric and Racist Language
The language we use must fairly reflect what we are writing about, and it is not good practice in academic writing unreflectingly to use terms or expressions that can give offence. The point is not that we wish to enforce “political correctness” in language use - your political views are your own business - but that you use language accurately and are aware of the connotations it may have. If, for example, you write “the doctor’s attitude to his patients”, readers may assume you are referring only to male doctors. We suggest that you consider the following guidelines:
Sexist Language
In 1979 Sociology, the British Sociological Association's journal, adopted Guidelines for Avoiding Sexism in Language and Writing. Among these guidelines are the following suggestions:
When reference is to either or both sexes, but not specifically to the male sex, the words 'man' and 'men' should be avoided. There are plenty of alternatives, such as 'person', 'people', 'human beings', 'men and women'. It is unacceptable to use 'man' to mean humanity in general - women constitute over half the world's population. Avoiding 'he', 'his' and 'him' can be more difficult, since the repeated use of 'he and she', 'his or hers', 'him or her', can be clumsy. But in most cases the plural 'they', 'their', or 'them' can be used instead, as can the convention 's/he'. Several of the more common examples of sexism are given below together with more acceptable, non-sexist formulations:
The sociologist ... he Sociologists ... they The man in the street ... Ordinary people, people in general Mankind Humanity; human beings; people Man-made Synthetic; artificial; manufactured The inequality of man Inequality among people Chairman Chairperson/Convenor Foreman Supervisor
Anglocentric Language
Many of the sociological sources available to you are culpable of assuming that the United Kingdom is homogeneous. Please note carefully whether your sources deal with the United Kingdom as a whole, or Great Britain excluding Northern Ireland, or England and Wales, or Scotland. Also note that the term "British society" fails to recognise the multi-national character of the United Kingdom. Avoid using anglocentric composite terms unless you are referring specifically to England (e.g. in preference to "Anglo-Italian" use "British-Italian").
Racist Language
Sociologists may not always be aware of any racism implied in their work or their use of language, either because they are not familiar with the current debates or because the use of terms varies over time and according to context. The issues are not always clear cut. A general point is that it would be helpful if sociologists could make explicit where possible the ethnicity of the groups to whom they are referring in their research. Just as feminists have indicated that studies of the ‘working-class’ were usually about just the male working class, it is important to be explicit about the fact that they are also usually about the white male working class.
The examples that follow are taken from the British Sociological Association’s Equality and Diversity Document, ‘Language and the BSA: Ethnicity and Race’ which can be downloaded at: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/equality
Some common issues and pitfalls are as follows:
African-Caribbean: This term is gradually replacing the term Afro-Caribbean to refer to Caribbean peoples and those of Caribbean origin who are of African descent. It should also be noted that there is now some evidence to suggest that the term should not be hyphenated and that indeed, the differences between such groups may mean the terms should be kept separate.
American: When referring to America it is important to be aware of the fact that there is North America and South America - not just the USA. Consequently when referring to the USA it is best to be explicit about this.
Asian: Generally refers to people from the Asian sub-continent - namely, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. However, under some circumstances there may be objections to bracketing together a wide variety of different cultural and ethnic groups often with very different positions within British society. Also, some members of particular ethnic groups may object to being referred to by their "country of origin" when they have been living for several generations in Britain.
Black: Black is a concept that embraces people who experience structural and institutional discrimination because of their skin colour and is often used politically to refer to people of African, Caribbean and South Asian origin to imply solidarity against racism.
The term originally took on political connotations with the rise of black activism in the USA in the 1960s when it was reclaimed as a source of pride and identity in opposition to the many negative connotations relating to the word "black" in the English language (black leg, black list etc.). In the UK however, there is an on-going debate about the use of this term to define South Asian peoples because of the existence of diverse South Asian cultural identities.
Some Asian groups in Britain object to the use of the word "black" being applied to them and some would argue that it also confuses a number of ethnic groups which should be treated separately - Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Indians and so on.
