UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
School of Social and Political Sciences
SOTH20002 – CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY SEMESTER 2, 2023
Professor Dan Woodman
Third Assessment: Research essay, 2000 words, 50%
Due: Thursday 2nd November 2023, 11.59pm – through Canvas.
Assessment Objectives:
This assessment is intended to permit you to go deeper into a theme or topic that
interests you from the subject. Specific questions will be provided later in the semester,
but you will also have the capacity to modify or even develop your own question, so if
something does interest you during semester, it is a good idea to keep it in mind for a
final essay. Do talk to your tutor about your idea before writing the essay.
You will be marked on the following criteria:
1. Presentation of the ideas of others in a concise and sophisticated fashion.
2. Approach to the question and articulation of an argument in a way clearly related
to a classical theory, drawing on material from the course and beyond.
3. The depth and sophistication of your engagement with the theories you use.
4. Clear, comprehensible, and academic writing style.
5. Referencing according to School guidelines.
Plagiarism: This is an individual assignment. Students should be fully aware of the
regulations regarding plagiarism – details are in the subject guide on CANVAS and
throughout the university student systems. There is no excuse for plagiarism.
The penalties are severe – it is not worth the risk.
Questions
Please select ONE of the following questions (and a reminder to check in if you wish to
do another question):
1. Choose two classical social theorists from the course and compare how far their
theories could be used to explain a contemporary social issue.
2. Is the traditional sociological canon limited by the social background of its
members? Identify an excluded figure and describe how they would address any
limitations.
3. Choose two theorists from the course and compare their views of the role that
personal values and politics should play in sociological inquiry.
4. With reference to two thinkers from the subject, describe how the modern
principle of individual independence is both facilitated and limited.
5. With reference to two thinkers from the subject, discuss how classical
sociological theory can help us understand race based, or gender based, or other
forms of inequality.
6. Does classical sociological theory help us to understand contemporary alienation?
Compare how two thinkers from the subject can be used to address this
phenomenon.
7. Marx and Engels wrote that the bourgeoisie had left "no other nexus between
human beings than naked self-interest, than callous 'cash payment'". Describe
how a classical theorist from the course helps and hinders our ability to
understand commodification and its consequences.
How to write a good research essay in the social sciences
You are arguing a point in response to the essay question, trying to convince the reader
of your contention.
- This means maintaining a coherent message (but this does not require you to
argue “for or against” something)
- This means returning throughout the essay to a basic argument and asking, “Does
this paragraph/sentence/claim/example serve my overall point?”
- Ideally, these paragraphs will build on each other (this is the narrative dimension
of the essay)
Your contention should be articulated through claims along the way—claims that are
supported by evidence.
- This evidence is best if drawn from peer-reviewed sources (sometimes this is not
possible)
- How many references?
For some guidance on essays in the social sciences: Redman & Maples (2017), Balmer &
Murcott (2017), and Becker (2007) on the importance of editing