Sociology and the Internet
Winterim 2001
Robert E. Wood
Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice

Research Project Assignment

Choose a group or a category of people and analyze how these people are using the internet to pursue their goals.  How are these people using the internet?  What goals do they have?  What strategies are they pursuing to achieve their goals?  What evidence of success do you find?  How important does the internet appear to be for the group that you have chosen? How has it changed lives?

Portal

Syllabus

Exercises

Electronic
Communication
Assignment

New Resources for 
the Winterim Course

Daily Notice Board

Research Project

Resources on the
Internet and Society

Google.com
(this course's
recommended
search engine)

Email Prof. Wood

It should be created in HTML format, using Netscape Composer
It should contain more than one font size
It should contain examples of italics and bolding
It should contain relevant hypertext links to the websites and (if possible) readings that you discuss
It should contain at least one image (gif or jpg)
It should contain at least one screenshot
It should be properly loaded into the html subdirectory of your clam account and made publicly accessible
It should be readable by a Netscape browser
It should be printable (no white against black backgrounds)
It should use at least one table for formatting purposes (the borders may be either visible or invisible)

Substantively, your paper should exhibit the following:

A clearly-stated and argued thesis about how the group you chose is using the internet.
Discussion of the relevant academic and journalistic literature, including relevant course readings (from both the assigned books as well as any relevant assigned online materials)
Evidence that you have searched the web carefully for relevant websites, listserves, chat rooms, and/or Usenet bulletin boards (Note: for details on searching for electronic discussion groups and bulletin boards, see the details in the spring 2000 paper assignment
Supporting material for your basic thesis, and a conclusion at the end
Proper in-text citation and a list of published references, using APA citation style as laid out in the links from the departmental citation page

You are encouraged to experiment with other HTML features (such as background color, horizontal lines, colored text, online PowerPoint slide shows, etc.) but this is not required. In many cases, simpler is better; I am particularly in agreement with Jakob Nielson that frames suck (most of the time).  60% of your grade for this project will be based on meeting the substantive criteria above; 40% for meeting the technical criteria.

Your paper should be completed and published to the web by the end of the day on Thursday, January 11th.  You should come to class on Friday, January 12th prepared to present your basic findings and your website to the class.  Your paper will account for 50% of your final grade, and your presentation on the last day of class, 10%.  

Using Netscape Composer to Create Your Web Page

We will go over in class how to use Netscape Composer, which is easily accessed when you run Netscape Communicator.  The Rutgers Computing Services has created a document:

How Do I Use Netscape as an HTML Editor?

that provides detailed instructions on various Netscape Composer options.  Some of the same information, plus instructions about preparing your clam account to house web pages and them placing the pages in the appropriate subdirectory, is available in the RUCS document,

Creating a WWW Page on Clam Using Netscape Composer

Additional Resources for Web-Page Construction

The following sites offer a wide variety of free graphics of various sorts for your web pages.