Sociology Research Guide
- Find Background Info
- Find Books
- Find Articles
- Find Data
- Citing Sources
Find Background Info
Background sources, such as specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries, are an essential piece of the research process. They can help you:
- Gather information about your topic and understand the scope of the research.
- Locate reliable sources and clarify keywords.
- Pinpoint important authors, texts, ideas, and key words about the research area.
Knowing what the primary phrases and concepts are will help you a lot as you are searching through library databases and online sources.
Global Issues (Gale)
Global Issues integrates international news, global viewpoints, reference materials, country information, primary source documents, videos, and statistics. This is a useful database when you are doing background research of searching for a topic.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference is a multi-publisher collection of high-quality reference titles covering everything from the arts to astronomy, law to literature, and science to Shakespeare. Available titles also include a range of multimedia options including thousands of high-quality diagrams, photographs, maps, and audio files.
Find Books
Print and e-books are valuable sources for academic research. They will help you gain an overview of your topic and often contain in-depth information about the scholarship or history of research on a subject. Some books are written by single authors, while others include essays or chapters by multiple scholars within a discipline. Don’t let the length of books intimidate you because you don’t need to read them from cover to cover. Look at the table of contents and index to find the sections that are relevant to your work.
Find Books Using GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other materials available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases. To get started, search by keyword or type in the title of a book below:
WorldCat
WorldCat lets you search for books, articles, videos, and other materials available in libraries worldwide. If you are doing in-depth research on a topic and are considering requesting resources through Interlibrary Loan, WorldCat can help you discover resources that might not be in the Giovale Library collection.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Interlibrary Loan is a service that allows patrons of one library to access journal articles, books, and other materials that are owned by another library.
Explore Interlibrary Loan Materials
Utah Academic Library Consortium
Giovale Library participates in the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) and Westminster University students have reciprocal circulation privileges at UALC partner libraries. Each UALC library has different circulation policies, but all require a current, valid, legal photo identification and proof of current enrollment at Westminster. Some libraries may also require other verification methods, so you should contact the library you're interested in for details.
Popular Titles and Features Texts
The inner life of race: souls, bodies, & the history of racial power
Trans and Disabled: An Anthology of Identities and Experiences
Intersectional Advocacy: Redrawing Policy Boundaries Around Gender, Race, and Class
Chain of ideas: the origins of our authoritarian age
Find Articles
The Giovale Library provides access to a number of subject databases that you can use to find journal articles on topics within a specific discipline or field of study. The databases listed on this page are those that are most useful for finding research published in the field of Sociology.
Search SocINDEX (EBSCO)
SocINDEX with Full Text provides access to full text, high-quality literature in the field of sociology. The database features records with subject headings from a sociological thesaurus designed by subject experts and expert lexicographers. The database encompasses all sub-disciplines of sociology and closely related areas of study, including criminology and criminal justice, demography, ethnic and racial studies, gender studies, marriage and family, political sociology, religion, rural and urban sociology, social development, social psychology, social work, socio-cultural anthropology, and sociological theory.
Search SocINDEX Database (EBSCO)
Sociology Database (ProQuest)
Sociology Database covers the international literature of sociology and social work, including relevant titles from related fields such as social policy, social care, social services, social anthropology, gender studies, gerontology, social psychology, and population studies. It includes full-text scholarly journals, as well as dissertations and other source types.
Search Sociology Database (ProQuest)
APA PsycINFO (EBSCO)
PsycINFO contains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations, and technical reports, all in the field of psychology and the psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law.
GenderWatch (ProQuest)
GenderWatch is a full text database of publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. GenderWatch supports programs in business, education, literature and the arts, health sciences, history, political science, public policy, sociology and contemporary culture, gender and women's studies, and more. Publications include academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, NGO, and special reports.
GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other material available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases.
Project Muse
Project Muse offers full text coverage of journals and eBooks in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics, with a focus on resources published by university presses.
Find Data
You may want to use data sets for your research, below is a list of organizations that allow you to search for data. As always, if you can’t find what you are looking for, contact the library. The following resources are organized alphabetically.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Data and Statistics
Find public data sets related to public health topics, including vaccination, environmental factors, communicable diseases, and more.
Google Dataset Search
Dataset Search enables users to find datasets stored across the Web through a simple keyword search. The tool surfaces information about datasets hosted in thousands of repositories across the Web. Some datasets in this search are behind a paywall.
Kids Count
Provides data on the health and well-being of children and families in the United States.
National Center for Health Statistics
As the nation’s principal health statistics agency, the National Center for Health
Statistics (NCHS) compiles statistical information to guide actions and policies to
improve the health of the population. NCHS is a unique public resource for health
information—a critical element of public health and health policy.
Search NCHS
Pew Research Center
A nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Research Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.
United States Census Data
The Census Bureau is the leading source of quality data about the United States' people and economy.
Search United States Census Data
USA.gov
While not a data source, you can find many data resources from the U.S. government.
Search USA.gov
Utah Data
Access State of Utah datasets.
World Health Organization
Includes data and statistics, reports, country profiles, and fact sheets. Organized by topics and countries.
Citing Sources
Citation Resources
Properly citing your sources shows that you’ve done research to become knowledgeable about your topic and helps you avoid plagiarism. Explore citation resources to learn how to correctly cite sources based on style.
Need help with your research?
Get in touch with:
Katherine Tucker Paterson
Liaison Librarian for Sociology
801.832.2258
kpaterson@westminsteru.edu
Librarians are happy to answer questions via email, phone, or in-person.
Contact Katherine with a question or to schedule a research help appointment.
Faculty: Contact Katherine to suggest edits to this research guide.