government data requires critical sociological analysis H e a l t h M e d i c a l

Students may pick any topic that deals with critical issues of health or health care (Global or North American). Students are required to write a sociological paper that is analytical and critical. It is imperative to note that the writing of a sociological paper requires the primary use of scholarly sociological sources, such as sociological scholarly journals, sociological books, and sociological edited collections. The paper MUST include a minimum of FIVE sociological scholarly sources (books, scholarly journal articles) NOT including the course text book and relevant course materials.

Here is a list of some health or health care issues that you could consider for your

essay. However, you will still need to focus on a specific aspect of the issue and

clearly formulate your title.

• Physical Activity and Nutrition
• Obesity
• HIV/AIDS
• Substance use
• Mental Health
• Injury and Violence
• Environmental Quality
• Access to Health Care

e.g. wait times, expenses etc.

• Quality of Health Care

Please note that references that are NOT scholarly sources and will NOT count in your bibliography as scholarly sources include the following:

newspaper articles (i.e., The Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, The Globe and Mail, The National Post,

etc.)

magazine articles (Maclean’s, Newsweek, The Economist, etc.)

encyclopedia references (including Wikipedia)

dictionary references (including Oxford Dictionary and other dictionaries)

non-scholarly websites, blogs, etc.

Students should also note that while you can use government websites and statistical data in your research essay to support your work, they are NOT scholarly sources and will NOT count as one of the five scholarly sources required for this paper. Government websites and statistical data provide information that is NOT scholarly and NOT analytical. Statistics denote a social trend but can be interpreted in numerous and contradictory ways. Statistics themselves are devoid of analysis. Simply stating a statistic does not explain or explore any critical sociological analysis. Similarly, government websites state government policy that is devoid of analysis, and usually reproduces mainstream stereotypes, assumptions and misconceptions. Critical sociological analysis provides a critique of mainstream stereotypes and assumptions.

The use of government data requires critical sociological analysis. Please note that these government websites and statistics include, but are not limited to the following:

Statistics Canada

Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship

Health Canada

Government of Canada website

Government of Ontario website

Students should also note that the research paper is a SOCIOLOGICAL paper that requires SOCIOLOGICAL analysis. Scholarly sources are required to be limited to sociological sources.

For relevance of the topic within contemporary society, use of at least three (of the five) sources from 2008 to 2019 is required. Scholarly sources that are NOT sociological and will NOT be counted as part of your FIVE required

sociological scholarly sources include:

Nursing journals and books

Medical journals and books

Business journals and books

Psychology or psychiatry journals and books

Social psychology journals and books

Behavioural science journals and books

Biology journals and books

• Genetics journals and books