05.24.10
A Case Study of Migrant Workers in the Chinese Hairstyling Industry (My grad school writing sample)
As most readers know, this past winter I went through the process of applying to Sociology PhD programs. One requirement for all applications was a writing sample, preferably of an academic paper. Looking back through my files from undergrad years, I realized that most of what I had written back when I was in college (I graduated in 2003) wouldn’t suffice for the type of grad programs I was applying to. Since I wanted to focus my graduate studies on the urbanization of China, and to do so using ethnographic field methods, I decided to write a paper from scratch based on my experiences working in a Chinese barbershop. Now that the process is over, I’ve put the paper online in PDF format. You can access it at the link below. If anybody has any trouble viewing the file, please send me a note in the comments section.
http:/www.benross.net/images/blog%20images/10-05-24_essay/making_the_cut.pdf
Nicole Drew
said,
May 24, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Ben!
You have a typo: the last word of your first paragraph should be “consent,” not “concent.”
That’s as far as I’ve gotten. Looking forward to reading the rest!
I enjoyed following your project back when you were in the midst of it.
Jussi Määttä
said,
May 25, 2010 at 9:29 am
Maybe it wouldn’t fit the style and purpose of your paper, but I’d really like to see all these Chinese words in hanzi as well.
Shaosen
said,
May 26, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Interesting paper – was fascinating to read your blogs about your time in the barbershop and this is a good summary. In terms of constructive criticism – I wasn’t a sociology or anthropology major but I would have expected more of an introduction to China’s floating population and urban migration, on which there must be a lot of published research. Similarly, there could have been more analysis in the conclusion linking back to other published works – and the issue of Adam dealing with snakeheads could lead to another paper altogether. On a more pedantic note, mop was mispelt as mob, but not sure exactly where.
Alicica
said,
June 4, 2010 at 9:52 am
Great paper written.
so the main part is the hukou policy in China? maybe you can write more on Hukou, like the exact criteria for apllying a city-hukou.
i admire your devotion for the paper like working there for a month:)
ML
said,
June 17, 2010 at 3:35 pm
good for you….always knew you’d go back to school some day…but 5 years? wow~~~….glad to know that summer in 2007 paid off though. Keep up the good work.
Yang
said,
June 22, 2010 at 9:07 am
Really a good paper.
In fact, the goal of work or life is confusing for many chinese young. This month I will gradute from university and become a ‘worker ‘in the bank, but I am the same with ‘little brother and little sisiter’ in some point. We are confused in this society.