Format The American Sociological Association Style Guide

Format The American Sociological Association Style Is Intende

Choose a topic for your research paper from the list that has been provided in Bb Learn under Course Content: All Instructions. Papers must be a minimum of ten pages long (8 full pages of text, one page for references, and one cover page). Write a minimum of eight pages of text on that research topic. Include a minimum of eight scholarly references (social science journals, law books; and/or websites sponsored by academics and/or professionals) and include a bibliography at the end of the paper using ASA formatting. One of those references can be from one of our texts; the other references must come from separate academic journal articles—not news articles or random websites. Do not include Wikipedia or other encyclopedia/dictionary usages among the ten references. Use ASA writing style only; an ASA formatting guide can be found in Bb Learn under Course Content: All Instructions or online. Double-space, use 12-point Times New Roman font, and set margins no greater than 1.25 inches on all sides. Manipulating fonts and formatting to meet length criteria is not allowed. Avoid long quotes over forty words; limit short quotes accordingly. Papers will only be accepted in Bb Learn as an attached file in either rich text format or Word document (not PDF, .lnk, .wps, Pages, or ODT). Do not submit in Bb Learn messages, NAU email, or as a hard copy. Enjoy your research projects!

Paper For Above instruction

The American Sociological Association (ASA) style provides a standardized framework for scholarly writing within sociology. Proper use of ASA format ensures clarity, consistency, and professionalism in academic manuscripts. This paper discusses the essential components of ASA style, including manuscript formatting, in-text citations, footnotes/endnotes, and reference list conventions, illustrating their application through relevant examples related to sociological research topics such as racial inequalities, immigration, or media portrayals of race.

Introduction to ASA Style and Its Purpose

The ASA style guide is designed to facilitate the communication of sociological research by establishing consistent standards for manuscript presentation and citation. It is widely adopted by sociology researchers and students who aim to publish in ASA journals or similar academic outlets. Accurate adherence to ASA style enhances readability, lends credibility, and ensures proper attribution of sources, thus reinforcing the scholarly integrity of research works.

Manuscript Formatting

The foundational aspects of ASA manuscript format include double-spacing all text, including footnotes and references, and employing a 12-point Times New Roman font. Margins should be set to at least 1¼ inches on all sides, creating a clean and accessible layout. A separate title page must include the paper's title, authors' names, institutional affiliations, word count (including footnotes and references), and a title footnote that provides authors' contact information, acknowledgments, or grant details. If an abstract is required, it should be placed on a separate page following the title page, headed with the paper’s title, and limited to roughly 150-250 words. The main text of the paper begins on a new page, headed with the paper’s title, and comprises the body of the research report.

In-Text Citations

In APA style, in-text citations serve to credit sources directly within the narrative or in parentheses. If the author's name appears naturally within the sentence, follow it with the publication year in parentheses, e.g., "Chu (1977) found that...". If the author's name is not part of the narrative, insert it with the year in parentheses at the appropriate point, e.g., "(Jones 1994)". To include page numbers, add a colon and page number(s) after the year, e.g., "(Chavez 1966:16)". For multiple authors, use the following conventions: for three authors, list all last names in the first citation, e.g., "(Smith, Garcia, and Lee 1954)", and subsequently use "et al." after the first author's name, e.g., "(Smith et al. 1954)". For more than three authors, always use "et al." after the first author. Quotations must be enclosed in quotation marks, with the citation placed immediately after the closing quotation mark, e.g., “In the late 1990s, data showed...”(Hildenbrand 1999:47).

Footnotes and Endnotes

While generally discouraged, footnotes may be employed sparingly to cite limited-access material or to provide additional clarifications. Footnotes are numbered consecutively with superscript Arabic numerals and placed at the bottom of the page or in a dedicated "Endnotes" section. They should be concise and relevant, complementing the main text without becoming a primary citation method.

Reference List

The reference list in ASA style appears at the end of the manuscript under a heading titled "References". All sources cited in the text must be included, and vice-versa. The list is alphabetized by the last name of the first author, with hanging indents for each entry. Multiple works by the same author are ordered by publication year, earliest first, with a hyphen pattern (------.) used for repeated authorship within subsequent entries. Book titles and journal names are italicized or underlined. When the publication date is unavailable, "N.d." should be used. For American sources, include city and state, or country for foreign publications. Accurate formatting ensures that readers can reliably locate sources for further study.

Examples of References

  • Book with one author: Bergesen, Albert. 2006. The Depth of Shallow Culture: The High Art of Shoes, Movies, Novels, Monsters, and Toys. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
  • Journal article with one author: Garcia, Alma M. 1998. "An Intellectual Odyssey: Chicana/Chicano Studies Moving Into the Twenty-first Century." Journal of American Ethnic History 18(1):109.
  • Book chapter: Holley, P.D., and D.E. Wright, Jr. 2006. "A Sociology of Rib Joints." In McDonaldization: The Reader, edited by George Ritzer, 46-53. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
  • Online journal article: Smith, Herman W., and Takako Nomi. 2000. "Is Amae the Key to Understanding Japanese Culture?" Electronic Journal of Sociology 5:1. Retrieved May 5, 2000, from the Web site.

Adherence to ASA style in your sociological research paper ensures clarity, professionalism, and scholarly rigor. By carefully following these formatting and citation standards, students and researchers uphold the integrity of sociological scholarship and facilitate its dissemination within the academic community.

References

  • Bergesen, Albert. 2006. The Depth of Shallow Culture: The High Art of Shoes, Movies, Novels, Monsters, and Toys. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
  • Garcia, Alma M. 1998. "An Intellectual Odyssey: Chicana/Chicano Studies Moving Into the Twenty-first Century." Journal of American Ethnic History 18(1):109.
  • Holley, P.D., and D.E. Wright, Jr. 2006. "A Sociology of Rib Joints." In McDonaldization: The Reader, edited by George Ritzer, 46-53. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
  • Smith, Herman W., and Takako Nomi. 2000. "Is Amae the Key to Understanding Japanese Culture?" Electronic Journal of Sociology 5:1. Retrieved May 5, 2000, from the Web site.
  • Mouser, Ross, and Hirosuke Kawanishi. 2005. A Sociology of Work in Japan. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • U.S. Department of Justice. 2004. Crime in the United States, 2003: Uniform Crime Reports. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
  • Valencia, Albert. 1995. "An Examination of Selected Characteristics of Mexican-American Battered Women and Implications for Service Providers." Ph.D. diss., Department of Education, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA.
  • Sweeten, Gary, Shawn D. Bushway, and Raymond Paternoster. 2009. "Does Dropping Out of School Mean Dropping Into Delinquency?" Criminology 47(1):47-91. Retrieved from Wiley Interscience on April 23, 2009.
  • Spalter-Roth, Roberta and William Erskine. 2007. "Race and Ethnicity in the Sociology Pipeline." Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. Retrieved January 9, 2008.
  • Hildenbrand, Gerrit. 1999. "Technologically Oriented Jobs and Their Pay." Society and Technology 12(3):45-52.

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