SCS285: Health, Society And Culture- Essay Writing Assignment

Essay Writing Assignment:

Introduction: This Briefing Note Is To Assist You In Gaining An Orientation On How To Complete The Essay, Information Regarding The 3 Required Readings And Some Direction To Useful Resources. If You Feel Clear About What Is Expected Please Proceed Without This Briefing Note. Please Read The Detailed Description Of The Assessment Format And Criteria In The Course Outline And If You Are Unclear About What Is Required, Please Contact Me Or Discuss With Student Colleagues. Or Ask Me A Question In The Lecture. This Can Save You A Lot Of Wasted Time. We Will Be Marking Closely To The Marking Criteria – See The Marking Grid Also Provided On Bb – So Do Be Sure To Include Relevant Content Against Each Criteria. The Section Below On How To Do A Critical Analysis Of A Reading, May Be Of Some Value To Read Prior To Starting Your Paper. It Will Not Be Sufficient To Describe What The Authors Say – We Want To Know What You Think Of Their Ideas. Word Length Is One Of The Criteria Components And Will Be Adhered To – You Must Avoid Writing Anything In Excess Of 1500 Words (+ 10% Allowable) Not Including End Of Text References Or Direct Quotes. I Suggest You Write About One Of The Three Required Readings At A Time, Then Make Some Comparison Comments At The End As Well As Critically Discerning Comments. You Need To Use Other References To Back Up Your Claims – Some Likely To Be Useful Additional References Are Any Provided So Far In Weekly Modules In The Learning Materials Section On Bb And Others Available In The Yet To Be Conducted Lectures – These Lectures Are Provided In Draft Form Until The Week Preceding Actual Lecture. The Related Materials Should Be Self-Explanatory. Whenever You Are Citing One Of The Three Required Readings (Or Any Other Reference), Please Be Sure To Include Reference Citation. Some Ideas For Doing A Critical Analysis Here Are Some Ideas From The Source Noted At End Of This Section, To Assist You In Doing A Critical Analysis Of The 3 Readings In Assessment 2: Critical Analysis Involves

1. Carefully considering an idea and weighing up the evidence supporting it to see if it is convincing.
2. Then being able to explain why you find the evidence convincing or unconvincing.

It Helps If You Ask Yourself A Series Of Questions About The Material You Are Reading. Try Using These Questions To Help You Think Critically:

1. Who is the audience and how does that influence the way information is presented?
2. What is the main message of the text?
3. What evidence has been used to support this main message?
4. Is the evidence convincing; are there any counter-arguments?
5. Do I agree with the text and why do I agree or disagree?

• And … be able to say why you agree or disagree,
• And back it up with relevant literature, research etc.

Some Ways To Get More Critical Analysis Into Your Essays

1. Avoid unnecessary description – Work to keeping description (telling what happened) to a minimum and focus on analysis (judging why something happened).
2. Interpret your evidence – explain how and why your evidence supports your point. Interpretation is an important part of critical analysis, and you should not just rely on the evidence "speaking for itself".
3. Be specific - avoid making sweeping generalisations or points that are difficult to support with specific evidence. It is better to be more measured and tie your argument to precise examples or case studies.
4. Use counter-arguments to your advantage – if you find viewpoints that go against your own argument, don't ignore them. It strengthens an argument to include an opposing viewpoint and explain why it is not as convincing as your own line of reasoning.

Source: Http://Www.Reading.Ac.Uk/Internal/Studyadvice/Studyresources/Essays/Sta-Developessay.Aspx#Critical The Three Required Readings You Must Use The Following Readings As The Basis To This Assessment:

1. Germov, J 2014, ‘Imagining health problems as social issues’, in J Germov (ed.), Second opinion: an introduction to health sociology, 5th edn, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, pp. 5-22. [e book version on e-reserve]
2. Thompson, N 2011, Chapter 5: ‘Health and the medicalization of inequality’, in Promoting equality: working with diversity & difference, 3rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan, London.
3. McMurray, A 2003, Chapter 1: ‘The community of the 21st century’, in Community health & wellness: a socioecological  approach (2nd ed), Mosby, Sydney.

The Links To These Readings Are Provided In The Task 2 File In The Assessment Folder On Bb. About The Readings In Relation To The Three Readings, You Need To Provide A Comprehensive Summary But This Does Not Mean You Have To Mention Every Point The Author Makes. In The Lecture Early In Semester I Will Give A Briefing And Also Provide Some Key Concepts For Each Readings Which Should Be Covered. Then You Might Focus On One Or Two Key Arguments By The Author More And Explore These In Some Depth. For Example, In The Thompson (2011) Chapter, After Providing A Comprehensive Summary, You Might Wish To Focus On Gender Inequality And The Health Implications As Thompson Sees It And Augment With Relevant Australian Examples And Further Theoretical Points From Other Sources. But Do Be Careful Not To Spend Too Much Of The Essay On Giving An Example As This May Not Sufficiently Address The Marking Criteria. The Readings Are Quite Different From Each Other And This Could Be A Challenge On Your First Read Of Them. Thompson (2011) Is Quite Complex Theorising Broadly On Health And The Dominance Of The Medical Model. He Is From The UK And So It Is Not Directly Contextualised To Australia. Germov (2014) Provides An Overview And Introduction To The Sociology Of Health And So Goes Less Into Depth But It Is An Australian Text. McMurray (2003) Is Also Australian And Her Chapter Gives Some Ideas That Draw From An Approach Which Is Compatible With The Social Model Of Health. Key Concepts You May Wish To Make Sure You Address Some Of These Concepts Or Aspects Of The Models Of Health –

• Agency versus structure
• The sociological imagination
• The medical model eg the medicalization of inequality; dominant medical discourse
• The social construction of health
• The social determinants of heath
• The social model of health – eg sustainability; heath literacy
• Social injustice/inequality
• Social difference

It Will Not Be Possible To Define And Discuss All These Ideas In Every Way, So Do Think Carefully About What You Think Needs To Be Focused On. There Are Other Ideas Discussed By The Authors You May Wish To Include In Your Essay. Remember The Lecture Notes Have Covered These Ideas As Well. Addressing The Marking Criteria Briefly The Assessment Requires You To:

1. Show you understand the main points of the 3 readings
2. Show you can explore them using critical analysis
3. Present your own thinking that critically focussed, ie questioning approach that is aware of power inequalities …
4. Use at least 3 other references to support your claims
5. Construct an essay according to academic protocols – see detail in Course Outline.

Note: You Will Need To Access Other References From The Course And Elsewhere To Back Up Your Claims About The 3 Required Readings – I.E., At Least 3 References And This Can Include Strong Use Of The Germov (2014) Text. You Can Use Lecture Notes Provided You Adequately Reference Them. If The Lecture Notes Are Quoting Someone You Need To Reference It As Such.