Sociology   Tags: applied_behavioral_science, comparative_studies, sociology  

Online Sociology Encyclopedias
Search for information in the following online reference books: the Encyclopedia of Sociology, the Encyclopedia of Social Theory, and the Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics. All are great places to get some background information on concepts, theories, or people. They have essay-like entries and a valuable references section at the end of each entry which gives you related books and articles.

Both of the following books are located in Dunbar Reference, on the second floor of the library.

Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods - H 62 .L456 2004, 3 volumes
Entries range from short definitions to longer essays on all types of research methods. A great book to refer to when you want to know more about particular methods and how to apply them.

Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice - HV 6017 .E52 2002, 4 volumes
Very similar in format to the Encyclopedia of Sociology above. Includes a Guide to Legal Citations for the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. Amnesty and pardon, careers in criminal justice, employee theft, probations and parole, and vicarious liability are just a few of the 250 entries.

SocINDEX
The main place to find sociology articles. Lots of full text, but you will need to limit to peer-reviewed/scholarly journals if necessary.

PsycINFO
Psychology article database, but most sociology students find relevant articles.

Criminal Justice Abstracts
Great source for articles on criminal justice and related fields.

JSTOR
JSTOR has full text for journals going back to the 19th century and ending only 2-5 years from the present. Search just the sociology journals by following these steps:

1. When you get to JSTOR's main page, click the "Advanced Search" link below the search box.
2. On the search page, type in your keywords and then scroll down to check the boxes next to Sociology.

Social Sciences Citation Index
A great database that covers all kinds of the social sciences. You can limit by disciplines if you wish to focus on one or a few.

Google Scholar
Be sure to go through this link if you're using Google Scholar off campus otherwise you'll be asked to pay for articles.

Education Research Complete
A lot of SOC 306 students find relevant articles in ERC. Covers kindergarten through college.

You can use these searching tips for your other classes too.

• Article databases and the catalog don't recognize phrase searching, so break your topic into the main keywords or concepts.  For example, if your topic is the effect of parental drug abuse on the family, don't type in "the effect of parental drug abuse on the family."  Instead, type in "parents AND drug abuse AND family" or "parents AND 'drug abuse.'"
• Try to think of as many different ways to describe your topic as you can--remember the soft drink example!
• When you find a good article, look at their lit review or references section to see what articles the author read--you might find a few good ones that you can use.  See box below for how to find articles from a references section.