Social Research with Computers - Recently Updated Pages

Where Can I Find Information?

sknight@ramapo.edu — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:27:37 CST

Locating Articles

The library subscribes to numerous databases that are ONLY available to Ramapo students with the exception of GPO Access. Databases are not the internet and are the best resources to get journal, newspaper articles and government publications. You can use them 24/7 both on and off campus. Off campus use requires your Ramapo email and password.

Suggested Databases	Content
Sociological Abstracts	Covers abstracts on topics such as community organizations, criminology, child and family welfare, aging and more.
Social Science Journals	A full-text database that provides information on hundreds of topics such as community development, culture and social structure, demography, social psychology and more.
Gallup Brain	Full-text living record of 70 years of public opinion polls.
See Also:
Lexis:Nexis Academic	Offers newspaper and journal articles on foreign language news, general news, legal news, news transcripts, public opinion poll surveys, congressional hearings transcripts, medicine and other reference sources.
GPO Access (Free Online Resource)	Full-text information that dates back from 1994 of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches of the Federal Government.
JSTOR Complete	Provides archival full-text scholarly articles in social sciences, humanities, arts and sciences, statistics, business, etc.
Psychology Journals	Encompasses, a wide-range of topics from psychology, clinical, social psychology, social welfare, criminology, and more
PsycInfo	Contains more than two million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles as well as related topics such as sociology, psychology, anthropology, etc.

Tips for Searching Databases

Use the "Thesaurus" and "Subject Terms" tab in a database to find the best search terms to use.
Refine your search by using different terms where applicable
Always switch to the Advanced Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
Always use quotes around a phrase. The system searches the phrase as one word. Example: "child abuse"
Use Boolean Operators-AND, OR, NOT when running a search to help narrow and broaden a search.
AND narrows your search. example: children AND education
OR broadens your search. example: Children OR child
NOT eliminates search results. example: child NOT boys
Always check your Spelling if the database results are Zero
"Check Availability" link to see if articles are full-text
Use Journal Finder: to find journal, magazine, and newspaper full-texts articles online, in print or available in microfilm.
Get a book or an article through Interlibrary Loan if the Potter Library does not own it.
Check out Ulrich's International Periodical Directory to see if a journal is scholarly/Peer Reviewed/Refereed. Articles in these journals have been reviewed by a selected panel of experts in the discipline covered by that journal

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Locating Web Sources

Use Statistics and Subject Resources link to locate supportive materials.

Other Suggested Internet Data Sources

American Time Use Survey - A study which begun in 2003 by the Census Bureau on behalf of the Bureau of labor Statistics. Contains information on how Americans use personal, work, and leisure time. Summary tables and microdata can be downloaded. You can also create custom extracts from the surveys via the ATUS Data Extract Builder, a joint project of the Maryland and Minnesota population centers .
Child Care and Early Education Research Connection - Links to research datasets, statistics and reports. A collaboration of ICPSR, National Center for Children in Poverty, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Consumer Expenditure Survey - Conducted by the Census Bureau on behalf of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Survys buying habits and expenditures of households. You can create custom tables on the site.
County and City Data books - City and place geographies are available with limited variables. Nevertheless, you can create custom tables and extracts from the 1944-2000 data books. Tables can be displayed in your browser and downloaded in a spreadsheet. Check Census Bureau site for 2007 edition with Tables in Excel and PDF format.
National Opinion Research Center - Select, analyze, and extract variables from the most recent cumulative file using Nesstar software.
Data Ferrett - A product of the Census Bureau Integration Division. Data Ferrett retrieves and analyzes data from myriad data sets in and outside of the Census Bureau, then displays it visually on webpages.

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Locating Books

The online catalog provide books, journal titles NOT ARTICLES, government publications (print & electronic), e-books, reserve items, music, and movies owned by the library. You may limit a search by keyword, author, subject, language, type of material etc. This may take a few seconds to load.

Let's use keywords, authour or subject feature.

First search the catalog using keywords to locate a board range of material and look for resources for your topics.
For example, criminals

Secondly, search by author to locate material written by an expert in sociology, for example: Durkheim, Emile

Thirdly, search Subject Headings Feature ONLY if you know the Library of Congress Subject Headings, for example

Suggested Subject Headings
Interviewing Sampling Social Sciences Research Methodology Social Surveys Qualitative Research Questionnaires

Suggested Subject Headings

Interviewing
Sampling
Social Sciences Research
Methodology
Social Surveys
Qualitative Research
Questionnaires

TIPS for Searching the Catalog

Start with broad searches. It is easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
If you don't know the Subject Heading, use Subject, etc. tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus on more relevant material.
You can also "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.
Access Documents Without Shelves through the online catalog to find U.S. online documents.

