Research Methodology I

Need help with your research? Contact:

Jen Jarson
Social Sciences Reference Librarian
phone: x3552
email: jarson [at] muhlenberg [dot] edu
IM (AIM, Yahoo, MSN): jjarson1 (add @hotmail.com for MSN)

Need help after hours?
IM the Library at TalkToTrexler (for AIM, Yahoo, and MSN)
Note: Add @hotmail.com for MSN.
Online Sunday-Thursday 2pm-10pm.
See Ask a Librarian for more information.

What is a Literature Review?

Literature Reviews (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html

How to Write a Literature Review (University of California, Santa Cruz)
http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview.html

Selected Reference Materials

Borgatta, Edgar F. and Rhonda J. V. Montgomery, eds. Encyclopedia of Sociology. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, 2000.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 301.03 E56of v.1-5 (Level A)

Bryant, Clifton, D. and Dennis L. Peck, eds. 21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2007.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 301 T971c v.1-2 (Level A)

Elliott, Anthony and Larry Ray, eds. Key Contemporary Social Theorists. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2003.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 300.922 E46k (Level A)

Marshall, Gordon. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 301.03 M368c (Level A)

Ritzer, George, ed. Encyclopedia of Social Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2005.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 301.01 E56o v.1-2 (Level A)

Smelser, Neil J. and Paul B. Baltes, eds. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. New York: Elsevier, 2001.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 300.3 I61e v.1-26 (Level A)

Trexler Library may also have other reference works more related to your particular topic. To find them, search the catalog or ask for help. Examples include:

Arnett, Jeffrey Jensen, Ed. Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2007.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 302.23083 E56o v.1-2 (Level A)

Bankston, Carl L., Ed. Racial and Ethnic Relations in America. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2000.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 305.800973 R121a v.1-3 (Level A)

Mink, Gwendolyn, and Alice O'Connor, Eds. Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and Policy. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 339.460973 M665p (Level A)

Newton, David E. Violence and the Media: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1996.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 303.6 N562v (Level A)

Odekan, Mehmet, Ed., Encyclopedia of World Poverty. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 362.503 E56o v.1-3 (Level A)

Finding Articles

SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES

To access these and other article databases from the Library Homepage, use the Databases A-Z (in the Quick Links box).

Subject Specific Databases

Anthropology Plus
Premier anthropology database.

Health Source and PubMed
Premier health profession databases.

JSTOR
Searchable collections of full-text journals across many disciplines. Contains full-text of many anthropology and sociology journal titles. (Note: To restrict results to anthropology/sociology/other journals, from Advanced Search screen, choose discipline category/ies.)

Sage Journals Online
Provides access to all journals published by Sage, an important publisher in the social sciences. Full text online for 1999-present.

Sociological Abstracts
Premier sociology database.

Interdisciplinary Databases

Academic Search Premier
Large and diverse database that covers most academic disciplines. Contains both scholarly and non-academic resources. Includes many articles in full text.

OmniFile (WilsonWeb)
Multi-disciplinary database providing the complete content-indexing, abstracts, and full text-from six of Wilson's full-text databases, including Social Sciences Abstracts.

Also try...

See a list of all article databases via the Library Homepage -- Databases A-Z (in the Quick Links box).

Check the Subject Guides (linked from the Library Homepage) for other recommended databases for this and other subject areas.

Not sure which database will have the best results for your topic? Try Search Central to search across many of the library's databases at once to identify those with the most results for your search. From the Library Homepage, use the Search Central search box in the tab on the Search Central link in the Quick Links box.

GETTING THE ARTICLES

When searching for articles in library databases, you may find the full-text of an article linked in the database.
If not, you need to search the Trexler Library Catalog to see if we own the journal in which the article is published.
- Most databases have a Get It! link embedded. Click the link to check our holdings.
- Otherwise, search the catalog by journal title or by ISSN . Verify that we have online, print, or microform access to the year/volume you need.
If we do not own the journal you need, request the article via Interlibrary Loan.
- Some databases have a Request on Interlibrary Loan link embedded. Click the link to fill out the form. Click Submit.
- Otherwise, use the Interlibrary Loan Journal Article Request Form (Library Homepage -- Interlibrary Loan (in the Quick Links box) -- Articles request form). Fill out the form with as much information as possible. Ask for help, if you have questions.

Finding Books

TREXLER LIBRARY

Search the Trexler Library Catalog to find out what books, government publications, journals, videos, etc. the library owns.

GETTING THERE: Use the shortcut search box on the Library Homepage or Library Homepage -- Library Catalogs (in the Quick Links box) -- Trexler Library Catalog

OTHER LIBRARIES

WorldCat. To find books held by other libraries, search WorldCat, a database of over 60 million library records from around the country and world. Use the ILL button to request a book from another library. (ILL can take 10-14 days.)

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage -- Library Catalogs (in Quick Links box) -- Other Library Catalogs -- WorldCat

Citing Your Sources

Style Guide for Papers (Sociology and Anthropology Department, Muhlenberg College)

http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/soc-anth/policies/style.html

For help using Chicago style, consult the following resources:

The Chicago manual of style, 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Reference Desk Reserve 808.027 C632m (at Reference Desk)

Trexler Library handout on using Chicago style: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/chicago_example.pdf
This and other style guide handouts available from the library website. Library Homepage -- Citation Guides (in the Research box).

Writer's Handbook (Writing Center, University of Wisconsin--Madison)
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html

For help using American Sociological Association Style, consult the following resources:

American Sociological Association. ASA style guide, 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association, 1997.
Reference Desk Reserve 808.0663 A512a (at Reference Desk)

ASA Style Guide (California State University, Los Angeles)
http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html

Quick Style Guide (American Sociological Association)
http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?name=Quick+Style+Guide§ion=Sociology+Depts

For help using American Anthropological Association Style, consult the following resources:

American Anthropological Association (AAA) Style Guide (Based on the Chicago Style)
http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.htm

For help collection, organizing, managing, and formatting citations, consider using Zotero.

http://www.zotero.org/

"Zotero is an easy-to-use yet powerful research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources (citations, full texts, web pages, images, and other objects), and lets you share the results of your research in a variety of ways. An extension to the popular open-source web browser Firefox, Zotero includes the best parts of older reference manager software (like EndNote)-the ability to store author, title, and publication fields and to export that information as formatted references-and the best parts of modern software and web applications (like iTunes and del.icio.us), such as the ability to interact, tag, and search in advanced ways.