Sociology Research Guide

Choose a topic that is interesting to you and which will work within your assignment's parameters. Usually your research goal is to locate published scholarship (books and journal articles) to read on your topic.

Remember to evaluate the accuracy of your resources, and think critically about their arguments. When in doubt, check with your Sociology instructor.

Books
Articles (Search Databases)
Journals (Browse E-Journals)
Data & Statistics
Associations
Research Institutes
Web Gateways
Tutorial

Prof. James T. Mellone

Bibliographer for Sociology

For home use of e-books, databases, e-journals, and course reserves the Proxy Service must be used—see Connect from Home for instructions.

Books

First, read a good summary of a sociology topic in a sociology encyclopedia, like those listed in the Books section. Second, once you know the basics on your topic, search for more published scholarship, such as books in CUNY+ or other catalogs.

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

21^st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook (Ref. HM585 .A13 2007, 2 vols.): Excellent starting point for an overview of the current state of research in an area of sociology. Provides ten-page essays, and an extensive reference list for each essay at the end of each volume.
Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (Ref. HM425 .B53 2007, 11 vols.): Contains the most up-to-date short entries of key terms, and longer essays on large topics.
Encyclopedia of Criminology and Deviant Behavior (Ref. HV6017. E53 2001, 4 vols.): The best resource for examples and short descriptions of deviant behaviors.
Encyclopedia of Social Theory (Ref. HM4215 .E47 2005, 2 vols.): First place to consult for an authoritative summary of a social theory.
Encyclopedia of Sociology (2001, 2^nd edition; Ref. HM17 .E5 1991, 4 vols.): Standard reference source for short summaries of basic concepts and theories in sociology.
International Encyclopedia of Social Policy (Ref. HN18.3 .I58 2006, 3 vols.): Provides short entries, and longer essays, on all aspects of the discipline and practice of social policy globally. Covers terms, concepts, entities, practices, theorists, and national policies.
International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (Ref. H41 .I58 2001, 26 vols.): The new standard reference work with authoritative essays on all manner of topics in the social sciences.
Opposing Viewpoints: Basic information from reference books, magazine and news articles on many social issues, such as abortion, capital punishment, welfare reform.
Social Science Encyclopedia (Ref. H41 .S63 2004, 2 vols., 3^rd edition): A classic dictionary for quick look-up of a definition, theory, or social scientist.
Social Issues in America: An Encyclopedia (Ref. HN57 .S624 2006, 8 vols.): Contains five to ten page essays on major social issues in the U.S. Each essay contains supporting data, as well as a extensive references, a chronology, a glossary, and a few key documents (primary sources).

Find Books

CUNY+ Catalog: Search for books at the Queens College libraries, as well as other CUNY libraries.
Library Catalogs: Search the library catalogs of regional libraries such as the Queens Library, Brooklyn Public Library, New York University, Columbia University, etc.
New York Public Library: Search CATNYP, the catalog of the research libraries at NYPL. Books at the research libraries are non-circulating and must be consulted on site. NYPL has one of the premier research collections in the country and is open to all New York State residents.
WorldCat: Search for books in the national catalog for the United States and Canada. Includes holdings from libraries in other parts of the world, primarily European or English-speaking.

Articles (Search Databases)

A journal article is written by a scholar or an expert, and provides a detailed analysis of a topic. It is written in the specialized language of a scholarly discipline (such as Sociology). It documents the resources the writer used by providing bibliographic citations such as footnotes, endnotes, and bibliography so a reader can check or repeat the research the scholar has completed. Here is a comparison between popular and scholarly periodicals.

A scholarly journal is edited by scholars, and any article published in the journal has usually been approved by the author's peers or by referees (other scholars expert in the subject who serve as editors or readers and critique the article before it is accepted for publication). This is why most scholarly journals are referred to as a Peer-Reviewed or Refereed journals. Use the following databases to search for journal articles on a topic. You can use other Databases depending what topic you are researching.

PsycINFO: Citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, in the field of psychology and related disciplines, such as psychiatry, pharmacology, nursing. Covers psychological aspects of the social sciences.
Social Sciences Citation Index: Citations from thousands of scholarly journals in the social sciences. Tracks cited references to determine what journal articles cite or reference other journal articles.
Social Sciences Full Text: English-language journals in the major social sciences. For topics such as criminology, family, public administration, social work. Abstracts to journal articles and citations to book reviews.
SocINDEX: Abstracts to English-language journal and magazine articles, conference papers, book chapters and book reviews. For topics such as demography, family, gender, social work.
Sociological Abstracts: International literature in all topics of sociology, such as criminology, demography, family, social welfare. Abstracts to journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers, and citations to book reviews.

Journals (Browse E-Journals)

Annual Review of Sociology: Provides definitive critical reviews of recent sociological research literature.
JSTOR: 40+ core journals in sociology. Cover-to-cover full-text from a journal's first issue until about five years ago.
Sage Sociology: Full-text articles from 37 peer-reviewed journals, for topics such as consumerism, ethnicity, gender, leisure, work.
Social Science E-Journals: Large selection of sociology and related journals from the Library's master list of E-Journals.

Data & Statistics

Infoshare: Statistics for local areas of New York City and New York State. Demographic data from the 1980, 1990, 2000 census. Health, immigration, socio-economic data since the 1990s.
Social Explorer: United States demographic data, maps, and reports taken from the Federal Census, from 1940 to 2000.

Associations

Reports, studies, and data are sometimes available from the major scholarly organizations for the study of sociology.

Research Institutes

Reports or studies written by research institutes or non-profit think-tanks can also be useful.

Web Gateways

Continue your search for reports, studies, data, statistics, and information by browsing these sociology web gateways.

Tutorial

Introduction to Library Research for the Social Sciences