Sociology

This page will provide you with some tips and tricks to make your research a breeze! If you still can't find what you need, please don't hesitate to contact the library! You can find our contact information and more on the Get Help page.

To get you started, here are some general search strategies:

Keyword Strategies

Use these keywords in a general search in any one of our recommended databases or inside DragonQuest:

• “Racial Groups”
• “Hate Crimes” AND Sociology
• “Diversity Training” AND Sociology
• Discrimination AND Sociological Theory
• “Native Americans” AND Federal Government
• “Housing Segregation” 
• Social Construction of Race
• Statehood AND Sovereignty
• “China Town”
• “Pay Equity” AND Gender

Subject Strategies

Searching for results by subject heading, rather than by keywords, can help you focus your search in new directions. Consider these subject search options:

• Social Behavior
• Hate Crimes
• Diversity Training
• Sociological Theory
• Native Americans -- Government relations -- 1934
• Housing Discrimination
• Cultural Property
• Contested Statehood
• Street Food
• Gender Bias

The following image shows you how to change your search to a subject search by using the dropdown menu inside DragonQuest:

Research Starters

Need some extra guidance? Try a Research Starter: 

• Sexual Harassment

• Glass Ceiling

• Abortion

• Gender Roles

• Apartheid

• Zionism

• Concentration Camp

• Japanese American Internment

• Holocaust

• Antisemitism

• Racial Profiling

• Islamophobia

• Culture of Poverty

• School Desegregation

• Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s

• Black Power

• Pluralism

• Emigration

• Immigration

• Affirmative Action

• Assimilation

• Hate Crime

• Stereotype

• Prejudice & Discrimination

• Ethnicity

What is a Research Starter?

Research Starters are encyclopedia entries, so they are more of an "idea gathering" mechanism than a scholarly source to support your stance on an issue. They provide you with background information on a broad topic and highlight keywords you can use and/or links to source material to get you started on your research. 

Narrowing DragonQuest Search Results

If you'd like to know how to narrow down your DragonQuest list to only full text, peer reviewed, or specific types of resources, we recommend the following tutorial:

If you'd like additional guidance on using Academic Writer, we recommend the following tutorial: