Library Guides: Sociology: Getting Started

Background Information

The first step with any assignment is to clarify any terms you are unsure of and identify any gaps in your understanding of your topic. Using reference materials (encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks) is like using Wikipedia, but better! Reference materials contain concise entries about different topics to help you define what you're looking for. Check out the reference materials below to learn more about different sociologists, their theories, terminology, and more.

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Full text reference books, including dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks. Covers all subjects

Reference Materials

The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology by Brian S. Turner (Editor)
Call Number: HM425 .C36 2006
Providing an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the classical and the contemporary, this volume is an indispensable guide to the vibrant and expanding field of sociology. Featuring over 600 entries, from concise definitions to discursive essays, written by leading international academics, the Dictionary offers a truly global perspective, examining both American and European traditions and approaches.
The Blackwell Companion to Sociology by Judith R. Blau (Editor)
Publication Date: 2008
The Blackwell Companion to Sociology is a milestone collection of new essays by renowned sociologists, covering both the traditions and strengths of the field as well as newer developments and directions.
Getting Sociology Right: A Half-Century of Reflections by Neil J. Smelser
Publication Date: 2014
Neil J. Smelser, one of the most important and influential American sociologists, traces the discipline of sociology from 1969 to the early twenty-first century in Getting Sociology Right: A Half-Century of Reflections. Examining sociology as a vocation and building on the work of Talcott Parsons, Smelser discusses his views on the discipline of sociology and shows how his perspective of the field evolved in the postwar era.

Search Tips

Keywords

Keywords are words that hold the essence, or the key, of what you are trying to find. Keywords should be descriptive and short and are often (but not always) nouns. If you're feeling stuck, try using a key concept/idea, a key group, a location, or a time period as your keywords.

If you are searching for sources for an assignment, you can identify the first keywords from the topic itself. Usually three keywords will give your search a good level of specificity. The more keywords you add, the narrower your search becomes.

Topic example: Why do some Canadians choose to purchase electric cars?

Keywords: Canadians (key group), purchase (concept), electric cars (concept)

Navigate to the Advanced Search page and enter your keywords, each in its own box. Example:

Synonyms

Synonyms are words that have the same, or nearly the same, meaning as the main keywords. Synonyms and keywords are interchangeable, which means that the meaning of your search will remain the same but your scope will be more broad. Using synonyms is a good way to capture extra results that are still related to your original topic.

Here are a few synonyms for the topic: Why do some Canadians choose to purchase electric cars?

reasons = decisions, motives

Canadians = Canadian people, Canadian drivers

purchase = buy, acquire

electric cars = hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, hybrid cars

In the database, your search with both keywords and synonyms will look something like this:

Boolean operators are a set of commands that you can use when searching databases and our library catalogue. By using them in your search, you will either broaden or narrow your results. The three most popular Boolean operators are: AND, OR and NOT.

AND: Use AND to join your keywords. Using AND will also narrow your search since it requires the database to find instances where both of your keywords are present. For example: “social sciences” AND research

OR: Use OR to connect your synonyms. Using OR will broaden your search since it will look for either one of the synonyms. Example: “social sciences” OR “sociology”

NOT: Use NOT when you are looking for one term not the other. Example: “social sciences” NOT “earth science”

Boolean operators can be used in the search box:

Or the Advanced Search screen in our library catalogue:

Use quotation marks when searching a for an exact phrase. This will instruct the search engine to find results with the two words together rather than separately. Be careful not to include too many words in quotations marks (i.e., entire sentences) as this may limit your search.

Examples: "social sciences"; "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms"; "climate change"; "mental health"

In this example, a search for mental health WITHOUT quotation marks yields about 2 million results. Adding "mental health" WITH quotation marks lowered the results to 1.6 million. This is a small trick that can change your results in a big way!

Truncation means to shorten a word. You can search all the alternate endings of a word by using an asterisk ( * ). You can also use the asterisk as a "wild card", when used this way, the asterisk will search for alternate spellings of a word.

Truncation examples:

Canad* will search for Canada, Canadian, Canadians all at the same time.
Educat* will search for education, educate, educator, educational, etc.

Wildcard example:

Wom*n will search: woman, women

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