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Tennessee State University Library
Welcome to the Sociology Research Guide!
This guide is designed as a starting point for your research in the field of sociology. You can find an overview of some of the most popular and frequently used databases, books, and other resources, as well as tips and tricks to guide you through the research process. Explore the tabs in the left-hand side bar to learn about search strategies, finding sources, evaluating sources, and citing sources.
Introduction to Sociology
Sociology is the study of human beings in relation to the groups, organizations, and institutions affecting their lives. The sociological perspective encompasses a number of analytic tools designed to look beyond the obvious aspects of everyday life and to detect new levels of reality (Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology).
It is by nature an interdisciplinary field of study that draws from multiple different academic areas, from anthropology to history to economics and more, so keep this in mind when you are looking for resources. Don't be afraid to get creative and explore your topic from other perspectives. You can consult subject guides in overlapping disciplines, depending on your inquiry, to see what additional resources might be useful for you.
Below are some examples of subject-specific databases on a few topics to help you get started.
- eHRAF World Cultures
eHRAF World Cultures database contains information on present and past aspects of cultural and social life for a worldwide sample of societies. The contents are organized by cultures and indexed at the paragraph level by HRAF anthropologists with unique subject identifier codes from the Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM), making it ideal for both exploratory, in-depth cultural research, and cross-cultural comparisons.
- Black Thought and CultureProvides primary source materials published by the leading African American thinkers and intellectuals of their day.
- Social Services AbstractsThis provides bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services and related areas, including social welfare, social policy and community development. The database abstracts and indexes over 1,300+ serials publications and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations and citations to book reviews.
- Social Work AbstractsProduced by the National Association of Social Workers, Inc., this database contains more than 45,000 records, spanning 1977 to the present, from social work and other related journals on topics such as homelessness, AIDS, child and family welfare, aging, substance abuse, legislation, community organization, and more.
- Gale OneFile: Gender Studies
This a Gale custom collection of nearly 40 journals aims to provide balanced coverage of this significant aspect of our culture, covering such topics as gender studies, family and marital issues, health aspects, and many more.