Social Research Tools

sknight@ramapo.edu — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:34:12 CST

Professor Kristen Kenneavy

SOCI 307

February 6, 2009

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Getting Started
Choosing Data Sets
Where Do I Find Information?
How Do I Evaluate Sources?
What's an Annotated Bibliography?
How Do I Avoid Plagiarism?

Need More Help?
Contact Shirley Knight@sknight@ramapo.edu or 201.684.7315
Reference Desk 201.684.7574
Use QandANJ 24/7 (virtual reference chat)

How Do I Avoid Plagiarism?

sknight@ramapo.edu — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:27:49 CST

When you use others words, charts, and graphs without documenting where you got the information, you have plagiarized!

There are Consequences!

Implement these tools:

Academic Intergrity to give credit where credit is due.
Use Citing Sources for examples of "In-Text Citations" and "Works Cited"
Use Citing Websites and Print Sources to locate call numbers for APA style paper copies.
Check out the Citing Sources tutorial for more information

How Do I Evaluate What I Found?

sknight@ramapo.edu — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:21:47 CST

Reliable resources are an expectation of college level research.

You want to identify and use sources that are reliable and relevant for your projects.

What types of resources did you use?

Use Evaluating Websites to determine if the site is authoritative enough to use in your paper.

See also, Evaluating the Internet tutorial for more information on using the internet for research.

Check out Scholarly vs Popular Journals to clarify whether or not you used a scholarly journal.

Get tips on criteria for Evaluating Books you used.

Choosing Data Sets

sknight@ramapo.edu — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 09:05:28 CST

Suggestions to Get Started:

Pick a data set that interests you
Start by browsing through your class readings and notes to get ideas
Read through journals or browse the library's reference and circulating collection
View the selected data source links under Locating Web Sources for additional ideas.
Keep a handle on your research by using the Research Strategies Worksheet to track your research. Refer back to it when compiling your work cited list or as a review of what you have done and need. Try it now!

Record your thoughts etc.:

Write out what you are looking for. For example, Are women abused more than men? Your keywords are women, abused, men
Write down everything you know and want to know about your topic.
You want to start with a broad topic and began to narrow your topic as you focus on the specific area you want to research. The best way to start narrowing a topic is to consult with reference materials to get an overview of your topic, names of important authors, and references to other useful sources.
Refining your topic is an ongoing process. You may need to refine your topic several times.
Limit your resources to a time period, or geography etc. (if any)
Consider how much information you need
Above all, start early to have enough time to complete your project?

The Suggested Reference Sources are located on reference stacks on the 3rd floor of the library, which is also the entrance to the library.

Dictionary, Encyclopedias, Guides, & Handbooks	Call Number
Qualitative Inquiry: a dictionary of terms	Ref H61.8 .S4435 1997
The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods	Ref H62 .L456 2004
Encyclopedia of Social Measurement	Ref H62 .E53 2005
Encyclopedia of Evaluation	Ref H62 .E583 2005
A Guide to Empirical Research in Communication: Rules for Looking	Ref H61.8 .S964 2001
A Guide for Writing Sociology Papers	Ref HM 585 .G78 2001
SSPS for Windows Step by Step: A Simple Guide and Reference	Ref HA 32 .G458 2006
The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research	Ref H 62 .H2455 2005
Handbook of Interview Research:Context & Method	Ref H61.28 .H26 2001
Sample Annotated Bibliographies
Survey Research Methodology, 1990-1999: An Annotated Bibliography	Ref Z7164 .S667 W35 2003
Demography of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the United States: An Annotated Bibliography with a Review Essay	Ref E184 .A1 Z99 M6 1984
American Women and the Labor Movement, 1825-1974, An Annotated Bibliography	Ref Z7963 .E7 S635 1976

How Do I Develop an Annotated Bibliography?

sknight@ramapo.edu — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:14:49 CST

What's an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of sources in which each citation is followed by a brief pararagh that summarizes, describes, and critically evalutates the source.

Your assignment is to develop an annotated bibliography categorized by a topic of your choosing using the APA citation style.

Different Types, Samples and Writing an Annotated Bibliography

See Annotated Bibliographies (University of North Carolina), How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography (Cornell University) and Writing an Annotation (Colgate University Libraries)
for criteria you should include in an annotated bibliography and APA citation examples.
Sample of an APA annotation and APA Annotated Bibilography (Purdue University) .