Discipline-Specific Characteristics
for Academic Papers

Sociology

The following are some characteristics of Sociology papers, based on our examination of a SO 226 paper:

• Carries out empirical research on theoretical ideas
• Selects variables to analyze
• Selects what evidence to bring in and what evidence to leave out
• Focuses on causal relationships (correlations do not mean causations)
• Presents tables and writes about only the relationships that matter in the tables
• Uses first person when necessary