This handout introduces you to the wonderful world of writing sociology. In many ways, good sociological writing is just like any other piece of good prose. The basic elements of effective writing--introducing your subject and developing a clear argument, incorporating evidence effectively, organizing and linking individual paragraphs into a coherent whole-are important no matter what the discipline. The discussion that follows assumes that you have some command of these basic writing skills. If not, please feel free to consult our other helpful handouts on these subjects. But before you can write a clear and coherent sociology paper, you need a firm understanding of the assumptions and expectations of the discipline. You need to know your audience, the way they view the world and how they order and evaluate information. So, without further ado, let's figure out just what sociology is, and how one goes about writing it. All the relevant issues on sociology are given broad canvas in this book.