Whilst there are many differences between and within each of the groups, the inclusive term black refers to those who have a shared history of European colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism, ethnocentrism and racism. One solution to this is to refer to "black peoples", "black communities" etc., in the plural to imply that there is a variety of such groups.
It is also important to be aware of the fact that in some contexts "black" can also be used in a racist sense. The capitalisation of the letter "B" in the term "Black British", "British Asian" are shifting ground and it should be stressed that social scientists need to be very clear that the use of these terms does not prioritise nor indeed conflate ethnicity and citizenship.
Coloured: This term is regarded as outdated in the UK and should be avoided as it is generally viewed as offensive to many black people. When applied to South Africa, the term reflects issues of ethnic divide and apartheid, and needs to be contextualised and used with specificity.
In the United States of America, the term "people of colour" is often used as a form self-reference for people who suffer from racism and discrimination on the basis of visible skin colour difference to the white anglo-saxon (WASP) political majority population.
Developing nations: This is another term used to refer to non-industrialised or Southern countries. However, it can be seen as prejudicial since there is an implicit comparison with ‘developed’ countries.
Ethnic: Refers to cultural groups of various kinds. Although it is often erroneously used to refer to Black communities only, all people have ethnicity so that white people are also part of particular ethnic groups. To avoid this confusion, it is best to spell out the relevant ethnic groups explicitly, where this is appropriate depends upon the context.
Ethnocentric: This means a tendency to perceive the world from the point of view of one's own culture. Ethnocentrism can lead to racism when applied to issues of race.
Half-Caste: A rather dated racist term which is best avoided.
Host Society: Not a helpful term in many cases since former in-migrants soon become part of a host society. It also implies a false sense of unity in the "host" society and conveys a sense of incomers as being somehow alien. It is preferable to talk of a society receiving migrants.
Immigrants: Under some circumstances people could correctly be described as immigrants - if they are in-migrants from one place to another. However this is not a useful term for referring to ethnic groups which have been in Britain since the early post-war period and in the British context often has racist overtones, being associated with immigration legislation.
Indian: In a US context this word is often used to refer to indigenous Americans. However, the term is associated with racism and is also confusing since it also describes people from India. Use native American instead.
Indigenous: Under some circumstances this can be used to describe particular ethnic groups originating and remaining in a particular region. The United Nations uses the idea of "indigenous groups" to obtain rights for native North Americans, Aborigines and other groups whose situation has suffered from invading colonists. However, in the British context, it is not a helpful term since it would be difficult to identify the indigenous British in this sense.
Minorities: Some prefer "ethnic minorities" although others suggest that this implies that the majority are not ethnic as well and hence recommend the use of the term "minorities". It is also worth noting that groups traditionally defined as ethnic minorities here in the UK are not a minority in Europe nor the world. When addressing a US audience, it is important to take into account the fact that US sociologists use the term not in a numerical sense, but as a minority if they have minimal power.
Minority Ethnic: Minority ethnic is preferred to ethnic minority as everyone belongs to an ethnic group. ‘Minority ethnic’ places the emphasis on the minority status rather than the ethnicity, whereas ethnic minority places the emphasis on the ethnic status of the group.
Native: Native-born is an acceptable term if used to refer to people born in a particular place. Otherwise it has strong colonialist connotations.
Negroes/Negress: A rather dated term with racist overtones unless used historically. African-American is preferred in the US.
Non-Industrial: An alternative way of referring to Third World countries, but in fact there are very few non-industrial countries and this terminology is quite outdated.
Non-White: This is not acceptable as it implies that "white" is the generic term for all people.
Primitive: This has derogatory overtones and implies an ignorance of the complex nature of many non-industrial societies.
Race: Originally associated with social Darwinism, eugenics and therefore highly pejorative. In a biological sense the word is unhelpful since it does not describe the variety of ethnic groups which sociologists would normally wish to identify. Some have felt that it is necessary to put the word into inverted commas in order to make it clear that these are social distinctions being referred to rather than biological ones and in order to distance themselves from the original meaning of the term.
