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Journal Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the journal as a written medium. For other uses, see Journal (disambiguation). A journal (through French from late Latin diurnalis, daily) has several related meanings: • • •

a daily record of events or business; a private journal is usually referred to as a diary. a newspaper or other periodical, in the literal sense of one published each day; many publications issued at stated intervals, such as magazines, or scholarly academic journals, or the record of the transactions of a society, are often called journals. Although journal is sometimes used as a synonym for "magazine," in academic use, a journal refers to a serious, scholarly publication, most often peer-reviewed. A nonscholarly magazine written for an educated audience about an industry or an area of professional activity is usually called a professional magazine.

The word "journalist" for one whose business is writing for the public press has been in use since the end of the 17th century. Public journal "Journal" is also applied to the record, day by day, of the business and proceedings of a public body: •

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The journals of the British Houses of Parliament contain an official record of the business transacted day by day in either house. The record does not take note of speeches, though some of the earlier volumes contain references to them. The journals are a lengthened account written from the "Votes and Proceedings" (in the House of Lords called "Minutes of Proceedings"), made day by day by the Clerks at the Table, and printed on the responsibility of the Clerk of the House. In the Commons the Votes and Proceedings, but not the Journal, bear the Speaker's signature in fulfilment of a former order that he should "peruse" them before publication. The journals of the British House of Commons begin in the first year of the reign of Edward VI in 1547, and are complete, except for a short interval under Elizabeth I. Those of the House of Lords date from the first year of Henry VIII in 1509. Before that date the proceedings in parliament were entered in the rolls of parliament, which extend from 1278 to 1503. The journals of the Lords are "records" in the judicial sense, those of the Commons are not (see Erskine May, Parliamentary Practice, 1906, pp. 201-202). Section 5 of Article I of the United States Constitution requires the Congress of the United States to keep a journal of its proceedings. This journal, the Congressional Record is published by the Government Printing Office.

Journals of this sort are also often referred to as minutes or gazettes. In some countries, the publication in the official journal is a condition for the law to come into effect (know as publication in the official journal) and it is released in the public domain.

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How to Write a Sociological Research Methods Paper v1.0 Donnell Butler Princeton University This document is simply a preliminary guide for those who feel completely lost regarding how to write a research paper. It's preliminary because it is the first draft of the first version of "How to Write a Research Methods Paper", and so it by no means includes everything it could. Moreover, it is not as polished (grammatically, stylistically, etc.) as it could be. It is a guide, because you should feel free to (and may need to) deviate from the suggestions offered here in order to best present your paper. At the present time, this preliminary guide is meant solely as a guide for those students taking Sociology 301 with preceptor Donnell Butler. Therefore, I will not be discussing issues related to any audience (or reader) other than myself. If you are not using this guide as a student taking Sociology 301 with preceptor Donnell Butler, then you may find that your target audience and expectations differ from those addressed in this guide. I advise you to read the book, "The Craft of Research" by Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams for a more general and thorough guide to writing any type of research paper, report, or book. I The Format • Font: Times New Roman 12 or Courier New 10 or Arial 12 • Margins: 1" (inch) top and bottom, 1.25" (inches) left and right • From Edge Header and Footer: 0.5" (inch) • Pages should be numbered (page # of pages preferred, but not required) • Section breaks, if desired, but not required. • 15-20 pages of written text. All items in the appendices are not included in the page totals. • I strongly suggest that you make an appointment to the writing center, get a draft down in time for your appointment, and then take the draft to the writing center for feedback.

II Sections – in general: Remember this is a guide, and so certain section may not be relevant for you and perhaps others not stated here are relevant. • Topic (Introduction) • Research Problem (Research Question) • Literature Review (Past Theoretical Explanations) • Hypothesis (Hypotheses) • Conceptualization o Conceptual or Nominal Definitions of Dependent Variable(s) o Conceptual or Nominal Definitions of Independent Variable(s) • Operationalization o Operational Definitions of Dependent Variable(s) o Operational Definitions of Independent (or explanatory) Variable(s) • Unit of Analysis • Research Design (Research Methods) o Time Dimension o Mode of Observation o Method for Establishing Causation • Sample • Findings (Analysis and Interpretation) o Descriptive (or Univariate) Statistics o Bivariate Statistics o Multivariate Statistics o Interpretation of Key Results • Summary and Conclusions • Bibliography (Reference List) • Appendices o Tables, Graphs, Charts o Endnotes and other written text o Printout of data IV Final Thoughts: You now have a roadmap a toolkit to writing a well-structured paper, that addresses all of the pertinent questions that a reader of a research paper would ask and should ask. You should consider using this when judging papers research papers that you write and read. I would also suggest reviewing Babbies's "Consumer's Guide to Social Research on page 493. A well-written and wellstructured paper that addresses all of the aforementioned questions can easily overcome bad or uninteresting data. Show me that you have a breadth of understanding of what we learned in this course. The conclusion is an excellent opportunity to score points by intelligently describing to me the flaws and weaknesses in the methods related to your study, and how if given ample money and time, you could design an even stronger methodologically sound research project to address the original research question. Good Luck, and an example of a research methods proposal using the steps from TOPIC to SAMPLE can be found on our blackboard course website in GROUPS -> Wednesday's Precept  Group Discussion Board ->

 The Sociological Research Methods Paper folder.

