Sociology: Library Resources

Reference Sources

The following sources provide useful background information on topics related to sociology and social research.  All books are located in the Birnbaum Library Reference section unless otherwise noted.

Background Sources in Sociology

Beyond the Enlightenment: Lives and Thoughts of Social Theorists    Ref HM478 .S35 2004
Major figures and groups of theorists who shaped sociology are examined. This work serves as a "quick reference to the basic ideas of people often cited."

Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology    Ref JA76 .B58 2001
Covers the interdisciplinary study of political sociology in over thirty essays based on theories, concepts, and case studies.

Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology    Ref HM425 .J64 2000
Johnson's second edition of this valuable work covers fundamental concepts in sociology and social research. Biographical profiles of influential thinkers are also provided.

Critical Dictionary of Sociology    Ref HM 17. B6813 1989
Articles describe main concepts and thinkers in sociology.  Each article includes a bibliography.

Encyclopedia of Sociology    Ref HM 425. E5 2000 (vols. 1-5)
Detailed articles with lengthy bibliographies covering sociology and social research methods.

Encyclopedia of Urban Cultures: Cities and Cultures Around the World    Ref HT108.5 .E53 2002 (vols. 1-4)
Four-volume in-depth work covers background information and statistical profiles for over 240 major world cities. Included are maps, photos, and bibliography.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Sociology    Ref HM 17. E 529 1991
Definitions, as well as biographies and longer treatments of select social issues.

International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences    Ref H 41. I58 2001
Articles on major topics from all social and behavioral science disciplines.  Each includes bibliographic references.

Survey of Social Science: Sociology Series    HM 17. S86 1994
Each article includes a brief definition, principal terminology, and an essay.

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Social Research Methods

Dictionary of Social Science Methods    Ref. H 41. M54 1983
Short summaries of current methods in major social scientific disciplines.

Handbook of Qualitative Research    H62 .H2455 2000
Completely revised edition of this handbook, including six major topics not previously covered in the first edition such as critical race theory, testimonies, and applied ethnography.

Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement    H 62. M44 1991
A sourcebook for every step in the process of social research; emphasis is quantitative.

Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research    Ref. Reserve HN 29 .S34 2001
Textbook for SOC 380; on reserve at the Birnbaum Library Circulation Desk.

Misleading Evidence and Evidence-Led Policy: Making Social Science More Experimental    H61 .M68 2003
Examines various issues surrounding the methodology and statistical methods used in sociology, which can lead to faulty conclusions from misleading evidence. Specific experimental designs are discussed.

Questionnaires: Design and Use    Ref. BF 39. B445 1986
Contains essays describing the design and implementation of questionnaires, with samples.

Statistical Analysis for the Social Sciences    HA29 .K937 1999
Basic introduction to analyzing and interpreting statistical information often associated with the social sciences.

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Statistical Information

The following sources of statistical information are general.  To find statistical compendia covering particular topics, try a keyword search in the library catalog using "[your topic] and statistics" (e.g. "marriage and statistics" or "firearms and statistics").

Census Bureau Home Page    http://www.census.gov/
The U.S. Census Bureau includes data from Census 2000, as well as select historical data. 

FedStats    http://www.fedstats.gov/
Gateway site for statistical information collected by the federal government.

Statistical Abstract of the United States    Ref. Desk HA 202 (Older editions in the Reference section, and on the second floor in the Reference Annex)
Summary statistics arranged by topic in a government-published compendium.  Also available on the Web at http://www.census.gov/statab/www/.

Statistical Resources on the Web    http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
A guide to statistical sources on the Web from the University of Michigan's documents center.

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Finding Books in the Pace University Library

You can find other books on your research topic by searching the online Pace Library Catalog by subject or keyword. Subject searches target the specific Library of Congress Subject Headings that have been assigned to the books that the Pace Library owns.  Unless you know the subject headings that pertain to your topic, you may want to begin with a Keyword search.  Once you have found a source that you find useful, look at the Library of Congress Subject Headings towards the bottom of the catalog record to determine the best terms to use in a Subject search for further materials.  For more information, please see our guide to Using the Pace Library Catalog.

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Finding Journal Articles

To find out which sociology journals the library subscribes to (in print and/or electronic formats), go into the Pace Library Catalog, and choose to Browse Journals by Subject.

To find journal articles on a particular topic, use one of the library's databases.  To access social science  databases that the Pace Library subscribes to, go to the library home page (http://www.pace.edu/library/), click on Databases, and use the pull-down menu labeled "Subject Research Area" to select Social Science.  You may also choose a specific database from an alphabetical list.  The following library databases may be useful for research in sociology:

Academic Search Premier
Provides full text for more than 3,430 scholarly publications covering academic areas of study including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies.  Help on searching this database is available.

JSTOR
Offers full-text access to back issues of scholarly journals. Help on searching this database is available.

InfoShare    1980-present
Population statistics, immigration trends, socio-economic indicators, birth and death data, hospitalizations, local economic data accessible by state, locality, zip code or census tract.  Help on searching this database is available.

Lexis-Nexis Universe   1970-present
Lexis-Nexis Universe offers full-text access to news, business, legal, and medical information.  Help on searching this database is available.

PAIS    1972-present
More than 200,000 records representing articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs.  Help on searching this database is available.

Research Library    1985-present
Contains citations, with abstracts, to more than 1,900 general-interest periodicals. Included are over 500 periodicals related to the social sciences, nearly 400 related to the humanities, more than 150 in the general sciences field, and approximately 200 business titles. More than 200 of the journals are available in full text.  Help on searching this database is available.

Sociological Abstracts    1963-present
Contains indexes and abstracts. Covers journals in sociology, social work, and other social sciences.  Help on searching this database is available.

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Finding Web Sites

The Pace Library maintains a directory of Web sites that librarians have looked at and judged to be appropriate for academic research.  To access this directory, visit the Library's Internet Resources page and use the pull-down menu provided to find sites related to your topic area.  Subjects that may be of interest to students in the social sciences include Sociology, Contemporary Issues, Public Administration and Women's Studies.  Other, more extensive directories of high-quality Web resources that you may find useful include:

INFOMINE    http://infomine.ucr.edu/
A collection of scholarly Internet resources, arranged by subject.  INFOMINE was developed by the University of California, Riverside.

 Librarians' Index to the Internet    http://lii.org/
Though specifically intended for users of public libraries, this annotated subject directory links to more than 9,000 high-quality Web resources.

The Scout Report Archives    http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/archives/
Search for critical evaluations of Websites that have appeared in previous editions of the Scout Report.

You may also find useful information on the Web by using a general search engine such as Google (http://www.google.com) or a subject specific search engine such as Scirus (http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/) or FirstGov (http://firstgov.gov/).  Keep in mind that anybody can publish on the Web, so it is particularly important to critically evaluate the information that you find there.  For more information, please see the Pace Library's guide to Evaluating Resources.

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Citing Your Sources

Once you have finished your research and written your paper, you will need to prepare your bibliography and cite any sources you have referenced within the text.  Please see the Pace Library's guide to How to Cite Resources for more information on citation styles for print and electronic resources.  Check with your instructor if you are unsure of which citation style to use.

Created by Pace University Library
Last Revised 1/31/05
Janell Carter
jcarter3@pace.edu