In the nineteenth century, the concept of "race" was used to argue that there were distinct physical and genetic differences between groups that constituted humankind. It was suggested that these "fixed" biological "differences" were "natural" and evident in skin colour, head shape, facial features, hair type and physique.
This led scientists to assert that there was a racial typology with a hierarchy of "races", and that certain 'races’ were innately superior to others. The lack of scientific evidence for a racial typology led to such theories being discredited.
In contemporary times "race" is seen as a dynamic social, historical and variable category which is constantly recreated and modified through human interaction. Social attitudes to "race" vary as a way of making sense of the world, their experiences and of organising their lives in terms of it.
Third World: This has become the term used to refer to countries outside the ‘old world’ (Europe) and the ‘new world’ (USA, Australia etc.). This usually implicitly means poor and developing nations. However, some feel that this puts together too many diverse nations and cultures and that it can be prejudicial under some circumstances. North/South may be a better alternative.
Tribe: A rather Victorian term for referring to non-industrial peoples. It often has derogatory overtones.
West Indian: This term is used to refer to people from the West Indian territories, a region which is highly culturally diverse. It has generally been replaced by "African Caribbean" when referring to people of African descent. However, caution must be applied in using this term as it also homogenises distinct groups of Black people.
Institute for Academic Development
Provision for undergraduate students
The Study Development Team at the Institute for Academic Development (IAD) provides resources and workshops aimed at helping all students to enhance their learning skills and develop effective study techniques. Resources and workshops cover a range of topics, such as managing your own learning, reading, note making, essay and report writing, exam preparation and exam techniques. The study development resources are housed on 'LearnBetter' (undergraduate), part of Learn, the University's virtual learning environment. Follow the link from the IAD Study Development web page to enrol: www.ed.ac.uk/iad/undergraduates Workshops are interactive: they will give you the chance to take part in activities, have discussions, exchange strategies, share ideas and ask questions. The schedule is available from the IAD Undergraduate web page (see above). Workshops are open to all undergraduates but you need to book in advance, using the MyEd booking system. Each workshop opens for booking 2 weeks before the date of the workshop itself. If you book and then cannot attend, please cancel in advance through MyEd so that another student can have your place. (To be fair to all students, anyone who persistently books on workshops and fails to attend may be barred from signing up for future events.) Study Development Advisors are also available for an individual consultation if you have specific questions about your own approach to studying, working more effectively, strategies for improving your learning and your academic work. Please note, however, that Study Development Advisors are not subject specialists so they cannot comment on the content of your work. They also do not check or proof read students' work. To make an appointment with a Study Development Advisor, email [email protected] (For support with English Language, you should contact the English Language Teaching Centre)
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AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
You must ensure that you understand what the University regards as plagiarism and why the University takes it seriously. All cases of suspected plagiarism or other forms of academic misconduct, will be reported to the College Academic Misconduct Officer. You’ll find further information below, and at the following sites:
http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/undergrad/honours/what_is_plagiarism All material you submit for assessment must be your own work. You can and should draw upon published work, ideas from lectures and class discussions, and (if appropriate) even upon discussions with fellow students, but you must always make clear that you are doing so. Including anyone else’s work (including a fellow student’s work or material from the Web or a published author) in your own without adequate acknowledgement is plagiarism and will be punished severely. For example, to take text verbatim from another source and not place it within quotation marks is plagiarism. PLAGIARISM IS ACADEMICALLY FRUADULENT AND IS AN OFFENCE AGAINST UNIVERSITY DISCIPLINE. Assessed work that contains plagiarised material will normally be awarded a mark of zero, and serious cases of plagiarism will also be reported to the University’s Discipline Committee. In either case, the actions taken will be noted permanently on the student’s record. If plagiarism is detected after a candidate's graduation, it will still be investigated and dealt with appropriately by the University. In avoiding plagiarism, four areas require special attention: 1) Copying another student’s work without acknowledgement: this is
obviously cheating and will be treated as such (note that someone knowingly allowing his or her work to be copied is also offending). Those few cases of copying we have encountered have been regarded as serious breaches of University discipline, and dealt with accordingly.
