Sociology Research Guide: SOC 215 Research Project
A guide to resources for sociology
Recommended resources
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Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary database including journals and popular periodicals.
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CQ Researcher (Congressional Quarterly) This link opens in a new window
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Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new windowLook for your country in the list of current issues. If no entry for your country, use the Advanced Search & search by subject.
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ProQuest Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Search terms to try
Search these terms as subjects rather than keywords whenever possible to get fewer, better results (whole books or articles about these topics)
- Racism
- Race discrimination
- Race relations
- Discrimination
- Prejudice
- Ethnicity
- Ethnic conflict
- Ethnic relations
- Social conflict
- Social conditions
- Culture conflict
- Sectarian conflict
- Intergroup relations
- Ethnic groups
- Religion & politics
- Religion & law
- Church & state
- Violence - religious aspects
- Political violence
- Mexico (name of country)
- Mexican Americans, Hispanic Americans, etc.
- Immigrants
- Illegal aliens
- Minorities
- Multiculturalism
- Indigenous peoples
U.S. Topics
- Flags - Confederate States of America
- Monuments
- Soldiers' monuments
- Eugenics; history of eugenics
- Police brutality
- Police misconduct
- Complaints against police
- Police - community relations
- Racial profiling in law enforcement
- Race discrimination in law enforcement
- Women's rights
- Social movements
- Feminism
- Yellow power (2 book reviews only)
- Migrant labor
- Labor movement
- Women migrant labor
- Migrant agricultural workers
The Assignment
You have several options to research:
- A historical biography
- A social tension in a country outside of the US
- A specific movement or issue in the US
In addition to the textbook, you need 4 reliable sources.
- They don't have to be peer-reviewed, and reliable news sources are ok.
Tips and tricks
- Use our Gale encyclopedias (in the box above) to find the historical context that shapes your story or social issue.
- Use the "Advanced Search" option in our databases so you can search for multiple terms at once.
- Add the word sociology or social aspects as a second search term to find sociology-specific results.
- Example:
- Example:
- Think of synonyms for your search terms.
- Add United States to any search to narrow the results
- Truncate ethnic* to pick up all the possible headings beginning with ethnic--also immigra*
- Try: mexico and (social or ethic or culture) and conflict (OR broadens the search & picks up all 3)
- The more search terms you use, the fewer results you get. Be flexible, try different combinations!
