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Professor
Daniel Forbes
Library Liaison
Gwen Verkuilen
Contents
Introduction
Research Basics
Reference Materials
Journal Articles
Newspaper Articles
Books and Government
Documents
Web Resources
Subject Guide
Sociology
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This guide will direct you to resources that will aid in the completion of your research paper assignment. All of these resources can be accessed either on campus or remotely by entering in the S number on the back of your student ID.
If you need any assistance in using these resources or if you are having difficulty in locating information, please contact a reference librarian by either stopping by the reference desk or online through Ask a Librarian.
The reference librarians have created a group of Web pages named Research Help, and a tutorial called Searchpath, designed to help teach you the basics of library research and to introduce you to Geisel Library. On the Research Help pages, you will find a guide on Research Basics and a helpful guide about evaluating your Web sources, Judging What You Find. Please take advantage of these resources.
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Use reference materials to get an overview of the topic you are researching as well as to understand how sociologists approach your research topic. When using reference materials make note of any words that are used to describe your topic, these words can serve as keywords when it comes time to search for articles in the online journal databases. Also, pay attention to the citations located at the end of topic entries, they can be used as a starting point for locating scholarly research.
Atlas of Poverty in America
Ref HC 110 .P6 G543
Biographical Dictionary to Social Welfare in America
Ref HV27 .B57
Blackwell Dictionary of Modern Social Thought
Ref H41 .B53
Bridging the Gap: Examining Polarity in America
Ref HN57 .B75
Dictionary of American History
Ref E174 .D52 (10 volumes)
Dictionary of Demography
Ref HB849.2 .P7413
Dictionary of the Social Sciences
From the Oxford Reference Collection Online
Dictionary of Sociology
From the Oxford Reference Collection Online
Ref HM425 .D5735 (print version)
Encyclopedia of American Social Movements
Ref HN57 .E594
Encyclopedia of American Social History
Ref HN57 .E58 (3 volumes)
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice
Ref HV 6017 .E52 (print version)
Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000
Ref HN373 .E63 (6 volumes)
Encyclopedia of Homelessness
Ref HV4493 .E53
Encyclopedia of Multiculturalism
Ref E184 .A1 E58 (6 volumes)
Encyclopedia of Social Work
Ref HV35 .S6 (3 volumes)
Encyclopedia of Sociology
Ref HM425 .E5 (5 volumes)
Encyclopedia of Urban Cultures
Ref HT108.5 .E53
Encyclopedia of Women and Gender
Ref HQ1115 .E43 (2 volumes)
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Ref H40 .I5 (17 volumes)
New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
Ref CB9 .N49 (print version)
Social Science Encyclopedia
Ref H41 .S63
Social Work Dictionary
Ref HV12 .B37
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This section is broken up into 2 parts: Sociology Databases and History Databases. While you will want to start your research using the sociology databases you may also want to use the historical research databases to examine the historical development of your topic, especially if it is a government program or policy. Keep in mind that the library subscribes to a number of subject specific online journal databases, if you are having trouble locating articles you may simply need to use another database. If that is the case, consult the library's Subject Guides, Databases by Subject webpage, or contact a reference librarian who will then guide you toward the appropriate database.
To search the databases listed below you will need to use Boolean operators (ANDs and ORs) and truncation to pull up articles on your topic. Here is a brief overview of how to use Boolean operators and truncation:
- "AND" – use AND to link together search topics (Poverty AND Children)
- "OR" – use OR to link together synonyms or like concepts (Social Welfare OR Public Welfare)
- "*" – use truncation to pull up the root of a word with variant endings (Enter in advertis* to pull up articles with the words advertise, advertisement, advertiser etc.)
Sociology Databases
SocINDEX
SocINDEX, the core sociology database on campus, indexes over 590 academic journals, monographs, and conferences papers related to the field of sociology. With thousands of full-text articles available, SocINDEX is an essential tool for researching how your topic has been researched in the field of sociology.
Academic Search Premier
Academic Search Premier is a database that indexes articles on a wide range of disciplines including the social sciences, humanities, and the hard sciences such as chemistry or biology. This is a good resource with which to begin your research, especially on a topic that is inter-disciplinary. Use this database as a starting point, then expand to other subject/discipline specific resources to further explore your topic.
PsycINFO
While primarily a database for the field of psychology, PsycINFO does index a number of journals in the field of sociology. Depending on your topic, it can also be helpful to see how the field of psychology is reaching your topic.
Historical Databases
In addition to the online journal databases listed below, please consult our History Subject Guide if your topic needs in-depth historical analysis.
America: History and Life
Use this database to locate abstracts to journal articles, book/media reviews, and dissertations focusing on United States and Canadian history.
CQ Researcher
Use CQ Researcher to get an overview of a social welfare or social policy issue. This is a great place to start learning about a topic's history and to obtain a list of recommended further readings. Try searching the database by keyword or by browsing its list of topics.
