SOC 322: Methods of Sociological Research

Strategic Searching

• After you have chosen your research question or thesis. Gather background information and general knowledge:

  • Annual Reviews Sociology Journal - Literature reviews
  • Oxford Bibliographies Online - Annotated bibliographies
  • US Major Dailies - Newspaper articles from core US papers
  • CQ Researcher - Research reports on trending issues often issues of national concern in the US
  • Sage Knowledge - Sociology - Ebooks, readers, and reference works (filter by discipline for Sociology)
  • Concise Encyclopedia of Sociology (2011) - International survey of sociological topics
  • Encyclopedia of Sociology (2012) - providing foundational entries on sociological topics

• Make a list of keywords and topics from the background information

  • Visit thesaurus sites like wordhippo or thesaurs.com to brainstorm related terms
  • Organize your keywords by writing them out or storing them 
  • Connect these keywords using the words AND (to narrow); OR (to broaden); NOT (to exclude)
    • For example (higher education OR universit* OR college* OR academi*) AND (accessib* OR disabl* OR ableism OR ADA OR able OR handicap OR impair* OR *body related ability")  
  • Find relevant articles, take note of their subject terms and transfer them to your own searches

**To locate 'ADVANCED SEARCH,' click on magnifying glass icon, then click on the ADVANCED SEARCH link 

Template for creating a Literature Review Matrix Literature Review Matrix

*This video was created by North Carolina State University Libraries