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Sociology

Research Pathfinder

 

Keyword Searching
LC Subject Headings
Databases
Reference Materials
Style Manuals
Web Sites
Selected Books
More Help

 

Sociology is an interdisciplinary major that studies the function, development and structure of human society, particularly in groups.  This includes, but is not limited to, the study of politics, religion, families, race and ethnic relations, social class and gender.  Sociology can cross the disciplines of Urban and Environmental Policy, Gender Studies, Politics and Anthropology.

 


Keyword Searching on OASys and LINK+
OASys is Oxy's Catalog, which lists books, journals, online resources, and other library holdings. The LINK+  catalog combines the holdings of over 30 participating libraries.

To get started, try a keyword search in OASys. Keyword searching is less specific than searching Library of Congress subject headings, but may provide more results. Need more? Click over to LINK+ and continue your searching there. Need even more? WorldCat includes over 54 million entries from more than 45,000 libraries. You may also place Interlibrary Loan requests. (Slower than LINK+). Below are a few sample keyword searches for you to start with. Be creative, come up with your own, and use keywords from the works you find to improve your future searches.

Suggested Keyword Searches:

keyword: protestant ethic

keyword: social capital

keyword: moral* and cultur* and soci*

keyword: fem* and soc* and roles

keyword: hobbes and criticism

 

For more assistance with searching for books, please see Finding Books.

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Library of Congress Subject Heading Searching on OASys and LINK+

OASys is Oxy's Catalog, which lists books, journals, online resources, and other library holdings. The LINK+  catalog combines the holdings of over 30 participating libraries.

LC Subject Headings are classifications agreed upon by all US libraries and be an invaluable tool when you are searching for information. While keyword searches may bring up more titles, LC Subject searching can bring up more accurate lists of works specifically related to your field of study. Need more? Click over to LINK+ and continue your searching there. Need even more? WorldCat includes over 54 million entries from more than 45,000 libraries. You may also place Interlibrary Loan requests. (Slower than LINK+)

Suggested Subject Headings searches:
 

LC Subject: Sociology, Urban -- California -- Los Angeles

LC Subject: Social Conflict -- United States

LC Subject: Political Sociology

LC Subject: United States -- Race Relations

LC Subject: Religion and Sociology

LC Subject: White collar crimes -- United States

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Searchable Databases
Articles provide a variety of information ranging from entertainment to scholarly research. To search for articles you use indexes or databases that may include more than one type of article.  Learn how to recognize and distinguish between the different types of publications (academic, popular, etc.) and select the articles that fit your need the best.
Selected Library Research Databases for Sociology: 

CSA Social Sciences Collection  
At Oxy, this collection includes
Sociological Abstracts (CSA), Social Services Abstracts (CSA), and ERIC (CSA)

JSTOR
Full-text archive of high-impact academic journals in many disciplines. Included journals generally begin with full-text from the first issue up until 3-5 years ago. Full-text is not available through JSTOR for recent issues. You can browse journals by discipline, by title or search articles by keyword.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Search the full text of the New York Times (1851 - 1999) and the Los Angeles Times (1881 - 1928 and growing). View results as page images.

ProQuest Online Information Service
A common interface to databases marketed by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. Oxy's set of ProQuest databases includes ProQuest General Reference, ProQuest Religious Periodicals, National Newspapers, and ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Except for Historical Newspapers, these databases can be searched simultaneously. Together they form a convenient general article database offering ample links to complete online articles.

Social Science Citation Index  
Along with the
Science Citation Index Expanded, this Web of Science database allows you to find articles published since 1995 which cite articles or authors of interest to you. It fully indexes 1,725 journals across 50 social sciences disciplines, and it indexes individually selected, relevant items from over 3,300 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals. This resource replaces ISI Basic Science Index which indexed around 500 journals. Allows a maximum of 3 users at one time. Please click "log out" when finished.

WilsonWeb
Find citations, abstracts, and substantial full-text for international, English-language periodicals.

For more assistance with searching our databases, please see Finding Articles.

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Reference

The following resources are useful during paper drafting.

 

Websites

American Heritage Dictionary

Oxford English Dictionary: OED online

Oxford Reference Online

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Dictionary.com

 

Reference Books

Education and Sociology     LC189.95.E38 2002

Encyclopedia of Urban Cultures   HT108.5E53 2002 v.1-4

Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States, v. 2: Sociology  E184.S75H365 1993

Encyclopedia of Sociology    HM17.E5 1991

A Critical Dictionary of Sociology    HM17.B6813 1989

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Style Manuals

Style Manuals will help you cite your sources and keep consistent formatting.

For a comprehensive list of style manuals, please browse the Library Style Manual Webpage.

Modern Language Association (MLA) Format

American Psychological Association (APA) Format

American Anthropological Association (AAA) Format

Chicago (Turabian) Style Format

Occidental College Online Writing Center
This elaborate writing guide will help you formulate paper topics, construct theses, create outlines and cite sources as part of paper drafting.

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Web Sites
Web sites may include personal opinion, deliberate hoax, credible information and academic resources. It is very important for you to critically assess a web site and make sure it is scholarly and unbiased for your research.

Tired of Googling? try a different search engine or a subject directory found on our Public Internet Search Tools page.

For example, go to the
Librarian's Index to the Internet, and try these searches: 

                         sociology                  "social movement"

Below are just a few of the webpages discussing Sociology in its various forms.
American Sociological Association Information on meetings, membership, and issues affecting sociologists today.

Occidental College's Sociology Department Lists current faculty members, their research, and class listings.

Social Sciences Data Collection at UCSD A collection of statistics pertaining to Sociology.

The SocioLog: a comprehensive guide to Sociology Links to topics and research in Sociology.

 

For more assistance with searching for web sites, please see Finding Public Web Pages.

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Selected Books

Below are a few of the books available from Oxy's library, organized by LC subject heading.

 

Religion and Sociology

The church as a social institution : the sociology of American religion David O. Moberg

The Changing face of religion James A Beckford and Thomas Luckmann

The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism Max Weber

 

Social Conflict

Conflict Georg Simmel

Classes, power and conflict : classical and contemporary debates Anthony Giddens

Ethnic groups in conflict David L. Horowitz

 

United States -- Ethnic Relations

From different shores : perspectives of race and ethnicity in America Ronald Takaki

Catholic immigrants in America James Stuart Olson

Hate, prejudice and racism Milton Kleg

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Page prepared by Jessica Low

Databases
Finding Books
Finding Periodicals
Finding Articles
Other Resources
BY TITLE
BY TOPIC
------ Frequently Used ------
1. OASys
2. Link+
3. FirstSearch
4. ProQuest
5. EBSCO
6. LexisNexis
7. WilsonWeb
8. Gale
9. ABC-CLIO
By Title or Author
By Topic
New in Our Library
Book Reviews
OASys
Get Help
By Title
By Topic
Periodicals Lists
OASys
Get Help
By Title or Citation
By Topic
Online Articles
Scholarly Articles
Get Help
Finding Public Web Pages
Finding DVDs and Videos
Finding Images and Multimedia
Special Collections
Oxy Music Library
Nearby Libraries
OASys
Get Help
Page last edited on 12/16/2011.
Reviewed by Jessica Low on 01/23/2008.
 

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