Format

The papers assigned in this course must be concise (3-5 pp. double-spaced, not counting title page and references) and read more like reaction papers than term papers. They introduce one or two major theses, thoughts, arguments, questions, or comments about an article or topic we covered in class. You may also relate several articles to each other.

The first two papers go through two official drafts. The first draft is brought to class on the submission date and gets picked up by another student who edits the paper for clarity and quality of writing. After receiving the edited paper back, the author revises the paper and turns in the final draft (along with the first one, to document the progress made). This final draft will then be graded.

All papers must be double-spaced, typed or computer printed, with margins of at least 1.0 in and with APA-style references). Also, all papers must have a title page in the following format:

                                                                        Author's SS# last 4 digits

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER #[1, 2 or 3]

[title]

Author: [complete Student ID--no name]

Date turned in 1st draft: Tue, [date], 2002.

Editor: [complete Student ID--no name]

Instructor's comments on paper:

[leave at least 15 lines blank]

Instructor's comments on author's quality of editing another student's paper:

Topics

A good paper features your intellectual reaction to an article from the course reader or to a topic from a lecture or seminar. You can discuss a psychological phenomenon, a theory explaining it, concepts, methodology, practical implications, and so forth. The ideal start is to think about which issues in class or the reader have grabbed, bothered, or puzzled you.

You may apply a theoretical prediction to your own life; you may critique an article; you may propose a new experiment that would clarify open questions; or you may explore policy implications of findings. No matter what kind of paper you write, you must clearly go beyond summarizing other people's thoughts.

When expressing your own intellectual reaction, you must back up your claims (e.g., with arguments, compelling examples, or other literature you read). In particular, when you critique an article, be fair in your criticism. Also, consider a retort to you own criticism or argument and try to refute such a potential retort. Also, when you apply a theoretical principle to an everyday situation, explain exactly how the principle helps us understand the everyday situation you selected.

If you want to collect some data and report them in an empirical paper, look here for information and tips on it. That handout was created for a previous course in which one empirical paper was mandatory, but some of the information there will still be helpful. For an empirical paper, you could interview people on the street or students in your dorm; conduct a systematic observation of your own or your friends' behavior; hand out a questionnaire to your fellow students at the beginning of class; or analyze archival data such as newspapers, Congress transcripts, legal cases. You may try to find a variation on an existing experiment, apply an existing method to a new domain or to a new subject population, or find out whether a particular effect still holds if you change some aspects of the experimental procedures. An empirical paper might need some help from my side, so feel free to come to my office hours to talk about your ideas.

Your papers must be clear, concise, and make a point. Tell your reader what you are planning to do in the paper in the first paragraph. Then, in the remainder of the paper, implement this plan.

Good writing means establishing clear connections between sentences and ensuring a logical flow of your thinking throughout the paper. Good writing also means correcting all spelling errors and forming grammatical sentences. A list of common mistakes that I would very much like you to avoid are listed at this link.

Procedure

For the first two of your papers, you turn in a first draft on the designated Monday (Oct 21, Nov 18) and check off your name on a "tracking list" that I will bring to class. Then you switch into the editor role and pick up somebody else's paper. On the tracking list, you specify the author's ID whose paper you are going to edit. You then have two days to edit the paper (see below for details), returning it on the following Wednesday at the beginning of class. Again, you check off your name on the tracking list. At the end of that Wednesday class you switch back into the author role and take your edited paper home with you. You then have several days to revise your paper: You turn in the final version to me, along with the first draft that was edited by someone else, on the final due date (Oct 30, Nov 27). When grading your papers, I need to see the first draft so I can assess your improvement from first to final draft and can also assess the quality of your editor's work.

Editing

As the editor of a paper, you will read the paper carefully and look for ways to improve it at the following levels:

Spelling, punctuation, grammar.
Sentence length and structure: Is the sentence too long? redundant? would regrouping of words or clauses help?
Word choice: The goal is to find the simplest word that best describes the writer's idea. Pay close attention to the use of technical terms: is the term necessary, would a commonly used word be more suitable? Is the term used correctly?
Logic of thought: Are the arguments clearly presented and convincing? Do conclusions follow from their premises? Are too many assumptions left unjustified?
Idea: Does the paper have a clear topic, a point, a message? Or is the author just rambling? Do the paragraphs speak to the general topic and do they form a coherent and logical order? Does the paper express an intellectual contribution or is it just a summary?

For points 1.-3., you need to edit "on the spot" (e.g., fill in missing commas, write out a misspelled word, suggest a better fitting term). For points 4.-5., you need to write legible comments into the margins of the paper. In addition, you need to summarize your thoughts about the paper on the last page and give constructive suggestions for how to improve it. As an editor, you need to be critical but constructive. That means, you should be neither harsh nor flattering. In general, a well-edited paper has a lot of markings (between the lines, in the margins, at the end of the paper). If you want to get a visual impression of two well-edited pages, click here.

Grading

Any one reaction paper can earn up to 100 points. For each paper edited you can earn up to 30 points. You cannot earn any points for your writing, however, unless you also edit someone else's paper during the same week. In addition, you cannot pick up more than one paper for editing.

I will assess your writing on the basis of both your initial draft and your revised version. The initial draft will not be perfect, but it must demonstrate considerable effort. The revised draft must be a definite improvement over the initial draft -- you must incorporate your editor's comments and/or improve the paper in other ways. Sometimes you might disagree with your editor's suggestion. If so, you need not make the change (but at your own risk). You may also write a little counter-comment in the margins of the first draft to indicate that you have taken the editor's suggestion into account but chose not to make the change.

I will assess your editing by the diligence and care of your work and by the usefulness of you comments. Your feedback must be constructive -- your comments should help the writer improve the initial draft; and it must be comprehensive -- you need to address all five levels described above. Occasionally, you will edit a very good initial draft; in this case, try to work on details to perfect the paper's flow and elegance.

Send me email if you have any further questions.