The first step in the fact sheet project will be a topic proposal. The project proposal will contain the following components: 

· A description of your topic – what have you selected, why is it important? Remember this must be focused on women’s health. 

· Identify at least three ways that your women’s health issue is related to social factors – how is this health problem bigger than just an individual problem? 

· Indicate two to three questions you would ultimately like to answer about this topic in the fact sheet. 

· Identify at least two possible sources (either scholarly journal articles or government websites) to be used for the fact sheet. Please provide a brief summary (a paragraph) of the types of information that these sources will provide for the project. 

Fact Sheet Project

Soc 423: Women, Health, and Healing

Fall 2020

You have learned a great deal in this course about women’s health. In this assignment, you will have an opportunity to introduce a women’s health topic/issue to the public and explain why they should care. For this assignment you will need to carefully consider everything that you have learned and how you would explain your topic to someone who does not have a sociology/inequality/women’s health background.

Fact sheets are designed to provide a summary of important data, research, facts, and information related to your women’s health issue. Keep in mind that this is a sociology class with a focus on gender and health – the projects should be oriented around thinking about how health is impacted by social factors/social systems. Victim-blaming/person blame approach is not appropriate for this assignment. We want to be sure to use our sociological imaginations.

The fact sheet will be 3 pages in length (not including the reference page), single spaced, 12- point font, and 1” margins. The design of the fact sheet is flexible as long as the required elements (see below) are present. Your challenge is to make something that is easy for anyone to follow, visually appealing, and creative.

Your fact sheet should contain a minimum of 10 research sources, 5 of which must be scholarly journals (e.g. Gender & Society, Social Science & Medicine, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, etc). The additional 5 sources must come from government websites or other reputable sources. Please email me for pre-approval of reputable websites that are not government websites (end in .gov). Non-government sites that are not approved will not be counted to towards your required 10 sources. Websites such as Wikipedia, WebMD, About.com, etc. are not peer reviewed or even necessarily reliable and will not be accepted for this project. All sources must be published within the last 5 years. All sources should be cited using ASA format. Go to

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/asa_style/references_page_formatting.html

and

https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/documents/teaching/pdfs/Quick_Tips_for_ASA_Style

for ASA style guides.

The fact sheets will include the following components[footnoteRef:1]: [1: If you feel that these three components do not fit your topic for some reason and would like to propose an alternative section for the fact sheet, you can email the instructor for approval. If requesting a change to the three main components, please provide rationale as to why you are asking for this change to the assignment. ]

1) Facts and trends – include the latest information and statistical trends related to your topics.

· Facts and trends should be up to date and provide a general overview of the prevalence, incidence, and/or impact of the groups topic in the U.S. This is the most substantive part of the fact sheet

2) Issues and perspectives – include relevant issues related to your topic.

· It is important to include different perspectives and opposing viewpoints if relevant.

· Present perspectives as viewpoints rather than facts.

3) National, State, and Local resources – Include a list of resources where a reader can find additional information on your topic. Please note that the sources included here should not be counted as part of your 10 sources unless you also use them somewhere else in the fact sheet.

Examples of fact sheets are posted online. In addition, during week four of our course (September 21-27, 2020) we will have a class discussion forum to have your questions regarding the fact sheet project answered. You are not required to participate in this discussion, but I encourage you to ask any questions that you might have, as well as review the questions of your classmates regarding the fact sheet project. I will review and respond to questions in this class discussion daily during the week four of our course.

Fact Sheet Topic Proposal – Due: Friday, February 12, 2021 (5 points)

The first step in the fact sheet project will be a topic proposal that is due on Friday, February 12, 2021 by the end of the day (11:59 p.m.). The project proposal will contain the following components:

· A description of your topic – what have you selected, why is it important? Remember this must be focused on women’s health.

· Identify at least three ways that your women’s health issue is related to social factors – how is this health problem bigger than just an individual problem?

· Indicate two to three questions you would ultimately like to answer about this topic in the fact sheet.

· Identify at least two possible sources (either scholarly journal articles or government websites) to be used for the fact sheet. Please provide a brief summary (a paragraph) of the types of information that these sources will provide for the project.

Fact Sheet Rough Draft to be Peer Reviewed – Due: Friday, March 26, 2021 by the end of the day (11:59 p.m.).

Peer Review Assessments – Due: Friday, April 2, 2021 by the end of the day (10 points)

Once the full draft is completed, we will be participating in a peer-review component of this fact-sheet project. Peer review can help us in several ways – Receiving feedback on our writing can provide us with insightful feedback and help us develop stronger work. Reviewing the work of others can also help us clarify or encourage us to think more flexibly about our own writing. Finally, providing peer review and receiving feedback on our work are excellent skills that many of us may find useful in the paid labor force where co-workers are encouraged to collaborate on projects.

Full details for the peer-review component of this fact sheet project will be provided in a separate document.

Final Fact Sheet Project – Due: By the end of the day (11:59) April 16, 2021

(50 points)

Organization and Clarity (10 points)

· Document is well-organized, easy to read, and free of grammatical and spelling errors.

· Three pages in length, excluding references. Please include page numbers.

· The paper should be typed, single-spaced, 12-point font, and 1” margins.

· Document is visually interesting.

· Information is communicated effectively to a general audience.

· Document avoids biased language.

Fact Sheet Content (35 points)

· The majority of the points are allocated to the actual content of the fact sheet. Students should have a developed, well-researched fact-sheet that provides a thorough examination of their topic.

· The fact sheet content will include the required three components

· Facts and trends (15 points)

· Issues and perspectives (10 points)

· National, state, and local resources (10 points)

Citations/References (5 points)

· Includes at least 10 current references (published within the last 5 years). Five of these references should be from scholarly academic journals, while an additional five should be from government or other reputable websites. Again, if using a website that is not a government site (ends in .gov), please email Dr. Slauson-Blevins for approval.

· Appropriate use of ASA citation style in the fact sheet as well as in the references. ASA style guidelines can be found at: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/asa_style/references_page_formatting.html