a synthesis and critical and
comparative analysis of your 5 articles. Another way of saying this is that you are showing the
reader that you comprehend the complexity of the research and can engage with it in a thoughtful
manner. You need to develop connections across your 5 articles without resorting to merely
summarizing each article. The objective of the paper is to analyze the topic from a sociological
perspective by drawing on sociological research. What does sociological research have to say
about your topic? The following are suggestions for what you might want to discuss in your
paper.
Comparisons across 5 articles in relation to:
Central research questions pursued by researchers and significance of the questions
Key findings (Address complexity here; avoid temptation to simplify findings)
Theoretical approaches (Differences in theoretical approaches taken by the various
researchers studying your topic)
Methodological approaches (i.e., How might differences in methodology or sampling
impact the findings?)
Policy Implications (i.e., How might you explain variation in policy suggestions made by
researchers studying the same topic?)
Directions for future research (these should be grounded in the findings of your studies)