How to Write A Journal I. Why Write A Good Journal? The journal is probably the most important assignment. Unfortunately, it is the assignment that people neglect the most. The journal constitutes 20% of your grade; a bad journal can have great impact. But the journal influences your grade in many more subtle ways. The better your journal, the easier your other assignments will be and, in most cases, the higher your paper grades will turn out. Why does the journal have such a large impact of your work? (1) The journal lowers stress. The journal is important because it is a rehearsal for your other papers. It allows you to think about the material in advance and to begin to develop an understanding, an interpretation, an opinion, and a criticism of the material long before you sit and write your papers. This will help to make the first draft of your paper easier to write and as a result, it will significantly lower your the stress-level. Philosophy papers can be overwhelming, and not understanding the material makes the assignment even more difficult. By writing about the material in advance, you will have a better idea of how to start. (2) The journal increases sophistication. The "rehearsal" aspect of the journal will allow you to present a better discussion of the issues and arguments. It allows you to become familiar with the texts and issues and this allows you to look deeper into the philosophical issues. When you think about interpretation and criticism in advance, you already start to develop your own ideas even if you are unaware of it. You can reference your journals in order to remind you of your initial thoughts. (3) The journal saves time. Many students regard the journal as incredibly time-consuming. However, in reality, the journal saves time because it provides a library of summaries and criticism which you cash use to start your papers. What are the major delays in paper writing? First, many people have to re-read part or all of the text because they don't remember the main points or the argument. Second, people have to struggle to understand that which they thought they could put on paper. Third, often underestimate how difficult it is to summarize and criticize. A journal cuts much of that time. Since you can use your journal entries in your papers, you can develop the framework of your first draft with only minimal cutting and pasting. You can use the journal summaries as the beginning of your paper

summaries, and use your criticism to jump-start your paper as as well. Those students who are genuinely conscientious about their journals have told me time and time again that the papers are not nearly as difficult or overwhelming as they would be had they not written their journal. II. What Are the Parts of the Journal? The journal is divided into two parts: a summary and a commentary. The minimum requirement for the journal is one full page, but you will most likely discover that as you progress in the course, the journals will become longer. Many people regularly submit journals that are between two and three pages pages long, but do keep in mind that this is larger than required. The summary section of the journal should answer several important questions. First, what is the main point of the essay? In other words, why is the philosopher writing this particular piece? What problem is he or she trying to solve? And, what conclusions did he or she arrive at? This section is best placed in the opening paragraph of the journal entry. Second, what is the argument of the essay? The argument presented must be different from the conclusion. the conclusion tells the reader what the philosopher is trying to prove, but the argument explains the reasons for the conclusion -- it is that part of the essay in which the philosopher tries to convince the reader that the essay's conclusion is correct. The philosopher will cite evidence and put forth explanations. In the journal, you should summarize the main points in this section. The summary section should contain one or two quotes from the text that you think are important enough to represent the entire text. When completing the summary, ask yourself: "Did I list the main point of the essay?" and, "Is this enough information that when I need to write a paper, the journal will remind me of the essential information?" Keep in mind, summaries are difficult and require practice. It takes some time to learn how to condense large amounts of information into a few paragraphs. The commentary, or "opinion" section of the essay should follow the summary section. It should contain your evaluation of the conclusion and the argument. Do you agree with the conclusion? Why or why not? Do you think the argument presented supports the philosopher's conclusion? Why or why not. It is very important that you justify your opinion. It is not enough to indicate that you agree or disagree with the philosopher, you must explain why you agree or disagree. The journal is that place in which you can explore your ideas and initial thoughts regarding the essay. Don't be afraid to be critical, and don't be afraid to try new

ideas. Feel free to include personal commentary. If an example from your own life will help to explain your feeling on the essay, include it. Remember, the more interesting the journal is for you to write, the more interesting it is for me to read. III. Sample journals. Below, you will find a sample journal. It is not based on a philosophical text, but I think it will be helpful to show you what I expect out of each entry. The right column has the actual text, whereas the left column describes what I am doing in the journal and why.