Referenced Accordingly Using Apa Narrative Resear
Research Essay Instructions:
Your essay is worth 25% of your final grade. Your assignment must be between 8-10 pages
in length double-spaced, including references. Your paper must have 1-inch margins, with 12-point Times New Roman
Font, and have a title page with your name, essay title, course code, and tutorial leader’s name. All material must be
referenced accordingly using APA formatting. You are also required to include the list of questions used to guide your
interview. Your paper must have a clear thesis and should have at least five references from the course material.
The main point of departure for this assignment are assigned readings and lecture material. You are, of course,
welcome to use outside materials but please remember to use PEER-REVIEWED articles from reputable
journals. Google and Wikipedia are not the place to begin this essay, the library (and your librarian) is, in addition
to research databases like: sociological Abstracts; Social Sciences Index; Sociology Database; Social Sciences
Abstracts; Web of Science; JSTOR; Proquest; Scopus; Scholar’s Portal and others.
Research Essay Question:
1. There are two elements to this assignment. The first part is an oral labour history where you will interview an older family
member or friend (preferably someone 60+ years of age) about their labour market history and experiences. As part of this
project you are required to come up with a list of at least 10 questions that probes the ways in which a single life story can
be used imaginatively to convey wider societal phenomena and change. It is highly recommended that, with the permission
of your interviewee, you take notes and audio record your discussion so that you can listen to your interview afterwards and
ask any follow-up questions.
This leads to the second part of this assignment which connects this working life experience to contemporary labour market
issues, structural changes and concepts that we have been discussing throughout this course. In other words, what is the
connection between the lived experiences of the interviewee and present issues of work, politics, class, gender and race
relations, economics, environment and more? Your are welcome to integrate photos, maps and any other visual aids in your
assignment should you find it beneficial. In this regard, it is perhaps worthwhile quoting the words of scholar Jean Stubbs
who noted: “To tell one’s story is not only to talk and remember but to reconstruct the meaning of the past from the viewpoint
of the present and give meaning to the past in a way that has meaning for the present.”
Class materials:
We talk about labor relations in Canada, such as living wages, gig economy, democracy economy market, the rag trade as the Canary in the Coal Mine, the Cambodia’s Garment Industry, family finance: classes, gender and fragility, Janitors and Sweatshop Citizenship in Canada, Labour Migration and Temporary Work: Canada’s Foreign-Worker Programs in the New Economy, The Right to Work, and the Right at Work, Social responsibility, The High Costs of Low Corporate Taxes, and political economy.