In the Life Sciences unit, you focused your attention on developing a persuasive argument based on established scientific information.  Social Scientists (sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists etc.) study human behavior (not diseases, cell structures, how a plane works etc.) by observing and evaluating people.  If the social scientist makes accurate and valid observations and evaluations, then  s/he can draw conclusions about general human behavior.  In this unit, you will learn how social scientists gather data, interpret it, and draw conclusions by observing, evaluating, and researching human behavior.  Most importantly, you will actively participate in this discipline's written discourse community.

To achieve these goals, you will have to think and write like a specific breed of social scientists: the psychologist or sociologist interested the issues pertinent to American families (just because that's the culture we know best and can therefore write about with the most authority).  Hollywood films have, to a degree, documented this crisis on screen for all to see. Film directors have exposed our deepest worries and darkest secrets abut loss, death, divorce, alcoholism, violence, sibling rivalry, father-son and mother daughter relationships etc.  How has Hollywood informed and expanded our understanding of such crises.  More importantly, how can we use Hollywood's portraits to increase our understanding of the psychological and/or sociological research about the family?

Note: Social Scientists often collaborate on projects like these.  Therefore, I arranged this as a team project.  Unless you know that you have so many quirks and do not want to inflict them on another person, I urge you to find a buddy.  Working with a team member will necessitate collaboration and compromise.  But, it will also help you to  consider another's perspective as you develop your argument as well as develop critical thinking and writing skills.  You'll see that you can learn a great deal from working with another.  You may even make a new friend (hopefully not an enemy).

Brainstorming (click on "brainstorming" to get to the list.)
Observation Report
Annotated Bibliography & Literature Review
Families in Crisis Resource Site & Information Web Pages
 

Scenario:  You and your team member are interns on the psychiatric ward.  You've been assigned the family/individuals in your film (your "patients").  You must must report your findings to the attending.
Goal: Objectively document the complexity of a family crisis in a report format.
Audience: The attending psychiatrist.
Resources: "Readings for Observation Report" (Reserve: x9-2716); Stand by Me (sample brainstorming etc)
Length: 3-4 pages
Value: 10 points

Choose a specific "patient" &  problem from the list of  films.  If you and your team-member desperately want to do a pre-20th century family or a movie from the Movie's for Psychology Students site, please have a good reason and get my approval.  Chose a movie you enjoy and have seen before so that you have a sense of the social science or psychological theories you could explore.

Read the materials on Reserve: "Readings for Observation Report" (x9-2716).  Make a list of the types of behaviors or information to identify and the mind-set you must adopt.

Before you watch the movie, discuss it with your team member.  You may consider some of the following (take notes a computer so that you can each have a copy, which you'll submit in your folder).

• What do you remember about the characters?
• What's their particular problem / primary conflict and resolution?
• What social science or psychological theories does the movie highlight or illustrate? Why?
• Discuss any other issues you consider pertinent.

Once you've finished your notes, have a serious conversation with your team member.  (Record as much of this conversation as possible.  You may want to do brainstorming / note-taking at a computer so that you can each have a copy and one for your folder)  Feel free to start with emotional reactions ( that's so sad; I love it when. . . .) and discuss reasons behind these reactions.  Then discuss the issues and scenes you consider important and relevant.  You may consider some of the following:

Were your initial thoughts about the movie accurate?

Did you see something this time that you had forgotten or missed the first time?

Consider the information you recorded in your chart.  Did you and your team member see  the same things?  Come to the same conclusions?  Why or why not?  How can you reconcile any differences?

What does the director want you to think or respond?  Why?

What might a psychiatrist say about the movie?  Do you think they'd see it as valid, accurate etc.?  Why or why not?

Other insights you have.

the problem (as revealed in the movie; focus on observing what characters do and say.  Record the evidence.  DO NOT INTERPRET!)

the causes (as revealed in the movie; focus on observing what characters do and say.  Record the evidence.  DO NOT INTERPRET!)

the consequences (as revealed in the movie; focus on observing what characters do and say.  Record the evidence.  DO NOT INTERPRET!)

the resolution (as revealed in the movie; focus on observing what characters do and say. Record the evidence.  DO NOT INTERPRET!)

any other issue(s) you consider important

Type and submit one copy per team. Remember: do not interpret!!!  Just present the facts objectively.

Project Writing Goals"

(1) develop & sharpen your observation skills
(2) practice objective writing
(3) sharpen the general writing skills we've practiced thus fat this semester (from content to style)

Goal:

Create a bibliography using APA format for citations

Summarize (do not evaluate):

at least eight (8) professional articles, chapters from books, or web sites (limit 2) that address the psychological / social problem, causes, solutions.  Tip: split the xeroxing; but each team member should read all of the articles and decide what to include in the summaries.

at least three (3) in-depth, complex, insightful movie reviews. Tip: see above

Write a literature review (250 words) that synthesizes the materials.  This may eventually serve as your argument's introduction.

Now that you have begun to think about your topic, you've probably recognized the gaps in your knowledge.  Time to fill them in!  This assignment will help you gather information from current  research on your topic.  What research have social scientists / psychiatrists done about this family crisis? What theories have they developed?

