inga h. barnello, m.l.s. barnello@lemoyne.edu psc 202 / soc 201
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Searching the Social Sciences Literature
Inga H. Barnello, M.L.S. barnello@lemoyne.edu
PSC 202 / SOC 201
Objective: a literature review» A written section of a paper that is a discussion of the
key publications that are out there on the topic
» This section of your project identifies important researchers/authors and what each has done that effectively built the knowledge in field.
» It should put the topic into context. You have tapped into the “conversation” that is occurring among scholars. Tell the reader what has transpired and how the research and thinking have come along.
Conduct a literature search
» Search a topic in a bibliographic database» “Translate” your research question into search words
˃ Use strategies involving+ And, or+ Use of the database’s subject field only, if results are “sketchy…” or if too
much comes up…+ Use of the database’s thesaurus of subject terms
» Read abstracts & evaluate what you found» Narrow your topic or change it…. Re-do…
» What do you hope/expect to find?» Someone describe your “dream” find today…» Who do you want to hear from?
Before you start searching ….
Data about societies PhDs in academia
PhDs in research institutes & think
tanks
Government agencies
Non-profit organizations
Practitioners: social workers, school teachers, urban
planners
News agencies & magazines
News & magazine articles
Peer-reviewed journal articles
Publish
Gov’t & research institute reports
Publishing in the
social sciences
Databases
Encyclopedia handbook
Books, book chapters
Differences Among Databases: Journals covered
SocINDEX: Strong focus on sociology….all the social sciences are covered (but less of political science)
Proquest Social Sciences All social sciences covered
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (ProQuest) Strong on international aspects, public policy & has
government reports ProQuest Criminal Justice Education Full Text and ERIC are good for violence in
the schools, school funding, etc.
Preparing to do a search
» Divide topic into its separate facets or variables (unrelated concepts that you wish to intersect)
» Check the terms used by the database and think about what you really WANT
income inequality unions
income distribution (is what SocINDEX uses) labor unions is the subject heading
labor movement is a subject term wage bargaining (?)
AFL-CIO
Boolean searching : AND
» AND limits retrieval by requiring each term˃ If you were to type into a single search box:
“Income distribution” and unions
The Boolean OR » allows all terms into the results » “union of sets”…. A U B » OR increases retrieval ˃ elections or campaigns˃ Homeowners or taxpayers˃ Gender or women˃ Race or racial or ethnicity
Women gender
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