2) Joint projects: while the work in joint projects is co-operative, reports on this
work should always be written individually and independently. Where you are drawing upon data collected or analysed by others in your group, be careful to state that this is the case. And take care not to let joint work drift into plagiarism. There have been cases in which students have been severely penalized for deliberately plagiarizing another student’s assignments. Do not make the mistake of believing that this is unlikely to be detected.
3) Exchanging ideas with other students: this is to be encouraged, but if you
draw upon someone else’s ideas always say that you are doing so. It is also wise to restrict idea sharing to verbal discussion, particularly when you are working on the same essay topic or exercise. If you read someone else’s essay or exercise, or allow yours to be read, or show him or her statistical work, the risk of drifting into plagiarism is real. In particular, the statistical or computing work for Doing Survey Research exercises must be done individually and independently. Deliberately plagiarizing another student’s assignments will be severely penalized. Do not make the mistake of believing that this is unlikely to be detected.
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4) Misuse of published work: nearly all the cases of plagiarism we have had
to deal with concern lifting portions of text from a published source (including from the Web) without acknowledgement. This is obvious cheating. If you want to quote from a book, article, Website, etc., put the material in quotation marks and state its source. But what if, as will frequently be the case, you want to draw upon published material without directly quoting it? When you do this, you must:
(a) state the source;
and
(b) put it into your own words It is not enough simply to alter a few words, cut some out, and add some: that is still plagiarism. Here is an actual example, taken from the plagiarism guidelines of the Department of Sociology at Brunel University:
Mike Featherstone, Consumer Culture and Postmodernism (London: Sage, 1991), p. 14:
If from the perspectives of classical economics the object of all production is consumption, with individuals maximizing their satisfactions through purchasing from an ever-expanding range of goods, then from the perspective of some twentieth-century neo-Marxists this development is regarded as producing greater opportunities for controlled and manipulated consumption. The expansion of capitalist production, especially after the boost received from scientific management and ‘Fordism’ around the turn of the century, it is held, necessitated the construction of new markets and the ‘education’ of publics to become consumers through advertising and other media (Ewen, 1976). This approach, traceable back to Lukács’s (1971) Marx-Weber synthesis with his theory of reification, has been developed most prominently in the writings of Horkheimer and Adorno (1972), Marcuse (1964) and Lefebvre (1971). Horkheimer and Adorno, for example, argue that the same commodity logic and instrumental rationality manifest in the sphere of production is noticeable in the sphere of consumption. Leisure time pursuits, the arts and culture in general become filtered through the culture industry; reception becomes dictated by exchange value as the higher purposes and values of culture succumb to the logic of the production process and the market…
Student essay:
From the perspective of some twentieth century neo-Marxists these developments produce greater opportunities for controlled and manipulated consumption. On the one hand critical theorists from the Frankfurt school stress that the same commodity logic and instrumental rationality manifested in the sphere of production is also noticeable in the sphere of consumption. Leisure time pursuits, the arts and culture become filtered through the ‘culture industry’: the mass media and popular culture. (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1979). Reception becomes dictated by exchange value as the higher purposes and values of culture succumb to the logic of the production process and the market.
As the Senior Tutor in that student’s department comments: “Clearly, this student did not express the idea in their own words; there is no way of knowing whether he or she understood the original. The student was convicted of plagiarism.” The student may not have intended to deceive, but inadvertent plagiarism is still plagiarism, and will be punished as such. The way to avoid slipping into inadvertent plagiarism is good note-taking.