Try to find information about:

the problem

the causes

the consequences

the resolution

any other issue(s) you consider important

Library:

• read a variety of materials, but always look for the most authoritative and most relevant for your topic.
• locate primary sources: original research by professionals.  You can use news articles (secondary sources) that report what professionals have found; however, these do not count toward the minimum required number of sources.
• first priority: professional  articles
• second priority: popular magazine articles and newspapers (Time, Newsweek, etc.)
• search a variety of electronic databases such as:
• EBSCOHost
• Film Index International (CD-Rom at UL only)
• Infotrac (good tool for locating reviews)
• PsychInfo
• PsycLit
• Proquest
• Sociofile
• Social Sciences Abstracts (SocSciAbs)
• Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
• Sociofile (CD-Rom at Davis Library only)
• Statistical Universe
• the on-line catalogue at UNC for books
• the web (Be careful!  There's lot's of "junk" on the WWW!).  Good places to start:
• Britianica.com
• Lycos search for "psychology"
• American Psychological Association
• Reserve list (I've put lots there.  Check it out!)

Interview:  You may conduct one formal interview.  Please show me the questions you plan to ask.  You must record and then transcribe the interview.  Follow rules of etiquette for interviews and email: greet the individual, maintain a professional attitude, thank them etc.

Each member can read 4 scholarly articles and 2-3 reviews (which you both agree upon) and then write the summaries.

Then, swap.  The "new" member can read the team member's articles and then add and modify the original copy.

Discuss the changes.

Come to an agreement.

After you've both finished the summaries, work together to write the literature review.

Then, work to make each summary similar in style etc.

sharpen the academic / scholarly research skills you started developing in the Natural Science by learning to access academic databases and distinguish between primary and secondary materials

further strengthen your ability to write concise and accurate summaries

practice synthesis skills

introduce APA documentation

sharpen the general writing skills we've practiced thus fat this semester (from content to style)

Goal: Create an information page that uses a film about a family crisis to illustrate a social science or psychological problem for which you pose reasonable resolutions.
Audience: psychology professors and their students
Length: 5-6 pages
Value: 25 points

Your critical thinking and extensive research have made you "experts" on  this family crisis. Using your special insight, the data you have collected, and what you have learned from your research, create a sound, scholarly web site which psychology professors and their students can use to learn about the particular family crisis or issue, see an example of the problem through the film, identify its causes, its effects, and then gain a "real" (non-hollywood) approach to dealing with and resolving it. Aim to inform and persuade through careful analysis, critical thinking, and cleat and effective writing.  You will post your team's information page to the Families in Crisis Resource Site, which we will develop.

How to:

• Extend and revise the observation report and the knowledge you've obtained from your research.
• Think about how your film alters, ignores, romanticizes, exaggerates, and/or distorts a sociological or psychological  "truth."  A sound knowledge of the psych/ sociological theories will help to do this intelligently.
• You may also want to consider the overall purpose of your film and how the director's decision to represent the family as s/he has chosen fulfills a purpose which may conflict w/ the real world?.
• Your audience has a very strong knowledge base (either from work, teaching, or personal experience).  Do not to "talk down" to them with insignificant or irrelevant information.  Do not summarize the movie; rather, establish a link to a web site that does that for you.   Possible summaries available at the Internet Movie Database. (Beware, some summaries at this site are better than others, so you may find a better summary.)
• Use the best expert sources and your sharpest, most polished writing.
• You will also encounter opposition.  Many will not agree with your evaluation or your proposed way of dealing with and/or treating the problem.  How will you deal with the opposition?  How will you make them at least consider your treatment/ solution?
• Include your revised and updated annotated bibliography.

Unlike the scientific breakthrough project which had distinct sections, this one does not.  So you will have to decide what to argue, the different sections, their organization, etc.  So, talk about it and decide so you can find ways to break the project into various components.  If you try to write the entire paper together, you'll go nuts and it will take hours.  However, you should get together to put the sections together and to determine that it has a consistent level of evidence, detail, stylistic unity etc.

• Write your project using the traditional WORD software.  Use the standard font (arial/ helvetica) and double space the entire document.
• I encourage your creative spirits.  But remember that too many flashy / glittery web features may undermine your authority and all the thinking & research you've done to make this a valid instructional and impromative page.
• You can include links to important and authoritative sites available on the web.  If you do so, please make sure you use the site's name and a brief description of what the reader will find at that site.  Do not simply an uninformative address.  For example:
• Helpful link: American Psychological Association: a site which allows psychiatrists, psychology students, and the general public to access information and resources pertaining to various psychological issues.  It offers an easy to use search feature and a series of specific links.
• Not Helpful: http://www.apa.org/
• Choose a background that's not too busy.  Do not choose a black background because it will print as white on white.
• After you have completely revised the content, the paragraphing, the style etc., we'll convert it to HTML (the web language).  Do this LAST because it will change the margins and single space the document, which makes it hard for me to read.

• the argument in 2 formats
• the double spaced, normal margins etc.
• the HTML version
• the revised and/ or updated annotated bibliography