Topic :

This research exercise requires students to apply sociological concepts and theories to analyse people's relative standings and class positions in contemporary societies, Students are expected to collect information about individuals' life experiences and family background by searching relevant materials drawing on knowledge from daily observations, everyday experience, or informal communication with familiar people (e.g., family members or friends).

1 Based on the ‘real-life stories', students should identify which class these individuals belong to in a system of social stratification and explain the reasons from a sociological perspective.

Also here is a structure of my essay

Essay Structure Title.

A short and clear summary of your essay (a sentence, not a paragraph).

DO NOT use vague titles, like ‘SOC2/3WOE Assignment' or ‘Assignment One'. You can try something like ‘Class Analysis in Australia: Evidence from Two Life Stories', ‘The Life of Middle Class in Australia', or ‘Comparing Working Class and Upper Class in Australia'.

Suggested headings for the essay:

Introduction.

Briefly introduce the purpose and significance of the research exercise and the structure or organisation of your essay.

1 You are not expected to conduct a formal interview with anyone.

If you want to do formal interviews, you should consult your lecturer and obtain approval from the College Human Ethics Committee beforehand. 1 Research question and method.

Address issues: what is your research question (e.g., ‘who gets what and why?' ‘What are the major factors that affect class identification in contemporary society?')?

How did you collect information about these two individuals?

Life stories. A clear and succinct description of personal life experiences and family background (use fake names or anonymous identities for them).

You may refer to the format of life stories in Chapter 1 of the textbook but keep your narration concise (e.g., up to 400-500 words in this section).

In the description, you may present information about people's subjective evaluation of their own class position as well. Class analysis. What is your opinion on identifying these two people's class positions?

What classes do they belong to? Why? What theories of social stratification can be used to explain the issues and support your arguments?

This is a very important part of this essay, in which your analysis should be elaborated. Comparison.

Are there any similarities or differences between these two people in terms of their class positions? Why?

What are the most important factors for identifying class positions in Australia or other countries?

Summary and discussion. Summarise the major findings. Discuss the explanatory power of relevant theoretical accounts used in your analysis.

Discuss the implication of your study (e.g., contribution, strength, or weakness).

[Individual reflection. This section is only required in a Group Essay - each individual writes a short paragraph (no more than 200 words in total) to reflect on the project: what did you learn?

How was your collaboration going? Did you have any difficulty in completing the research exercise?

Any suggestions for team work in the future?] References. ‘Acknowledging your sources' is an important university requirement.

Your assignments must conform to the Harvard Standard of referencing.

Please consult the Harvard Referencing Guide Modules which can be accessed at:

http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/referencing-tool/harvard

Regarding this assignment, you are expected to use at least 5 references to support your arguments or analysis where appropriate.