The Journey of the PIPIt’s time to get ready...

What is the PIP?

A PERSONAL Interest project - it has to be about something that is personally important to you

Your opportunity to explore a social issue, problem or phenomenon that affects you

Relevant to the Society and Culture course - in particular the HSC concepts and topics

NOT an opportunity to ‘soapbox’ or proselytise

NOT a cheap current affairs show

What sort of Topic?

P for Personal - very important

Something you’re interested in - you’re stuck with it for almost a year

Start with a broad idea or topic and narrow it down

Should have both a macro and a micro element

Contained - remember you will have other tasks and projects to worry about!

So what?

What’s required?

A clear topic, question, hypothesis or focus

The application of appropriate methodologies

A cross-cultural perspective - a perspective different to your own

A continuity and change component - past, present, future

A range of relevant course concepts

What gets handed in?

Introduction - 500 words

Log - 500 words (based on your PIP Diary)

Central Material - 2500 to 4000 words

Conclusion - 500 words

Annotated Resource List

OPTIONAL: Appendix

What’s the Process?

Step One: Finding a topic - Beginning of Term 4

Step Two: Secondary research - Throughout Term 4

State Library, University Libraries, online journals and databases - ACADEMIC work

Step Three: Primary research - generally 3 to 5 methodologies

Step Four: Analysing your primary data AS YOU GO

Step Five: Drafting, editing, re-drafting etc - this stage takes weeks for a top PIP!

How do I do all that?

Stick to your deadlines!

We will give you a PIP timeline

Some aspects mandatory but you must keep on top of it too

Keep your PIP diary up to date

Just do it. Don’t stuff around!

40%

Think of a broad topic area you’re interested in

Create a mind-map of your interests, passions, skills etc

Things that make you upset, sad, happy

Topic Choice: Step 1

Topic Choice: Step 2

Are there any common themes in your mindmap?

Some might be:

Feminism - still relevant to young women?

Discrimination - why does it happen?

Justice - do people care about the rights of others?

All okay but very MACRO - need to find a MICRO focus

Topic Choice: Step 3

Look at your micro world and see how you can narrow your topic using your own personal experience

EG: is feminism relevant to the girls in my peer group? Why or why not?

Topic Choice: Step 4

Is your topic idea researchable? Can you conduct both primary and secondary research?

What methodologies might you use?

Can’t think of any? Probably not a good PIP topic!

Think about your assets. Do you know any experts? Can you travel to different locations?

Topic Choice: Step 6

The additional components:

Cross-cultural: eg, environment, gender, socioeconomic group, ethnicity

Continuity and Change: how have things changed over time? What might the future hold?

Eg, comparison of attitudes towards feminism in country/city, comparing the 80s to today

Checklist

What concepts are related to your topic? Make a mind-map!

Originality?

What do you want to learn about this that will contribute to your S&C knowledge? Why will the marker care?

Is it analytical or descriptive? Are you looking at a ‘snapshot’ of an issue (weaker) or the reasons why it happens, or the effects of it (stronger)

Your Homework

Get a PIP Diary

Establish PIP folders on your computer

Set up a back-up system - buy an external hard drive

Google

Use sites like: www.salon.com, www.smh.com.au, Online Opinion, The Guardian online, etc

Work through these steps then start Secondary research!