User Guide
Historical Abstracts
This index provides abstracts to key history journals from around the globe, covering world history from 1450 to the present, use only if your topic has an international slant – the database focuses on non-North-American issues.
JSTOR
Search here for full-text articles from major journals in the humanities and social sciences, including Annual Review of Sociology, Nineteenth-Century Literature, Philosophical Quarterly, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Coverage is generally from the beginning of publication to within 5 years of the current issue. User Guide
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Newspaper articles are an extremely important resource to use when examining social welfare concerns. Newspapers are usually quick to respond to new social welfare issues, programs, and initiatives. These resources will come in especially handy if you are focusing on a recent development, initiative, or program.
LexisNexis Academic
Find full-text newspaper articles from local, national, and international papers. User Guide
Newspaper Source
Get full-text articles from several national and international newspapers and selected full-text access to more than 200 regional newspapers. In addition, full-text television and radio news transcripts are provided from CBS News, FOX News, and NPR. (Coverage varies with publication.)
New Hampshire Index
For citations pertaining to state issues, culture, and history, search this index of the following newspapers: Boston Sunday Globe NH Weekly (1989–June 2001), New Hampshire Premier (1990–1995), Business NH (1989–1994), New Hampshire Profiles (1989–1991), Concord Monitor (1984–present), Northern NH Magazine (1998–present), Historical New Hampshire (1997–Spring 1998), Spectator (1990–1991), Nashua Telegraph (1984–1995), and Union Leader (1984–present).
New York Times FULL TEXT – CURRENT
Full-text of articles published in the New York Times from June 1, 1980 to present; the Final New York City Edition (LexisNexis).
New York Times FULL TEXT – HISTORICAL
This database provides full-text access to every page of the New York Times, from 1851 to 2003. The searchable collection includes digital reproductions, so that even advertisements and political cartoons from every available issue may be viewed.
Wall Street Journal
This database offers full-text access to the Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition). You can search with keywords (also see the Topics tab), by author or product, browse by date, or set up an Alert notification. (1984–present)
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The library catalog is an excellent resource for finding books, government documents and web materials on your topic. Start searching the Geisel Library Catalog by keyword using Boolean operators and truncation. You can also search the catalog by subject headings – keywords that have been assigned to books that capture its subject matter and themes. Here is a list of possible subject headings in the subject of social welfare:
- Public Welfare – United States
- United States – Social Policy
- Poor – United States
- Economic Assistance – Domestic – United States
- United States – Social Conditions
- Social Problems
- Public Welfare
- Welfare
- Welfare State
- Social Classes – United States
If you have searched the Geisel Library Catalog but still could not locate a book on your topic try searching WorldCat, a database that allows you to search the collections of libraries throughout the United States. If you find a book that you want you can request it through interlibrary loan (ILL) by clicking on the ILL icon in the book's catalog record.
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Searching the Internet can yield a vast amount of information, but in terms of quality and reliability, your results may be uneven at best. The ease and speed with which individuals can publish information on the web, regardless of accuracy or quality makes it imperative that when doing research on the web you know how to evaluate the information you find. To learn more, see Judging What You Find.
USA.gov
USA.gov is the web portal to government information on the Internet. Government websites are an excellent yet often forgotten resource for reports, statistics, and data on a variety of social welfare issues. The best way to locate this information is by going to specific agency websites. A list of government agencies (Agencies A–Z) is located on the lower right-hand side of the USA.gov website. Once on an agency website, look for webpages titled information center, publications, research, data and statistics, etc. to locate that agency's research.
Google Scholar
Materials found in Google Scholar include "peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations" (About Google Scholar, 2006). Some, but not all, of the content in Google Scholar is available in full text. Google Scholar is a good starting point for research, but it is not considered comprehensive for scholarly content. For the most thorough search of a topic, consult subject-specific indexes (ERIC, PsycINFO, SocINDEX, etc.). One word of caution: never purchase an article found on Google Scholar, always check with a reference librarian to see if the article can be located in Geisel Library's print or electronic collection or through Interlibrary Loan.
HURISEARCH: Human Rights Search Engine
"HURISEARCH is a vertical search engine, capturing only human rights-related information produced by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) available in a wide variety of formats and languages. "(S. Maret, U. of Denver)
Internet Crossroads in the Social Sciences
The Internet Crossroads in the Social Sciences contains over 700 annotated links to data-related resources on the internet. Maintained by the Data and Program Library Service (DPLS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Institute for Research on Poverty
As stated on its homepage "IRP is a center for interdisciplinary research into the causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality in the United States." The IRP has a wealth of research available to view, search, and download, all relating to the study of poverty. Also pay attention to its links page which directs you to other organizations, institutions, universities, and government agencies performing poverty research.
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