Introduction, Thesis Statement, and Annotated Bibliography

Prepare: Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review the

Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.)

and

Annotated Bibliography (Links to an external site.)

web pages, and

Evaluating Sources (Links to an external site.)

and Annotated Bibliography (Links to an external site.) tutorials.

Reflect: Reflect back on the Week 1 discussion in which you shared with the class the global societal issue that you would like to further address. Explore critical insights that were shared by your peers and/or your instructor on the topic chosen and begin your search for scholarly sources with those insights in mind.

Write: For this assignment, review the

Annotated Bibliography Formatting Guidelines

and address the following prompts:

• Introductory paragraph to topic (refer to the Final Paper guidelines for your topic selection).

  Write an introductory paragraph with at least 150 words that clearly explains the topic, the importance of further research, and ethical implications.

• Thesis statement.

  Write a direct and concise thesis statement, which will become the solution to the problem that you will argue or prove in the Week 5 Final Paper. (A thesis statement should be a concise, declarative statement. The thesis statement must appear at the end of the introductory paragraph.)

• Annotated bibliography.

  Develop an annotated bibliography to indicate the quality of the sources you have read.
  Summarize in your own words how the source contributes to the solution of the global societal issue for each annotation.
  Address fully the purpose, content, evidence, and relation to other sources you found on this topic (your annotation should be one to two paragraphs long—150 words or more.
  Include no less than five scholarly sources in the annotated bibliography that will be used to support the major points of the Final Paper.
  Demonstrate critical thinking skills by accurately interpreting evidence used to support various positions of the topic.

The Introduction, Thesis Statement, and Annotated Bibliography

• Must be 1,000 to 1,250 words in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.) resource. 
• Must include a separate title page with the following:

  Title of paper
  Student’s name
  Course name and number
  Instructor’s name
  Date submitted

• For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must use at least five scholarly sources.

  The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for an assignment. The Integrating Research (Links to an external site.) tutorial will offer further assistance with including supporting information and reasoning.

• Must document in APA style any information used from sources, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper.

Runninghead: FINAL PAPER TOPIC 1

FINAL PAPER TOPIC 4

Final Paper Topic: Unemployment and lack of economic opportunity

Student name

University

Final Paper Topic: Unemployment and lack of economic opportunity

Effective methods I used in identifying and narrowing down to just one topic for the final paper

In order to identify the topic that I will research further for the final paper, I first skimmed through the given issues. This helped me pinpoint an issue that is not too broad to sufficiently address within the allowed time and space. I chose a single aspect/lens through which I looked at the research issue. Another method through which I chose the issue to research is by determining if it can be broken down into simpler components. A topic that can be broken further into various parts is not narrow enough to be researched.

Three ways to critically analyze sources to determine if they are scholarly

One criterion used in determining if a source is scholarly is authors. Scholarly sources often have the names of the author(s) alongside their credentials and the relevance of their qualifications in the information contained in the source. This helps one to decide if the authors have authority in the subject and can be relied upon. Another way to determine a source’s authenticity is by assessing the publisher. Scholarly sources are usually published by academic institutions, scholarly journals, and professional organizations, among others. A third way to determine if a source is scholarly is to look at the audience. Scholarly sources are normally written in a language that is targeted at people who have knowledge in that particular discipline rather than using a language that is for all and sundry.

Summaries from two scholarly journal articles

Vancea and Utzet (2016) investigated the effects of unemployment and working in uncertain employment conditions affect young people. These researchers found out that the youth are vulnerable to health issues when they are either unemployed or when working in uncertain employment conditions. They suggested that this vulnerability can be addressed by introducing active programs for labor markets and training, using all-encompassing social security measures, and improving working conditions (Vancea & Utzet, 2017).

A paper by Pohlan (2019) assessed how job loss possibly causes social exclusion. The author established that job loss has harmful effects on an individual’s mental health, life satisfaction, access to economic resources, and perception of social integration (Pohlan, 2019). She further asserts that these effects are enduring and become more intense when the unemployment duration is long irrespective of whether the person gets another job (Pohlan, 2019).

Why scholarly sources should be used to support writing on the selected topic

Using scholarly sources to support writing is important because it helps give the paper a sense of credibility and substance. Information contained in scholarly articles is accurate and trustworthy because it is written by experts who have authority in the field. Further, such sources are usually reviewed by peers who are well versed in the respective subjects. Scholarly articles can be depended upon because they are made up of first reports of fresh research, thus making their methodology, analysis of data, and results interpretation primary sources.

References
Pohlan, L. (2019). Unemployment and social exclusion. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. Volume 164., 273-299.
Vancea, M., & Utzet, M. (2017). How unemployment and precarious employment affect the health of young people: A scoping study on social determinants. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2017; 45, 73–84.