SOC 0102: Qualitative Research Methods

Welcome to the research guide for SOC 102 with Professor Marrow! Within the different tabs of this guide, you'll find resources to help you with your research and tips for improving your research skills.

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 this page.

Professor Marrow has asked you to find 6-7 peer reviewed, sociological journal articles for your literature review assignment. Most of you will be familiar with what that means, but below you'll find some reminders just in case. If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask Cece or another librarian!

Journal Articles

How can I tell if the resource I found is a journal article?

This is something that trips everyone up at least once.

• When you are looking at a resource from a database or Google Scholar search, if you encounter volume and issue numbers (often styled "volume, no. issue" in citations in Chicago style) and page numbers, you are looking at a journal article.
• Often the fact that journal titles often include the word "journal" helps too. :)
• Many library databases often include labels on the resources in the result page that can help you identify journal articles as well.

Peer Review

What is peer review?

Peer review is a part of the scholarly publishing process during which an article that a scholar wants to publish in a journal (scholarly books often go through a similar process but it is not called peer review) is reviewed by other scholars in the discipline to ensure that the article is well-researched, accurate, and up to the standards of the journal and the discipline. The process is often anonymous for both the reviewers and the article author, which is also known as double blind peer review.

Peer review is an opportunity for feedback for the authors and lends an extra layer of credibility to both their work and the journal as a whole. It is a core element of scholarly journal publishing for Sociology and many other disciplines.

How can I tell if a journal is a peer reviewed journal?

• You can look up the title of the journal in your preferred search engine and find the information through the journal's website.
• Many databases, including Sociological Abstracts, and search tools, like Jumbo Search, will have a peer reviewed filter that you can use to limit your results to only peer reviewed journal articles.
  • Jumbo Search also has a peer reviewed label on peer reviewed resources.
  • Note: Google Scholar does not have a filter or labeling system to identify peer reviewed journal articles for you, so you'll need to check the journal yourself.
• You can look at the metadata that accompanies the article in many library databases -- there will often be a field for peer review status.