SOC 101 Course Guide

This guide will connect you to the resources you need to use to find scholarly and popular articles on a topic such as "deviance". For an overview of the research process, where to go, how to construct a search, see the Tutorial below.

Books
Articles (Search Databases)
Tutorial

Prof. James T. Mellone

Bibliographer for Sociology

Books

You may want to read a good summary which defines the theory of social deviance. A sociology encyclopedia or dictionary, like those listed below, may provide such a summary.

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (Ref. HM425 .B53 2007, 11 vols.): Contains the most up-to-date short entries of key terms, and longer essays on large topics.
Encyclopedia of Criminology and Deviant Behavior (Ref. HV6017. E53 2001, 4 vols.): The best resource for examples and short descriptions of deviant behaviors.
Encyclopedia of Social Theory (Ref. HM4215 .E47 2005, 2 vols.): First place to consult for an authoritative summary of a social theory.
Encyclopedia of Sociology (2001, 2^nd edition; Ref. HM17 .E5 1991, 4 vols.): Standard reference source for short summaries of basic concepts and theories in sociology.
Opposing Viewpoints: Basic information from reference books, magazine and news articles on many social issues, such as abortion, capital punishment, welfare reform.

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 articles on a topic. You can use other Databases depending what topic you are researching.

Journal Articles (Scholarly)

PsycINFO: Citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, in the field of psychology and related disciplines, such as psychiatry, pharmacology, nursing. Covers psychological aspects of the social sciences.
SocINDEX: Abstracts to English-language journal and magazine articles, conference papers, book chapters and book reviews. For topics such as demography, family, gender, social work.
Sociological Abstracts: International literature in all topics of sociology, such as criminology, demography, family, social welfare. Abstracts to journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers, and citations to book reviews.

Magazine & Newspaper Articles (Popular)

National Newspapers Premier: 30+ major U.S. newspapers, such as Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and San Francisco Chronicle.
New York Times: Full-text of the newspaper—images NOT available. Updated daily.
Readers' Guide Full Text Mega: General interest database. Citations to articles from popular periodicals, primarily magazines. Covers current events, news, health, education, the arts, etc.

Scholarly and Popular Articles

These databases index both scholarly and popular articles.
After you complete a search, you can sort the search results to see separate lists of citations to journal, magazine, or newspaper articles.
The sorting feature will be in the left frame, or towards the top of the page.

Academic Search Complete: Comprehensive source for scholarly journals in all academic disciplines. More than 8,000 publications are indexed, and full text is provided for 4500. Most are peer-reviewed. Searchable cited reference sources are provided for selected titles. Also indexes some popular periodicals, both magazines and newspapers.
Research Library: Abstracts to articles from magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, and trade periodicals with citations of book reviews. For a broad range of topics in all subject areas.

Tutorial

How to Find Articles on Deviance