Spring 2009 - Professor Annette Nierobisz

• Reference books
• Databases and indexes
• Journals
• Sociology
• Web sites
• Search tips: quantitative and qualitative
• Librarian

Reference books

Use reference books to find overviews, familiarize yourself with terminology, identify useful search terms, and locate bibliographies. There are many other reference books in the vicinity of these that may be of use to you. Here are just a couple with which to begin.

• The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology : A User's Guide to Sociological Language. By Allan G. Johnson.
  CC Reference HM425 .J64 2000
• Encyclopedia of Social History. Edited by Peter N. Stearns.
  CC Reference HN28 .E53 1994
• Encyclopedia of Sociology. Edited by Edgar F. Borgatta.
  CC Reference HM425 .E5 2000
• International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Editors in chief Neil J. Smelser, Paul B. Baltes.
  CC Reference H41 .I58 2001
• The International Handbook of Sociology. Edited by Stella R. Quah and Arnaud Sales.
  CC Reference HM585 .I57 2000
• The Social Science Encyclopedia. Edited by Adam Kuper and Jessica Kuper.
  CC Reference H41 .S63 1996

Below are the reference books on research methodologies that I brought to class

• Designing Qualitative Research. By Catherine Marshall and Gretchen Rossman.
  CC Reference H 62 .M277 2006
• Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry. By Thomas A. Schwandt.
  CC Reference H 61 .S4435 2001
• Dictionary of Statistics & Methodology: A Nontechnical Guide for the Social Sciences. By W. Paul Vogt.
  CC Reference HA 17 .V64 2005
• Handbook of Research Methods: A Guide for Practitioners and Stduents in the Social Sciences. By Natalie Sproull.
  CC Reference H 62 .S734 1995

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Databases and indexes

To identify citations of articles on your topic, use the databases listed here. Then see the next section for tips on how to access those articles.

To access these subscription databases from off-campus, log-in using your Carleton username and password from the Off-Campus Access page.

• Sociological Abstracts (1963 to present; Abstracts)
  The key indexer and abstractor of journals in sociology and related fields, this database is a good place to start your research.
• Social Sciences Index - SSI (1980 to present; Citations)
  This database includes citations for articles in over 600 English-language social science journals. 1980 to date.
• ProQuest Research Library or Academic Search Premier
  These two broad, multidisciplinary databases provide indexing and some full-text access to newspapers and a large selection of journal articles. Use these to search for articles you might not find in the subject-specific databases.
• Lexis Nexis Academic (Newspaper articles)
  This database from Lexis-Nexis provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information. This is the best place to look for newspaper articles, which can be a great source of ideas for topics and facts (such as names and dates relevant to a particular topic).
• Contemporary Women's Issues (1992 to present; Full text articles)
  CWI provides global coverage of information (articles, newsletters, IGOs, and more) on women.
• EconLit (1969 to present; Abstracts)
  The main disciplinary database for economists, covering journal articles, books, and working papers.
• JSTOR
  This electronic archive of core electronic journals is a great place to turn for full-text of articles published more than five years ago. It is also a great place to browse the literature in the most important journals in a field. Just don't look here for the most recent publications.
• Current Contents (1969 to present; Abstracts)
  Since indexing and abstracting services take some time to get new issues into their databases, a good way to check for articles in the most recent issues of journals is to search Current Contents.
• SSCI - Social Science Citation Index (1979 to present; Citations)
  Part of the Web of Science (WOS). Indexing and cited referencing capability for about 1,700 journal articles and other relevant items. Use this to find articles that cited an article of interest. Coverage of journals begins in 1979. Big!

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Journals

To determine if Carleton subscribes to a particular journal (print and/or electronic) and where you can find it, use the Electronic Journals List first to see if Carleton has an electronic subscription. If there is no electronic subscription, use the link to the Bridge to search for paper or microfilm copies. If Carleton has a paper subscription, you will find the call number that will help you locate the journal in the stacks.

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Sociology

For more help on doing research in Gould Library, see the Sociology Subject Research Guide.

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Web sites

• A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace
  "Developed by Michael C. Kearl (Trinity Univ., San Antonio), this site is an invitation to thoughtful expoloration and research in sociology." (Choice Special Issue 38, 2001) Links to how to write a soc paper, citing, subject pages, experts by category and much more.
• Intute: Sociology
  Selected web sites of interest to researchers and students.
• Sociology Online
  A nice site for people new to the field of Sociology. This site only works using the Internet Explorer browser.
• Sociology and Anthropology Resources
  This page of links is provided by the Research Resources for the Social Sciences web site.
• WWW Virtual Library: Sociology
  Evaluated and annotated web sites.
• Citing sources
  Several links to how-to-site pages that include citing electronic sources.

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Qualitative and Quantitative Terms

• Participant Observation
• Interviews
• Focus Group(s)
• Oral History
• Case Study(ies)
• Survey(ies)
• Questionnaire(s)
• Sample
• Participants

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