Part 1: Op-ed Assignment:
Take a position on a social, political, educational, or cultural issue that relates to Social psychology. Op-eds are not reportage or literature reviews. The goal of an op-ed is to make a persuasive argument for addressing a topical issue or problem. How can we best work toward solving the problem or achieving a related goal? Thus, the piece requires you both to take a stand on the issue and to offer practical suggestions that are grounded in research.
It may be helpful to review the Resources pageLinks to an external site. of the Op-Ed projectLinks to an external site. and read a few newspapers’ op-ed sections for examples and more background (I have some examples in this module).
Selecting a Topic
Begin by thinking of a topic based on what interests you. You can form a thesis based on (1) a topic this class has covered, or (2) your previous interests, on which theories/content from the class can shed light.
Assignment Guidelines
Cite at least three peer-reviewed empirical research articles on your chosen topic (not listed on the syllabus). You may also draw on research presented in class or from other sources. The description of this research should be briefyou don’t have much space! and used to support your point (e.g., “As Tyler Okimoto and Victoria Brescoll showed in a recent study, women who were seeking power were less likely to receive votes”). Also, be sure to link to your study when you first present it (e.g., in the example sentence above, you can make the word “showed” a hyperlink to Okimoto and Brescoll’s study.)
