Toward a Paper Steps toward writing up your project

First Step: A Topic Something interesting Something that looks like a social movement Something related to social movements Something that will sustain your interest for fifteen weeks Something that other people (experts, notably, social movement scholars) might find interesting

Step Two: A Question What do want to know? What is the purpose of your research? How will know when you are finished? You need to move from topic to question before you can take advantage of theory or data Because theory and data are only useful in explanation or interpretation

Step Three: A Literature What do the experts have to say – About my topic? – About my question? Do the required reading help? Can I find any scholarly analysis? Are there organizational records or persons I can interview?

Step Five: Organizing Knowing when to stop look for new material Knowing how to focus – This is where questions help – This is where it helps to limit attention to Time Place Actors Actions Specific problems or lessons to be learned

Step Six: Looking for Models Epstein is a good model for analysis of social movements – Historical/theoretical (intro, plus chapters 1 and 7) – Secondary sources: Clamshell and Abalone – Participant Observation: LAG – Topical focus: chapters 5-6