How to use this guide
Welcome to the general research guide for Sociology! Within the different tabs of this guide, you'll find resources to help you with your research and tips for improving your research skills. The News Sources and Data tabs will open in new tabs, as they link to other Tisch Library research guides with resources to help you with your research.
If you have any questions about any part of the research process, you can always reach out to Cece, your subject librarian via the box in the right column of each page.
If you have a more urgent question that won't wait for an email response, please visit the AskUs page on the Tisch website to chat with a librarian.
Reference Sources (Background Information)
What is a reference Source?
A reference source is a scholarly discussion that summarizes and synthesizes topics, concepts, or the scholarly conversation about a particular topic/concept. Typically, a reference source does not contain original research. These sources provide important background and contextual information on your subject. Reference sources include bibliographies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks. You can use this type of source to help narrow your research topic, brainstorm types of data that might support your thesis, and identify keywords and main ideas to use as search terms.
Select Reference Resources:
- Credo ReferenceOnline reference resources from numerous publishers. This reference resource can be searched by individual title, broad subject headings, cross-references, audio and images. Use its research mapper to search for terms and topics that are interconnected and displayed in (a) visual form. Credo is an excellent place to start your search, especially if you are new to your topic.
- Gale eBooksGale eBooks is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
- Oxford Handbooks OnlineOxford Handbooks Online is a collection of the best Handbooks across many different subject areas. One of the most prestigious and successful strands of Oxford’s scholarly publishing, the Handbook series contains in-depth, high-level articles by scholars at the top of their field.
- Oxford ReferenceProvides web access to more than 100 major Oxford University Press dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference works in the humanities, social sciences, foreign languages, science, technology and medicine, the performing arts, and religion. Works can be searched separately or across the entire databases. Includes over 1.5 million entries.
