UNM-Valencia Library:
 Searching and Evaluation in Sociology

Activity 1--Searching

Scenario: The assignment is to find sources relating to potential differences between rural and urban poverty. Some of the questions that might be explored would include these. Are there differences in the challenges the urban poor face versus those facing rural poor. Is the access and quality of health care for children different in rural areas versus urban areas in the United States? Which population has access to better food and consequently a better diet? Which group has better economic opportunities? Is poverty multi-generational in one of these environments? What survival and coping strategies work best in each environment? Is the family structure typically different in a rural versus urban environment? Is there a difference in perception of rural versus urban poverty?

• Divide into groups.
• Choose 2 of the databases listed below.
  • Academic Search Complete
  • National Criminal Justice Reference Service
  • Proquest Research Database
  • Sociological Abstracts
  • Social Services Abstracts
• Create a search strategy using from the problem above.
• Search same topic in each database.
• Choose one article.
• Report to class.
  1. Your search strategy.
  2. The name of the databases you searched.
  3. The article you found and why you chose it.
  4. The database you liked best and why.

Resources

The Research Process

1. Choose your topic.
2. Create your search strategy.
3. Search for resources.
4. Evaluate.
5. Search again and evaluate.
6. Use the information for your paper.

Selected Databases

• Sociological Abstracts
• Social Services Abstracts
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service
• LIBROS (for books)
• Education Research Complete
• ProQuest STEM Database
• Business Source Complete
• America History and Life
• CINAHL
• PsycInfo.
• Academic Search Complete
• Proquest Research Database

Subject Page

• Sociology Resources

Searching

Tools

• Use W Questions
• Concept mapper
• Developing a research question?
• Search strategy builder
• Search generator

Tips

• Identify place and put it in quotes if necessary ("New Mexico").
• Use truncation * (teen*).
• Use multiple search boxes.
• Do not use small works in phrases like "in" "to".
• Do you need full text now?
• Identify your population.
• Use fields(Subjects, Title, Anywhere).
• Limit by date.
• Limit by type of publication

Evaluation/Using Articles

• Evaluating Web Pages
• "TRAP" worksheet
• Know Your Sources
• Evaluate Information Sources Fresno State Henry Madden Library
• Anatomy of a Scholarly Article
• How to read a scientific paper
• Structure of Scholarly Articles and Peer Review
• Structure of a Research Paper
• Reading Scientific Papers
• Tips for Reading Scientific Papers

Activity 3--Searching Revisited

1. Each group chooses a database and searches for an article on the topic below.
2. Show your search strategy and article to the librarian/professor.
3. Revise as necessary.

Scenario 3: Find scholarly articles relating to the use of prisons to deter drug use and its related crimes. Does incarceration for misdemeanor crimes change behavior of addicts? Is gender or ethnicity an issue in prison sentences for drug related crimes? Would rehabilitation be less costly? What is the toll on the family structure when one of the parents is jailed for a drug offense? How often do individuals convicted of drug possession crimes re-offend if sentenced to prison versus a rehabilitation programs?