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Sociology Research Guide

sociology

This guide is intended to be a starting point for students who are trying to locate resources on the subject of Sociology.  See the tabs for more information on finding articles, books and additional resources. Please do not hesitate to ask for help if you have any questions!

According to the American Sociological Association:

Sociology is:

  • the study of society
  • a social science involving the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies
  • the study of our behavior as social beings, covering everything from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes
  • the scientific study of social aggregations, the entities through which humans move throughout their lives'
  • an overarching unification of all studies of humankind, including history, psychology, and economics

(http://asanet.org/about/sociology.cfm)

Starting Your Research

The first step is to choose a topic. We recommend you consider the following:

  1. What topic are you interested in?
  2. If your topic was set by the instructor, what does your instructor want you to learn by doing the research?

Once the topic is selected, you should:

  1. Do a preliminary search for background information on the topic using a reference source, such as Credo Reference (Credo).
  2. Take note of significant people, places, events, etc. Consider why your topic is important to learn about today.
  3. Narrow your topic. Focus on the aspects that the paper will discuss.
  4. Create initial thesis statement.

  5. Search for scholarly articles (recently published academic research) that support your thesis. You can find them using library databases like Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) or JSTOR Arts & Sciences I-XV (JSTOR). For additional databases, please see the "Find Articles" tab or our A-Z List.

Library Information

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