Sociology of Philanthropy Research Guide

Choose a topic that is interesting to you and which will work within your assignment's parameters. Usually your research goal is to locate published scholarship (books and journal articles) to read on your topic.

Remember to evaluate the accuracy of your resources, and think critically about their arguments. When in doubt, check with your Sociology instructor.

Books & Reference Books
Articles (Search Databases)
Journals & Trade Magazines (Browse E-Journals)
Data & Statistics
Charitable Foundations
Research Institutes
Tutorial

Prof. James T. Mellone

Bibliographer for Sociology

Books & Reference Books

First, read a good summary of a sociology topic in a sociology encyclopedia, like those listed in the Books section. Second, once you know the basics on your topic, search for more published scholarship, such as books in the CUNY Catalog or other catalogs.

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Directories

Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics (Ref. HD30.15 .B463 1997): Medium entries on ethical issues related to business and economic activity; entries signed by contributors; includes suggested readings; Volume XI of the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management.
Dictionary of Civil Society, Philanthropy and the Non-Profit Sector (Ref. HV12 .A64 2005): Short entries on key concepts, major concepts, and technical concepts; covers philanthropy, civil society, non-profit organizations, non-governmental organizations.
Dictionary of Nonprofit Terms & Concepts (Ref. HD2769.15 .S63 2006): Brief definitions covering administration, association, law, leisure, management, politics, religion, volunteers.
Encyclopedia of International Development (Ref. HD82 .E547 2005): Short and medium entries; covers economics and sociology of development, participatory development; includes cross-references and suggested readings.
Fundsnet Services: Grants and fundraising directory; lists fundraising programs, philanthropy, foundations, and non-profit organizations.
International Encyclopedia of Foundations (Ref. HV12 .I58 1990): Covers thirty-one foundations outside the United States; medium entries on a foundation's history, development, and activities.

Find Books

CUNY Catalog: Search for books at the Queens College libraries, as well as other CUNY libraries.
Library Catalogs: Search the library catalogs of regional libraries such as the Queens Library, Brooklyn Public Library, New York University, Columbia University, etc.
New York Public Library: Search CATNYP, the catalog of the research libraries at NYPL. Books at the research libraries are non-circulating and must be consulted on site. NYPL has one of the premier research collections in the country and is open to all New York State residents.
WorldCat: Search for books in the national catalog for the United States and Canada. Includes holdings from libraries in other parts of the world, primarily European or English-speaking.

Articles (Search Databases)

A journal article is written by a scholar or an expert, and provides a detailed analysis of a topic. It is written in the specialized language of a scholarly discipline (such as Sociology). It documents the resources the writer used by providing bibliographic citations such as footnotes, endnotes, and bibliography so a reader can check or repeat the research the scholar has completed.

A scholarly journal is edited by scholars, and any article published in the journal has usually been approved by the author's peers or by referees (other scholars expert in the subject who serve as editors or readers and critique the article before it is accepted for publication). This is why most scholarly journals are referred to as a Peer-Reviewed or Refereed journals. Here is a comparison between popular and scholarly periodicals. Use the following databases to search for journal articles on a topic. You can use other Databases depending what topic you are researching.

ABI/INFORM Complete: Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, trade publications.
Business Source Complete: Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, trade publication articles; includes company profiles, and country economic reports.
EconLit: Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book essays, working papers.
Social Sciences Full Text: Abstracts of scholarly journal articles and social commentary magazine articles; citations to book reviews.
SocINDEX: Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, magazine articles, conference papers, book chapters, and book reviews.
Sociological Abstracts: Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers; citations to book reviews; includes international publications.

Journals & Trade Magazines (Browse E-Journals)

Data & Statistics

Infoshare: Statistics for local areas of New York City and New York State. Demographic data from the 1980, 1990, 2000 census. Health, immigration, socio-economic data since the 1990s.
Social Explorer: United States demographic data, maps, and reports taken from the Federal Census, from 1940 to 2000.

Charitable Foundations

Studies and data are sometimes available from charitable foundations.

Research Institutes

Reports or studies written by research foundations.

Tutorial

Introduction to Library Research for the Social Sciences