"A social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed" (Pearce 4.4).
Work Cited
Pearce, Elizabeth B. "What is a Social Problem?" Introduction to Human Services 2e. E-book, Open Oregon (n.d.), 4.4, https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/introhumanservices2e/chapter/4-4-what-is-a-social-problem/
Brainstorm the causes and effects of a local social problem. These are some suggestions but you are not limited to these ideas:
women's rights
intellectual freedom
book banning
hunger
education
housing
transportation
conservation
environmentalism
misinformation/disinformation
healthcare
euthanasia
food desert/access to healthy food
cycle of poverty
elderly needs
inequality
lack of infrastructure
the government
mental health
PTSD
politics
recycling
etc.
Now, think of synonymous terms for your topic and combine them with OR. Wikipedia may be helpful for finding terms. Use quotation marks to keep phrases together. Here are some examples:
homelessness OR unhoused OR "housing first"
poverty OR poor OR "low income" OR "low socioeconomic status" OR "low SES"
"public transportation" OR Citrus Connection
___
And now consider the geography, both local Polk County and throughout Florida. For example:
"Polk County" OR Lakeland OR "Winter Haven"
Florida OR Orlando OR Jacksonville OR Miami
-----
Lastly, organize the two ideas in parenthesis and combine with AND. For example, if I was doing a local newspaper search on homelessness, I might focus geographically on local areas:
(homelessness OR unhoused OR "housing first") AND ("Polk County" OR Lakeland OR "Winter Haven")
If the search is in a database for journal articles, like Academic Search Complete, it might be helpful to search for anything pertaining to Florida, so I might search:
(homelessness OR unhoused OR "housing first") AND (Florida OR Orlando OR Jacksonville OR Miami)
You must log in to use library databases and eBooks. When prompted to log in, enter your Passport credentials.
If you have trouble, try resetting your Passport pin, sending an email to HelpDeskRequests@polk.edu, or calling the Help Desk at 863.292.3652.
You can also get help from Ask a Librarian.
Newspaper sources: (search for your issue and how it relates to poverty). You can also do a separate search for your organization and the work they do regarding poverty.
How to cite a newspaper article in MLA format (Article in a Newspaper)
Journals/Magazines: (these are good for getting an overview of your topic)
Linking to your ChatGPT conversation
You will need to create a free account in ChatGPT in order to share a link to your past conversation. If you do not wish to do this, please talk with your professor for an alternative means of showing your conversation (perhaps through a screenshot).
1. Make sure you are signed in to ChatGPT
2. Click on "Share" in the upper right corner
3. A pop-up will appear titled "Share public link to chat." Click on "Create link"
Note: Conversation added after the link is created will not be shared via this link. If you add conversation and wish to include it, click on "Share" again to create a new link.
In-text citation example: To begin research for this paper, ChatGPT was consulted to gather synonymous terms for the cycle of poverty ("Synonymous terms").
Works Cited Template (without handing indent)
"Description of prompt" prompt. AITool in Italics, name version, company that made tool, content generation date. Exact/general URL.
Works Cited Example (without handing indent)
"Synonymous terms for the cycle of poverty" prompt. ChatGPT, GPT-4 version, OpenAI, 20 Nov. 2024, chatgpt.com/share/673df117-e04c-800e-842a-678e9a237e56.
Step 1: Understand the assignment
Step 2: Select your topic (or use the one assigned to you)
Step 3: Initial planning, investigation, and outlining
Step 4: Accumulate Research
Step 5: Make a final outline to guide writing
Step 6: Write the paper
Step 7: Revise and Proofread