Rites of Passage
Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper
Please review the instructions for the Final Research Paper in Week Five before you begin working on this assignment. This assignment is designed to help you begin working on your Final Research Paper by requiring you to choose the sources you are going to use and summarize their contents. It will also give your instructor a chance to provide you with feedback on your thesis statement and your topic.
Your Final Research Paper will consist of two main parts. See the flow chart for a quick overview of the assignment.
Part I
To begin, select one aspect of your own culture from the following list. In your Final Research Paper, you will be describing this practice from an etic (or outsider’s) perspective, using the textbook and the article by Miner (1956) as a guide.
| Aspects of Culture
(Choose One) |
Relevant Research Section in the Textbook |
|---|---|
| Race | Chapter 3: Biology and Culture: Race and Ethnicity |
| Education |
Chapter 3: Biology and Culture: Race and Ethnicity Section 4.6: Language Change |
| Communication | Chapter 4: Language and Culture |
| Gender | Chapter 5: Gender and Culture |
| Childrearing |
Chapter 6: Social Organization and Lifecycle Section 6.4: Lifecycle – Enculturation, Childhood, and Adolescence |
| Courtship and Marriage | Chapter 6: Social Organization and Lifecycle
Section 6.4: Lifecycle – Courtship and Marriage |
| Rites of passage |
Chapter 6: Social Organization and Lifecycle Section 6.4: Lifecycle – Rites of Passage |
| Religion | Chapter 7: Religion and Culture |
| Politics | Chapter 8: The Political System |
| Economics | Chapter 9: The Economic System |
Next, identify at least one reputable scholarly source to back up your ideas. This can be a scholarly article from the Ashford University Library or a source of reliable statistics. Below are potential sources you can use to support your analysis (you can also conduct your own research to find other sources):
- United States Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/)
- Gallup (http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx)
- Pew Research Center (http://www.pewresearch.org/)