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Either take notes in your own words of the gist of an argument, or carefully copy pertinent extracts verbatim and mark the quotations with inverted commas. In either case, take down the source details: author, title of book or article, publication details (for a book, place of publication, publisher, date; for a journal, journal title, volume and/or part number, date, page numbers for start and finish of article), and page number(s) of quote or argument summarized. If an idea comes from an unpublished source (such as a lecture or another student) record that in your notes. If an author you are reading cites or quotes from work that seems relevant to your essay or project, be careful not to pretend that you’ve read that work when you haven’t. Either get hold of the original and read the relevant parts of it, or make clear in your citations that you haven’t. An example of how to do the latter is as follows:
‘What holds individuals together as a “we” can never be completely translated into the logic of means-end calculation’ (Melucci 1992: 244, as quoted by Barnes 1995: 160).
Include bibliographic entries for both sources, but mark the one you have not read as ‘not seen’. Don’t be tempted to take a risk: published quotations surprisingly often contain small errors that allow a reader to tell that you are not quoting the original. Examples of ways to acknowledge the work or ideas of other students are as follows:
‘I am grateful to Jane Smith for suggesting the relevance here of rational choice theory’; ‘the data in this table come from questionnaires distributed by all the members of our group; data entry was by John Brown and Anne Cox performed the SPSS analysis’.
Lectures can be cited as (e.g. “lecture by Lynn Jamieson to Intimate Relationships class, 18 October 2010”), and there is no need for a bibliographic entry. Note, though, that especially at honours level, we would normally expect you to go beyond lectures and consult the original sources. There is no need to cite the textbooks or lectures from which you have learnt standard statistical techniques, or to give sources for widely-known facts: these are taken as common knowledge. Learning to take notes well, and to acknowledge sources properly, is not merely a matter of avoiding plagiarism and consequent penalties: it is learning an important skill, one that is a vital part of the subtle ‘moral economy’ of academic life. Appropriate acknowledgement and referencing will be rewarded positively in the marks you get. Staff are here to help you learn that skill. If you have any doubts, for example over when idea exchanging starts to slip into plagiarism, or whether your referencing is adequate, please consult your course teachers or other members of staff.
Duplication of Coursework (or 'self-plagiarism')
Students are not allowed to submit the same piece of work for more than one unit of assessment in their programme of study, nor are students allowed to submit for assessment work submitted at another institution. This is not 'plagiarism' in the sense of copying the work of others, but it is academic misconduct nonetheless.
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Each piece of writing submitted for assessment should be a substantially original piece of work produced specifically for that unit of assessment. It may occasionally be appropriate to have quite similar short passages in separate pieces of assessment, conveying more general or ‘background’ points the two pieces have in common, in which case you should do your best to rephrase the material, and limit any verbatim passages to a few sentences (no more than 100 words). Apart from this, students should avoid any duplication of previously submitted coursework. Instances of self-duplication will be easily identified because electronically submitted coursework is processed through Turnitin (plagiarism detection software). If it is found that a substantial portion of any assignment duplicates work previously submitted for assessment, the work will be referred to the School Academic Misconduct Officer, penalties could be imposed on that piece of work, and the student could be subject to disciplinary action.
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SUBMISSION PROCEDURES These are submission procedures for ‘Sociology’ courses. You must check procedures for courses outside Sociology with the relevant subject area. From 2012-13 Sociology Honours courses have used an electronic essay submission, marking and return system. Junior and Senior Honours students will submit an electronic copy of their essay, in normal word processing format, through ELMA. For information, help and advice on submitting coursework and accessing feedback, please see the ELMA wiki at https://www.wiki.ed.ac.uk/display/SPSITWiki/ELMA You will not be required to submit paper copies of your essay, and feedback will be provided direct to you through the ELMA system. We hope that this will make things easier for students, administrative staff and teaching staff, reduce printing costs, and help the University to be more environmentally responsible. NB: Anonymous Marking: All work is marked anonymously and marks must be ratified by the full Board of Examiners. A sample of work is seen by one of the External Examiners.
1) Submitting Your Work
By 12 noon at the very latest on (or preferably before) the appropriate day submit your work via ELMA. For long-essays and project reports, remember to include the word count. Always remember that books and computers are in heavy use just prior to deadlines, and it is much safer to hand in work a few days before a deadline rather than running the inevitable risks involved in submitting on the last possible day.
