Formatting and Style: The entire paper should be double spaced, including the Re

Formatting and Style:
The entire paper should be double spaced, including the References page (with no additional spaces between each reference citation).
Indent the first line of each paragraph. Remove extra spaces between paragraphs.
APA format suggests 12 pt Times New Roman, and that is what I find easiest to read, but you may use a different standard font, like 11 pt Arial or Calibri.
Please include page numbers in the document.
The paper should not use first person perspective (I, me, myself, etc.) except in the methods section, or if you need to refer to your interview process again in the Findings (e.g., “When I asked Jessica about her use of English…”).
The minimum word count for the complete paper is 2750, or about 10-12 double-spaced pages, not including the References page. (For this draft, I will accept papers of at least 2500 words if you find you need more feedback to help develop your ideas before revising and writing more.)
Part One: Introduction Paragraph
This section does not need a heading.
Write one paragraph that orients readers to your topic, gets them interested in the subject, and gives them an idea of what you will present in the rest of the paper.
Introductions handout / UNC Writing Center (Links to an external site.) (with examples of strong and weak approaches)
One or two of the final sentences of the introduction paragraph should be your thesis statement. A thesis statement is a specific and debatable central claim that you will support with evidence throughout the paper. This statement should summarize your key message, the central claim of your paper.
Revisit the Project Group Topics page for some ideas of question you could address in your paper — maybe you can develop a thesis that responds to something from the “Questions you might address in your paper” heading there
The thesis statement should not be a question; rather, the thesis provides your answer to the question(s) that is driving your research.
Underline your thesis statement in the paper
Writing Tips: Thesis Statements
Note: You may want to write the Introduction paragraph last, at least after drafting the Findings section (see below). The thesis statement you present in your introduction must be supported by your research findings overall, particularly your original research (interviews).
Part Two: Literature Review (3-5 pages)
Refer back to your Literature Review Outline. This is a starting point for writing this section of your paper. Be sure to view any feedback you received on that assignment and make changes as needed as you incorporate that material into this paper.
As in the outline, you are required to include at least 8 scholarly, peer-reviewed sources in this section
Write the words Literature Review, underlined, as a heading for this section.
Write 4+ paragraphs, each corresponding to a theme you noticed in your outside sources. (You may change or add to the themes from your Lit Review outline). Include the following in each paragraph of this section:
A topic sentence that offers the main idea of the paragraph. In this case, that means identifying one theme. You can use the “theme sentence” from your literature review outline here.
References to 2-3 of your outside sources. Each source should be discussed in at least 2 sentences, the introduction/summary of the source and an explanation of its significance to the theme. You can copy over these sentences from the literature review outline and expand with additional sentences as needed.
Use narrative citations to introduce each source and parenthetical citations to conclude subsequent sentences about the source.
A concluding sentence that ends the paragraph with your own idea (not a citation or quote from your source). This sentence usually connects the message of this particular paragraph with your broader topic or argument.
Transitions between ideas. Use transition words, phrases, or sentences to explain the relationship between your sources (for example, highlight what makes them different from each other). Build meaningful transitions into your topic and/or concluding sentences to explain what each paragraph has to do with the one before or after it.
Transitions handout / UNC Writing Center (Links to an external site.)
Part Three: Methods Paragraph
Write the word Methods, underlined, as a heading for this section.
Describe your methods of original research. Answer these questions in this paragraph:
Who did you interview? Do you have any personal connection to them (i.e., a friend, family member, co-worker)?
Who are the other informants that were interviewed by others in your group?
Briefly, what are the positions/perspectives that the informants have relative to this topic (in other words, what makes them relevant to your research topic)?
What was the format of your interviews and those conducted by others?
Part Four: Findings (3-5 pages)
The findings section is where you report what you have learned from your interviews. This section needs to be organized around a series of claims you can make, describing patterns in the interview data. You will include select quotations from interviews as appropriate to illustrate those claims.
Do not just list the questions you asked and paste in the responses received in full.
Write the word Findings, underlined, as a heading for this section.
Write several body paragraphs (at least 4), each identifying and supporting a claim you can make on the basis of your/your group’s interviews. Keep in mind that this section ultimately provides the support for your thesis, the central or main claim in your paper. Think about how the patterns you noticed in the interviews are related to one another and how they collectively provide support for your main argument about this topic, your answer to the research questions/prompt. Each paragraph in this section should include:
A topic sentence that offers the main idea of the paragraph (a “claim” about your interview data: theme or pattern you noticed in the interviews).
As you identify claims, think about in what ways these interviews help you to answer the research question/prompt you selected with your proposal. (See also: Interview Themes Discussion).
Example claim/topic sentence: Medical anthropologists spoke enthusiastically about opportunities to write and teach about the pandemic.
Example claim/topic sentence: The professors interviewed disagreed about whether the covid-19 has changed academic research in ways that will continue after the pandemic ends.
Specific information from interviews conducted by you or others in your group that supports that paragraph’s claim. You should incorporate some direct quotes from interviewees that illustrate the pattern you noticed. You can also summarize information from multiple interviews (e.g., “All eight interviewees reported feeling some anxiety about food during the past year.” or “Both of the student-parents interviewed agreed that…”)
A concluding sentence that ends the paragraph with your own idea. This sentence usually connects the message of this particular paragraph with your broader topic or argument, but it can also help you transition to the next paragraph.
Transitions between paragraphs and/or within paragraphs, to compare or make connections between the comments from different interviewees.
