Here Is Where You Give a Concise Statement About

This coming week will be given over to the SECOND PRESENTATION of your projects. I’ve already given you guidelines on what you need to be doing. If you are using a powerpoint, may I suggest you arrive early to the classroom to load it up, which will save time during class time. If you have a handout, make sure you have it ready to distribute. Please also email your powerpoint or handout to me directly, so I can read it.

If you have questions and concerns about how your project is going, please email me ASAP. I am still able to consult and advise from off-campus.

The final project will be in the form of a paper, not a blog post. Here is the requirement, in detail:

Length:8 to 10 pages, double spaced, 10 or 12pt font, 1 inch margins (I’m not going to nitpick this but regard this as a general guideline as to how to format your paper).

Outline:1. Introduction and overview

Here is where you give a concise statement about

a. the problem you decided to tackle

b. your main findings

c. the significance of anthropology for understanding and solving the problem at issue. This is where you can include comments on theory. I don’t recommend you get deep into the weeds on theory, since the goal of the assignment is to work up something that could be read and absorbed by a non-anthropologist. However, if there is a clear body of theory that contributes to your conclusion, please do cite it here.

2. Review the secondary source material you used. This does not mean you list and describe what the secondary sources say, but rather identify the angle that each takes on the problem you are interested in, and highlight that. Be clear as to which sources are the most useful to YOU in pursuing this project.

3. Review the primary source data you collected. Describe what you did, how you did it, give numbers of interviewees, sources etc. etc. Attach interview questions and raw results as addenda at the end of the paper.

4. Review your findings. Sum up what you learned from the combined secondary and primary source data. Did the primary source data complement or confirm the secondary sources? Did it contradict them? What were the MAIN insights that you gained from doing this project?

5. Conclusion and review

Here is where you pull everything together.

a. Make a comprehensive statement that specifically links the project problem with the research you did.

b. What could additional anthropological research tell us about the problem you’re tackling? What other studies could or should be done?

c. How does this example illustrate more generally how anthropology casts light on important issues in the contemporary world?

Note: It’s important to distinguish between your introductory statement and your concluding statement. In your introduction you tell the reader what the problem is, and you refer specifically to the findings that illuminate the problem. In the conclusion, you state these TOGETHER. Here is an model (note that this is not an endorsement of anything, it’s just something I made up):

Introduction

Sleep deprivation is the cause of industrial accidents, road fatalities and poor general health. Ensuring that people get adequate rest is key to preventing these tragedies. The anthropological literature shows that uninterrupted nighttime sleep is not a human universal. Despite not having uninterrupted sleep at night, people do not always demonstrate the kinds of problems that sleep deprivation leads to. This suggests that quality of sleep, and frequent sleep events, may be as significant as quantity of sleep. Interviews with subjects about their sleep habits and wakefulness supports the proposition that uninterrupted sleep is not a reasonable goal in solving the problems of sleep deprivation, and may be causing more stress to people struggling with difficulties sleeping. This paper will argue for the relevance of cross-cultural research, open-ended interviews, and evolutionary anthropological theory to solving the problem of sleep deprivation.

Conclusion

Anthropology directs us to rethink the need for uninterrupted nighttime sleep as the only solution to problems of sleep deprivation. Cross-cultural studies demonstrate that humans do not always need uninterrupted nighttime sleep to function adequately. Instead, periods of sleep associated with periods of wakefulness tend to be common at night. Interview subjects described the difficulties they had with getting continuous sleep and the stress that came from nighttime waking, thinking that this is abnormal. More anthropological studies can be done to reveal the actual sleep habits of subjects, how they deal with sleep deprivation, and the stresses associated with it. Ideally, anthropology can help improve sleep interventions by helping doctors recognize the variability of healthy sleep patterns among humans.