JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW – 1500 words (SOC-2201)

ASSIGNMENT: find an article in a scholarly journal on the topic of a social problem viewed
from the perspective of aging. E.g. seniors and addiction; poverty and the aged; crimes by or
against seniors; elder abuse; etc. etc. Then review the article.

? The topic I have given for the article is quite broad, but should involve something
viewed as problematic or dysfunctional in society, and concern the aged.
?  I have given some suggestions, but as you conduct your researches, you may find
some other kind of social problem concerning the elderly that interests you.
? You must use a scholarly source for your article, not something gleaned, e.g., from the
popular press, a blog, Wikipedia, or the TV.
? If something you find online piques your interest, but is not scholarly, search the
library databases for a fuller treatment of your topic.
? Some sources you may wish to consult include the following University of Winnipeg
online databases and journals:
? Social Sciences Citation Index; Social Services Abstracts; Sociological Abstracts.
? Canadian Journal of Sociology; Gerontology; Gerontology & Geriatrics Education;
Journal of Health & Social Behaviour; Journal of Marriage & the Family; American
Journal of Sociology.
? There are also print copies of these journals available in the library.
? This is not an exhaustive list, but should help to get you started.
? Try and find something reasonably recent, i.e. published since about 2010.
? As we discussed in class, older material is more likely to subscribe to stereotypes
concerning aging, and thus to have been superseded by later research.

YOU MUST ALSO INCLUDE A COPY OF THE ARTICLE WITH YOUR REVIEW, OR I WILL BE
UNABLE TO GRADE YOUR PAPER.

ARTICLE REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS: 

once having found your article, you should start your review by citing the title, author, and other reference information.
The article review itself should consist of four parts:
1. Reason for choosing this article: Why this one?
a. Include a personal reaction to the topic or issue and the article itself here.
2. Summary of the article: Write this immediately after reading your article, when it is
freshest in your mind. Think of it as your ‘impressions’ of what it is about:
a. Do not include massive amounts of detail – this is not a summary.
b. A summary contains a balanced presentation of relevant ideas about the article
so that another person is able to tell what it is about.
c. Depending on the length of the article, anything more than about a page is going
beyond summarizing.
3. Assessment of the article: This is the core of the review. I want you to assess the
article critically, which doesn’t necessarily mean negatively:
a. What did you think of the main theses/purposes of the author?
b. How well did the author state and support their position?
c. What evidence/arguments do they use to do so?
d. What else do you feel needs to be said or examined besides the points the
author made?
e. Are there identifiable paradigms and/or theoretical perspectives being used?
f. How radical – or mainstream – is the assessment?
g. Does the author engage in empathetic analysis?
h. Don’t just give a superficial treatment of plusses or minuses: go into depth.
4. Quotations. As you read the article keep track of statements you find particularly
interesting or meaningful to you:
a. Select four of them and analyze/react to them.