Throughout this section, include information from at least five interviewees. You can use a mix of your own interview notes and those shared by your classmates (follow the link to your group’s Google Drive folder from the Interview Notes & Permission assignment). You are welcome to include more than 5!
Note: Quotations from research participant interviews do not need to be formally cited in your paper or References page in APA style (Links to an external site.). Simply quote the informant as you would quote any person in conversation: Darryl reported, “I am especially disappointed not to be returning to my field site this year because my former host family have a new baby I was looking forward to meeting.”
Note: You should quote interviewees using the pseudonyms you developed or those provided by your group members. At the first mention of a participant pseudonym, add an asterisk (e.g., Molly*) and include the following note at the end of the paper: *All names have been changed to protect informant privacy.
Note: In APA format, when you quote more than 40+ words of a source, the quotation is actually formatted as a “block quotation.” This would apply to interview quotations as well, even though you don’t need to include a formal citation for them in this paper. This improves readability because otherwise it can be hard to follow where the quote ends and your own words begin again.
Essentially, you set up the quote with a colon or comma as usual, and then the block quotation starts on the next line, indented 0.5 inch from the left. No quotation marks are necessary. See further directions at the first link below, and examples at the second. For interviews, follow these examples but leave out the formal citation elements (the year and page number):
Quotation / APA Style Guide (Links to an external site.)
Examples of Block Quotation / APA Style Blog (Links to an external site.)
Part Five: Discussion (1-2 pages)
Write the word Discussion, underlined, as a heading for this section.
The goal of this section is to analyze your findings in connection with your thesis and the “broader conversation” about your topic: what you read in the literature review and what anthropologists have said about the issue:
Connect your results with the intro and literature review. How does this data support, challenge, or give a different perspective on the issues as you originally described them?
Use at least 2 specific anthropological concepts/key terms to describe and explain patterns in your data. A strong discussion will use what you have learned about anthropology to help explain people’s thoughts and actions.
Choose from the key terms in bold at the end of chapters in Perspectives (chapters assigned to read for this class) and/or key terms presented in my lectures/videos.
Put the key terms you use in bold font so they are easy for me to locate. Explain the meaning of each term you use in your own words.
Note: You don’t want to introduce any new data (like interview quotations) in the discussion section. The discussion does not introduce new findings/results, but tells readers why the findings you have already presented matter.
Part Six: Conclusion Paragraph(s) and Final Word Count
Write the word Conclusion, underlined, as a heading for this section.
This section only needs 1-2 paragraphs. You should summarize your findings about the topic and make a final statement about what this research has contributed to the topic. You might answer one or more of these questions:
Why does the work you have done matter?
What questions should people continue to ask?
Is there a “call to action” that your work inspires?
More about conclusions: Ending the Essay / Harvard Writing Center (Links to an external site.)
On a new line, write Word Count then list the number of words in the paper, only including text after the title up until the end of the conclusion (not the References). Select the appropriate text to get this word count rather than the count for the whole document.
How to count the words in part of your document in Word (Links to an external site.)/ Pages (Links to an external site.)/ Google Docs (Links to an external site.)
Part Seven: References
At the top of the page, the word References should be centered on the page in plain font (not bold, etc.).
Copy over the references from your Literature Review Outline, making corrections as needed based on feedback to that assignment. Update your reference list if you added or removed sources since the outline.
A note about peer review: On Monday of Week 9 I will assign everyone who has submitted a complete paper here to a peer review group and open up the peer review discussion board. You should then post your paper again on that discussion board to be viewed by the 2 other students in your peer review group, and you can respond to other students’ papers there as well.
Criteria for Success
Checklist – Requirements to mark complete
Papers missing these components may be returned for you to complete before I grade this assignment.
Word count is listed at the end of the paper. The minimum word count for the complete paper, not including references, is 2750 words, or about 10-12 pages. (For this draft, I will accept papers of at least 2500 words if you find you need more feedback to help develop your ideas before revising and writing more.)
APA style citations should be used in text and on the references page, with appropriate formatting (it may not be 100% perfect but you should make an effort to follow the style guide and correct errors from previous assignments).
If you haven’t made corrections based on my feedback on the Literature Review Outline, I may send the paper back for corrections first
Include all required sections: introduction, literature review, methods, findings, discussion, conclusion, and references page.
Thesis statement is underlined in the introduction section.
Literature review includes references to 8+ scholarly, peer-reviewed sources
Literature review uses topic sentences to introduce themes and references at least 2 sources in each body paragraph.
Findings section includes information from at least 5 interviewees, including at least 1 that you interviewed yourself.
Findings section attempts to identify patterns and make claims about what you learned (rather than just copying in your questions/their answers).
In the discussion section, reference 2+ key terms from the text. Indicate these terms in bold font.
In the discussion section, make some reference to sources presented in the literature review.
NOTES
Consider addressing the following questions in your research paper:
How do norms, traditions, values, and/or social sanctions in the informants’ communities shape their decisions about whether to teach their children their native language?
What are the challenges to maintaining fluency in a language other than English while living in the U.S.?
Is there any evidence of language ideologies on the part of interviewees or in their experiences in the US?
How did language learning reflect or contribute to enculturation into American culture and/or into interviewees’ family cultures?
The following topics and keywords may be a useful starting point as you search for articles to include in your bibliography/literature review:
Language and cultural identity
Immigrant language loss
Language ideology and stereotyping in the US (for example, perception of English-only speakers of the use of other languages, or discriminatory behavior towards non-English speakers)