First Sociology Internship

INSTRUCTOR:	Gary Welborn	OFFICE:	HB304
PHONE: HOME:	878-6428 882-9239	HOURS:	by appointment only
Email: welborgs@buffalostate.edu Web Site: http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/welborgs/

REQUIRED READING

“Field Research Packet for the Sociology Internship Program”

at The Copy Cat (Elmwood & Forest)

F Its best to call before going to pick it up — 883-6400

BASIC COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Our Internship Program is intended to link the classroom to the real world, and provide a transition from the academic environment to the work world. As you provide some service to the community, you use the concepts and language of sociology to better understand what you experience. Together, the Practicum (SOC 486) and the Internship (SOC 488) form a bridge between theory and practice. You will apply what you have been learning to analyze, understand and describe some aspect of the social reality at your internship sites. In the Practicum, you spend 75 hours, in the Internship120 hours, working in an organization. This can be in any of a broad range of human service or citizen participation organizations. You are required to develop the practice of keeping a daily journal. This should begin immediately. In the Practicum, you will begin to develop field research skills through intense observation, interviewing and by writing short field analyses. In the Internship, you will build on these skills by completing a semester-long project, using field research techniques based on observation and participation at your site.

The Internship Program also offers you an opportunity to gain valuable career experience. While it is not actually a job, it has many elements of one. It gives you a chance to experience one or two of the types of careers you may be considering. This can often help you make better choices about your career direction. It can also provide important elements to your resume.

PLEASE NOTE: Any student who requires accommodations to complete the requirements and expectations of this course because of a disability is invited to make his or her needs known to the instructor and to Marianne Savino, coordinator of services for students with disabilities, South Wing 120, ext. 4500

EVALUATION

There are a number of parts to your evaluation in this course:

F		ATTENDANCE: You should think of this course much like a serious career situation. You are required to attend classes for less than half the semester. Please be at each class and be on time. If you miss even one class, or you are late twice, your grade will be effected. Attendance is worth approximately 5-10% of you final grade.
F		JOURNAL The practice of keeping a journal is an important part of your internship work. It will account for *25% of your final grade. You will use the journal keep a record of what you experience and observe at your site, as well as to collect field data such as brochures, leaflets, memos and records, etc. I will review your journals during the semester. They are also due at the end of the semester, with your final writing assignment. Please use copies of the form I have provided in your reading packet !!!!*
F		THICK DESCRIPTIONS: During the semester, you will write two short observational essays, each analyzing a sociological aspects of your site. These will be “thick descriptions”, which we’ll talk about in class. Each essay will account for *10% of your grade* (20% total). These should be phrased in the language and concepts of sociology, relating them, as much as possible, to the ideas that you have been studying and thinking about in courses you have taken or that you are currently taking. Family, African-American Family, Childhood & Youth, Sex Roles, Education, Women’s Studies, Social Psych, Race & Ethnicity, Work, Deviance, Crime, Addiction, JD - any of these might have content relevant to what you will be observing at your internship site. You will receive two grades for on each writing assignment, one on content and one on form (grammar, spelling, organization, etc.)
F		Field Interview: A completed field interview will account for 10% of your grade.
F		Test on Reading Materials: One test on the readings will account for 15% of your grade.
F		SITE EVALUATION: The remaining 15-20% of your grade will be based on your Site Supervisor’s evaluation.

*Course Outline & Reading Assignments*
I.	INTRODUCTION TO THE SOCIOLOGY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
A.		Field Research – Qualitative vs. Quantitative Methods
B.		Community Organizations: Roles, Relationships, Resources and Problems
C.		Community Organizations: Communications, Argo and Process-Awareness
D.		Applying Sociology in the Field
DUE 5/29/03				C. Wright Mills, “On Intellectual Craftsmanship”
II.	FIELD RESEARCH AND THE FIELD JOURNAL
A.		Field Notes
DUE 5/30/03				Robert Bogdan, Examples of Field Notes
B.		Issues Field Research
DUE 6/2/03				W. Lawrence Neuman, “Field Research”
C.		Keeping a Field Journal
III.	THICK DESCRIPTION
DUE 6/3/03				Norman Denzin, “Thick Description”
IV.	FIELD INTERVIEWING
A.		Interviews With Key Informants (Preparing Interview Guides)
B.		Focus Groups
C.		Using Recording Devices
DUE 6/4/03				USAID, “Conducting Key Informant & Focus Group Interviews” Herbert & Irene Rubin, “Interviews as Guided Conversations” & “Structuring a Qualitative Interview” Bruce Jackson, “Interviewing”
V.	ETHICS OF FIELD RESEARCH
VI.	INTENSE ANALYSIS OF FIELD DATA
DUE 6/5/03				Robert Bogdan, “The Stage of Intensive Analysis”
			TEST June 6, 2003

*Writing Assignments*
DUE: June 24^th or 26^th at Individual Meeting				Field Interview: Interview Guide and Interview Write-up Please bring your field journal also!
DUE: July 15^th				Thick Description of a Person
*** CLASS – JULY 22^nd Interview Write-up and 1^st Thick Description will be returned**

DUE: August 4^th				1) Thick Description of a Place or Event, and 2) Field Journal