2) Electronic submission:
As part of the electronic submission process, you will need to declare that each piece of assessment you submit is your own work.
3) Penalties for Late Submission and for Failure to Submit Unlike coursework in Years 1 and 2, for all Sociology Honours assessment, NO EXTENSIONS ARE GRANTED WITH RESPECT TO THE SUBMISSION DEADLINES FOR ANY ASSESSED WORK. Managing deadlines is a basic life-skill that you are expected to have acquired by the time you reach Honours. Timely submission of all assessed items (coursework, essays, project reports, etc.) is a vitally important responsibility at Honours level. Unexcused lateness can put at risk your prospects of proceeding to Senior Honours, and can damage your final degree grade. If you miss the submission deadline for any piece of assessed work, marks equivalent to half a degree class, i.e. 5 marks, will be deducted for each working day (i.e. Monday to Friday) that work is late, up to a maximum of five working days (25 marks). Thereafter, an award of 0% will be given. These
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penalties will be subject to review and possible modification by the Board of Examiners. Failure to submit an item of assessed work results in 0% being awarded for that item, with potentially very serious consequences for your overall degree class, or no degree at all. It is therefore in your interest to submit work, even if very late. Of course, as indicated above, penalties for late submission may be applied.
4) Lateness Penalty Waivers This does not mean that all lateness is automatically penalized. If there are factors beyond your control which make it essential for you to submit work after the deadline you must fill in a ‘Lateness Penalty Waiver’ (LPW) form which will be in a folder outside Room 1.03, CMB) stating the reason for the request. Before submitting an LPW, please consider carefully whether your circumstances are (or were) significant enough to justify the lateness. Such circumstances should be serious and exceptional (e.g. not a common cold or relationship difficulties – each of these we all encounter from time to time). Computer failures are not regarded as serious difficulties. Always regularly back-up your work so that you have two independent up-to-date copies. DO NOT apply for a lateness penalty waiver on non-legitimate grounds such as having a heavy workload or computer problems. Students must not contact course organisers if they are unable to make deadlines. Rather you must contact the Student Support Officer, Karen Dargo in Room 1.03. If you do have legitimate grounds, you should submit requests for LPWs as soon as possible, preferably before the deadline in question. But you should always submit an LPW form when work is late, even if you are unable to submit the form until after the missed deadline:
• If you have clear evidence and/or appropriate documentation, and the lateness is under 5 working days, the form can be submitted directly to Karen Dargo who will sign the form to acknowledge receipt and forward it to your Personal Tutor and the Examinations Convenor for consideration. Karen may decide your request does not meet the criteria above, refuse to receive the form, and refer you to your Personal Tutor. Please DO NOT ask Karen whether your request is likely to be approved.
• All other cases should be referred directly to your Personal Tutor. Specifically, if there is any possibility that you may be more than five working days late in submitting, or if the reasons for your lateness are not clearly supported by documentation, you MUST discuss the problem and the timing of submission with your Personal Tutor. Take a copy of the LPW form with you when you discuss the matter with your Personal Tutor. If your Personal Tutor supports your request, s/he will sign the form and forward it to the Examinations Convenor for consideration.
Please Note: Signing the LPW form by either Karen Dargo or your Personal Tutor only indicates acknowledgment of the request, not the waiving of lateness penalties. Final decisions on all marks rest with Examination Boards. You can be reasonably confident, however, that if your request provides good reasons, is well documented
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and/or is supported by your Personal Tutor, and the degree of lateness is proportionate to the reasons for the delay, then lateness penalties will be lifted.
