What does “getting back to normal” mean? Are there longer-term impacts of COVID that we will continue to live with? What has changed permanently, what hasn’t, and why?

ANT/SOC 400: Research Seminar in Sociology & Anthropology
Homework Assignment for Week 9

In your final papers, you will need to develop a sociological analysis of the question you are researching. As we discussed earlier in the semester, a sociological analysis means that you want to look beyond the individual to understand the social dimensions of what you are researching. In other words, as C. Wright Mills put it, you will want to connect the “personal troubles” that you are collecting through your interviews with larger “public issues.”

also recall that the assignment asks you specifically to consider the present moment and longer-term impacts of COVID: what does “getting back to normal” mean? Are there longer-term impacts of COVID that we will continue to live with? What has changed permanently, what hasn’t, and why?

The homework assignment for next week is designed to get you thinking sociologically about your research question by connecting it to larger public debates as well as to get you thinking about it in terms of the present moment in the COVID pandemic. For your assignment, please respond to the following questions:

1.) What is your research question?

2.) Find three secondary sources that can help you answer your research question. At least two of the sources should be news reports published in newspapers or news magazines since June 1, 2022; at least one of these should be from one of the following reputable publications: The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, or The New Yorker ; at least one of the newspaper articles should also be 800 words or longer. The third source can be another newspaper or news magazine article, or it could be data from the official website of a government office or organization that includes information relevant to your research question; the third source can also be published at any time. [PLEASE NOTE: Do not just pick any random story that pops up in your search; you should do a bit of searching to find a story that is actually relevant to your research question.]
A.) For each of the sources you identify, write the bibliographic citation, using proper bibliographic format.
B.) Beneath each bibliographic citation, include a brief summary of the article; also, take notes on any information that might be useful for you in your final paper. This might include statistical data or examples included in the article that can help you answer your research question; anything that might help you link your research question to larger public debates; any information that might prove useful to helping you to think about your research question in terms of the current moment in the pandemic’s history, etc.

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