Sociology SOCI

The research process

1. Begin by defining exactly what you are searching for
2. Get background information from handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries
3. Be specific when determining search terms: synonyms/antonyms
4. Use Boolean Operators to connect search terms by understanding how search engines operate
5. Once your topic is narrowly defined, select databases to find specific articles that have been published in journals
6. Use the advanced interface of electronic databases and Internet search engines to help narrow your search. Limit to: specific field (article, book, conference proceeding, newspapers, video); full-text or peer reviewed journals only
7. Find books on your topic to gain greater depth and understanding
8. Films and Videos and Images are non-literary forms of representation
9. Take notes during your research to keep track of where you have been, keywords searched, what worked and what didn't, etc. You may consider using Microsoft OneNote or free software for note-taking such as Evernote
10. Write down or store all the references you have consulted to include them in the bibliography of your research paper

Sources​ of information

Publication Cycle: to find primary and secondary sources of information, use tertiary sources of information: dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks. When a researcher publishes material, they follow the cycle clockwise. To find primary and secondary sources, follow the cycle anti clockwise.

FAQ

1. Brainstorm for the Essay (UNC at Chapel Hill)
2. Conducting a Literature Review (CUL) see rubric (internet)
3. Google search secrets / Christa Burns and Michael P. Sauers (CUL electronic resource)
4. Library research (CUL)
5. Office of Student Affairs (Carleton University)
6. Paul Menton Centre (Carleton University)
7. Thesaurus (internet)
8. Wellness - Current Students (Carleton University)
9. Writing an Annotated Bibliography (CUL) see rubric (internet)
10. Writing an Outline for your essay (CUL) see rubric (internet)

Online journals

• by 'Subject'

Databases

• tagged 'Sociology'
• by 'Type'
• OMNI: the Carleton University Library search interface

Other suggested databases

1. Academic OneFile: A multidisciplinary database providing access to journals on a wide range of topics.
2. Annual Reviews: Provides access to review articles in the Biomedical, Life, Physical, and Social Sciences.
3. Anthropology Plus: Formed by merging Anthropological Literature (from Harvard University) and Anthropological Index (from the Royal Anthropological Institute from the UK)
4. AnthroSource: Current issues and archives for over 30 of the AAA's most critical peer-reviewed publications including American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist, Anthropology and Education Quarterly, Medical Anthropology.
5. CPI.Q: Contains citations to Canadian English and French language journals.
6. Ebsco databases: Provides access to all databases available through the EBSCOhost interface. You may select multiple databases and search them simultaneously.
7. eHRAF World Cultures: is unique in that the information is organized into cultures and ethnic groups and the fulltext sources are subject-indexed at the paragraph level. A tutorial is available.
8. eScholarship Repository (University of California)
9. Ethnologue: Languages of the World
10. Gale Virtual Reference Library: A database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
11. Google Scholar: provides access to scholarly literature from many disciplines and sources. Indexes peer reviewed articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other websites.
12. HathiTrust Digital Library: a digital repository of millions of books, serials, and other materials from research institutions and libraries from around the world.
13. ICPSR : Inter-University Consortium for Political & Social Research​: Archives of social science data for research and instruction
14. JSTOR: Digital library of academic journals, books and primary sources.
15. National Criminal Justice Reference Service (U.S.)/Crime and justice statistics (Canada)
16. Outline of cultural materials of the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF)
17. Oxford Bibliographies Online: a tool for the social sciences and humanities. It is composed of discipline-based subject modules that provide annotated bibliographies on specific topics.
18. Oxford Reference Online: Contains reference materials published by Oxford University Press.
19. ProQuest Databases: access to a number of databases that cover most subject areas. Search all of them at once or one of the subject clusters. Includes major databases such as PsycInfo, Sociological Abstracts, Philosopher’s Index, and many more.
20. PubMed: Provides access to citations covering all areas of medicine and associated fields.
21. Qualitative Data Repository​: a dedicated archive for storing and sharing digital data (and accompanying documentation) generated or collected through qualitative and multi-method research in the social sciences.
22. SAGE Knowledge Encyclopedias: provides perpetual access to 27 encyclopedias in the social sciences published between 2005-2011, as well as some other encyclopedias which have been ordered individually.
23. SAGE Research Methods: With information on the full range of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods for the social and behavioral sciences, as well as methods commonly used in the hard sciences, the book, reference, and journal content in SAGE Research Methods helps researchers of all levels conduct their research. See LibGuide
24. Scopus: A multidisciplinary abstract and citation database of research literature and web sources.
25. Social Sciences Citation Index Part of Web of Science
26. Thesaurus of sociological indexing terms
27. WorldCat: A union catalogue of libraries worldwide.

Subject headings

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) use controlled vocabulary to access and express the subject content of documents. Controlled vocabulary is a standardized hierarchical system. When you search using subject headings, you are searching for matching content, rather than searching through the text.

Sociology has largely been divided into the following collections. This is a searchable index. Click on a link below to discover the Library's holdings in this area:

1. Anthropology
2. Arts
3. Behavioral sciences
4. Communication
5. Culture
6. Economics
7. Education
8. Equality
9. Families
10. Feminist theory
11. Government
12. History
13. Human population
14. Human societies
15. Law
16. Persons
17. Political science
18. Political sociology
19. Politics
20. Population
21. Population studies
22. Power social sciences
23. Psychology
24. Psychotherapy
25. Religion
26. Social change
27. Social institutions
28. Social interaction
29. Social problems
30. Social psychology
31. Social sciences
32. Sociolinguistics
33. Sociology
34. Video/film

• Add keywords
• Use the filters on the left of the resulting screen.Typical filters are Available Online and Peer Reviewed Journals

Supplementary readings

1. Google vs. the Library: Student Preferences and Perceptions When Doing Research Using Google and a Federated Search Tool
2. Google vs. the Library (Part II): Student Search Patterns and Behaviors when Using Google and a Federated Search Tool
3. Google vs. the Library (Part III): Assessing the Quality of Sources Found by Undergraduates
4. How to Read a Book, v5.0 School of Information University of Michigan
5. How to Read a Paragraph: The Art of Close Reading
6. How to Read (and Understand) a Social Science Journal Article: Tips and tricks to make reading and understanding social science journal articles easier
7. How to Read for Grad School Miriam E. Sweeney
8. Read Like A Graduate Student, Not A Mystery Fan William Doane

Minecraft (Education Edition) is free for Carleton students

1. Download the installer: https://education.minecraft.net/api/edu/login
2. After install, launch the game and log in using your Carleton email address (cmail) and password then you're good to go!!