5) Special Circumstances
Illness, bereavement and other serious personal circumstances can affect the quality or prompt submission of your assessed work. It is vital that you keep your Student Support Officer (SSO, Karen Dargo) or your Personal Tutor informed of any serious adverse personal circumstances (such as personal illness, illness or death of a close relative or partner, or other personal issues). If you are facing circumstances that are seriously affecting your work, you should inform your SSO or Personal Tutor as soon as possible, and discuss with her or him whether it is appropriate for a Special Circumstances form to be completed. If it is, your Personal Tutor will guide you on the most appropriate form of evidence in your particular case. Remember: when corresponding with your Personal Tutor, be as specific as possible about which pieces of assessment you believe may have been affected by your adverse circumstances. You and your Personal Tutor should complete the Special Circumstances form and your Personal Tutor will forward it to the School’s Special Circumstances Committee (SCC) for consideration. Your Personal Tutor will also notify the Examinations Convenor of these extenuating circumstances. Medical, non-medical or compassionate special circumstances, affecting any formal examination or other assessed work, must be notified in writing AND be supported by a written medical certificate or other appropriate evidence. The documentation must arrive in time to be considered by the Special Circumstances Committee. It should be done no later than two working days after your last assessment, be that either examination or coursework, and earlier if that is possible. All documentation relating to the special circumstances must be clearly dated. Boards of Examiners will, in exceptional circumstances, take into account special circumstances submitted after the date of the Special Circumstances Committee if there is a demonstrated reason why the information could not be submitted before the deadline. Note: With regard to illness or injury, it is not always possible to obtain medical letters or certificates for ailments which are not chronic or enduring. GPs are busy people and understandably prefer that you ‘self-certify’ for problems which last no more than a working week. However, if medical problems are serious enough to delay submission of assessed work we expect that they are also serious enough for you to consult your GP, and you should inform us of the date and time of this visit should we require confirmation from your doctor. In such circumstances it is also essential that you explain your circumstances to your Personal Tutor, preferably in person. Lateness penalties are unlikely to be waived if you claim illness but consult neither your GP nor your Personal Tutor. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT ANY SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES ARE REPORTED TO THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS ON TIME, INCLUDING ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE SUCH AS MEDICAL CERTIFICATES, OR – IF THESE ARE NOT APPLICABLE – STATEMENTS IN SUPPORT OF YOUR SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, e.g. FROM GPS, PARENTS OR GUARDIANS.
SOCIOLOGY TEACHING STAFF
Staff Telephone No
Location
Bancroft, A Dr
650 6642 Room 6.23, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Brownlie, J Dr 651 3917 Room 3.03, 3rd Floor, 56 George Square
Bond, R Mr 650 3919 Room 5.08, 5th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Campagnolo, G Dr 651 4273 High School Yards
Crow, G Professor 651 1575 Room 2.04, 56 George Square
Darmon, I Dr 651 1574 Room 6.27, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Gayle, V Professor 650 4069 Room 6.29, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Gorringe, H Dr
650 3940 Room 3.04, 3rd Floor, 56 George Square
Govinda, R Dr 650 3906 Room 6.21, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Haggett Claire Dr
650 3916 Room 5.07, 5th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Hearn, J Dr
650 4242 Room 1.04, 58 George Square
Holmes, M Professor 651 3140 Room 6.30, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Jamieson, L Professor
650 4002 or
651 1943
Room 5.04, 5th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building or CRFR, 23 Buccleuch Place
Jeffery, P Professor 650 3984 Room 5.12, 5th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Jeffery, R Professor 650 3976 2.06, 8 Buccleuch Place
Kemp, S Dr 650 3895 Room 5.09, 5th Floor, Chrystal MacMillan Building
Kennedy, J Dr 650 4250 Room 6.28, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
MacKenzie, D Professor
650 3980 Room 6.26, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
MacInnes, J Dr 651 3867 Room 5.05, 5th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Orton-Johnson, K Dr 651 1230 Room 6.25, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Prior, N Dr 650 3991 Room 6.24, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Riga, L Dr 651 1853 Room 6.24, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Rosie, M Dr 651 1651 Room 3.04, 3rd Floor, 56 George Square
Stanley, L Professor 651 3139 Room 6.22, 6th Floor, Chrystal Macmillan Building
Viry, G Dr 651 5768 Room 2.03, 58 George Square
Woodman, S Dr 651 4745 Room 2.03, 58 George Square
