SOC 322: Methods of Sociological Research

Want to be strategic with your research? Follow these steps for beginning your search:

• 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, see this handout DEVELOPING YOUR SEARCH STRATEGY.docx
  • Connect these keywords using the words AND (to narrow); OR (to broaden); NOT (to exclude)
    • For example (("gig economy" OR "gig work" OR "precarious work") AND (stability OR "economic wellbeing" OR "quality of life") AND (health) NOT (accidents))
  • Find relevant articles, take note of their subject terms and transfer them to your own searches

• Enter search into West Chester University Library Advanced Search

  • Sign in to save your search 
  • To save citations, copy permalink or email pinned list to yourself
  • Start broad, (especially if you're looking for sociology content), narrow your search as you become more familiar with the terms that are used within the discipline