Spring 2007 - Professor Peter Brandon

• Survey or Review Articles
• Bibliographic databases (search for journal articles)
• Finding data
• Getting full text of journals
• Interlibrary Loan
• Citations and bibliographies
• More Sociology resources
• Help with Proposal Writing
• Research help

Finding Survey or Review Articles

There are many strategies for attacking a research project and most people work out their own style with time and experience. It is a temptation for novice researchers to begin with a kind of fishing approach: try a few keyword searches (in the library catalog, in journal article databases, and on the free web) and see what articles and books you can gather. Then, with possibly one or two subsequent trips to the library, the researcher ties the pieces together from this initial search, all the while anxious that something important may have been missed.

A wise student will check in with their professor and ask for reading advice. More experienced researchers know that there are analogous ways to seek the advice of an expert in order to discover what knowledge already exists within the field on a particular topic. Survey and review articles in journals and subject encyclopedias provide overviews of the research that has already been done by sociologists on given topics. These publications name and discuss seminal works, define problems and theoretical debates and usually name the prominent researchers in these areas.

All of these clues are difficult to garner without the input of an expert. Taking full advantage of survey and review articles catapults your understanding of a topic to a much higher level of comprehension and at a faster rate than if you were to try to redo this work of collecting and summarizing all published work on your own. Instead, begin with what you learn from the survey, then execute smarter searches (e.g., instead of just keyword searches, search by relevant authors' names, search for newer articles that cite the work of seminal research, thus building a web of scholarly reference, etc.), go directly to the most respected works (since choosing what to read from a glut of search results can be an unenviable task), and don't lose sleep wondering if you've managed to bypass an entire strand of scholarly consideration within a topic.

From Encyclopedias

• Encyclopedia of Sociology
  HM425 .E5 2000
  All subfields of sociology are covered here, articles are written by experts; bibliographies are extensive yet selective. Articles are written in accessible language.
• International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
  H41 .I58 2001
  This encyclopedia is broader in scope than the previous one, the articles tend to be more detailed, and information on a particular topic might be spread across several articles.
• Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
  H40.A2 I5
  Articles in this 1968 set won't get you the most recent research on a topic, but it will point you to the foundational work. This set is considered a classic and many articles are written by well-known scholars. Unless you're researching a newly emerged topic in Sociology, it is definitely worth checking for coverage in this set.

From Journals

The bibliographic database Sociological Abstracts is the best place to start a search for journal articles. Supplement searches here in databases like Current Contents, ProQuest, and the Social Sciences Citation Index.

When scanning results keep an eye peeled for familiar journals. Or, even better, do a series of searches in which you limit to particular journals that you know to have excellent research or review articles. How do you know which journals to limit to? Try the ones listed below. If you don't know how to do this in the databases, see Kristin.

• Annual Review of Sociology
  Published once per year, this highly cited journal features reviews that span the sub-disciplines of the field.
• Contemporary Sociology
  This journal focuses on book reviews. Book reviews can be remarkably helpful at surveying the topic of a particular book and placing it in the context of the larger conversation. This context and mentions of related research are what you might want to read for.
• American Journal of Sociology
  The first U.S. scholarly journal in sociology, this highly respected journal publishes research in all areas of the field
• American Sociological Review
  This widely read and highly cited journal, the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association publishes articles of interest to the field in general
• Social Problems
• There are many journals that specialize in subdisciplines of Sociology. See Kristin for suggestions.

From Books

Book length treatment of topics are often too long to read over the course of a ten-week term but they can be of great value nonetheless. Books published by academic presses usually have introductory sections that place the work in a larger context, naming related works and researchers that may be of interest to you. These books also usually have lengthy bibliographies that can be mined. Searching the catalog well can be tricky. See Kristin for tips. Remember that the library shelves are organized by subject, so whenever you go to retrieve a book by call number, remember to look at the books around it - there may be something of equal or greater value nearby.

Return to top

Bibliographic databases

The following short list of library databases is provided for your convenience. To explore all of the databases to which the library subscribes, go to the Databases by title page.

• Sociological Abstracts
• ProQuest Research Library
• Current Contents
• Social Sciences Citation Index
• Social Sciences Index
• Talk to Kristin about specialized databases for your topic

Return to top

Part II: Other Research Problem-Solving

How do I find data available to me as a Carleton student?
Increasingly more government data and statistics are free on the web. You might start with the Carleton data blog. Also, make an appointment with Kristin. Thousands of social science datasets are available to members of the Carleton community through our ICPSR membership.

Listed here are just a few archives and web resources to locate detailed demographic data.

• Demographic and Health Surveys
  Surveys measure population, health (including reproduction), and nutrition issues in developing countries.
• Earthtrends Searchable Database: Health and Human Well-Being
  Data on population, health, well-being for countries around the world, across multiple years. 
• ICPSR
  The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research is the world's largest archive of social sciences research.  Search here for demographic data from around the globe.
• UN Data
  Thousands of demographic indicators from around the world.
• U.S. Census
  The best statistics resource in the world, collecting extensive detailed U.S. demographic data.
• World Development Indicators
  Over 500 development indicators from 1960-2002 for over 200 countries.

Finding research that makes use of a particular dataset

• ICPSR Bibliography

• Social Sciences Citation Index
  See Kristin to learn how to do this. In brief: do a "Cited Ref" search using only the name of the dataset (and possibly the date, if appropriate) truncating most words. For example, to search for works that cite the General Social Survey, enter the following in the 'Cited Work' box: gen* soc* surv*

Return to top

How do I know where to find an article I learned about in Sociological Abstracts?
In any of the databases, use the "Find It" button to locate the article either online or in the library. The "Find It" button will search across all the libraries subscriptions and give you the authoritative answer. Do not go directly to publisher web sites as these open web sites have no information about you and the subscriptions you have through the college. Always go through the library. Questions? Contact Kristin.

Return to top

What if the book or article I want is not at Carleton or St. Olaf?
Use Interlibrary Loan. Follow links in "Find It" button menus to Illiad or click "Login/Your Accounts" on the library home page and use your Carleton username and password to log in.

Keeping track of citations and notes

• EndNote
  This citation software can be found on all lab computers and can be downloaded onto students' personal computers from the library web site. This software is useful for keeping track of citations as you find them, for keeping notes, and for formatting citations when you use Microsoft Word to type your bibliography. See Kristin for help using this powerful software.
  Tips and downloads can be found at:

• Google spreadsheets or online bookmarks like CiteULike or Del.icio.us (get Delicious bookmarklet and see how to use it)
  There are many free web-based tools out there to help you to collaboratively keep track of information. Since you're working in groups, applications like Google Documents and Spreadsheets make it easy for several people to work on the same document, even at the same time, and not have to worry about overwriting each others' work. It automatically saves versions, so if you accidentally delete your partner's work at 4 a.m., you don't need to worry - it's still there.

Return to top

Sociology

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

Proposal Writing

These resources provide guidelines for developing an NSF proposal and sample proposals.

• A Guide for Proposal Writing by the National Science Foundation
  Detailed guidelines addressing budgets, format, content, and more.
• Proposal Writing and Research Resources by GradGrants Center, Indiana University
  Useful bibliography of proposal-writing resources.
• Sample Research Proposals from Clarence G. Gravlee, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, ANG 5091 Seminar in Research Methods
  Includes multiple examples of research grants in anthropology.

Return to top