Monday, January 27, 2020

secondary sources continued

HW:  Reminder to read Gang Leader for a Day for Wed

Often, sociological research shows up in secondary sources.  These sources explain the findings of the research without detailing the research methods and background.  Some examples of secondary sources include:
  • Textbooks; for our class; Real World Sociology by Ferris and Stein. The text might seem to just be musings/opinions about society but there are 30 pages of references at the end of the book.  Here is one page showing the references for the text.
    • News articles;  One example is the article, The Myth of the Two-Parent Household, from Harvard professor Christina Cross in the NY Times (2019) also available here.   What research is this article based on?  Is it qualitative or quantitative?  
    • Contexts magazine; A publication by the American Sociological Association that explains the latest research in an accessible way for students and general public to understand.  Here is the Contexts website, especially in the In Brief section   You can access Contexts by issue through the ILC page using the search by title page here.

    • The Society Pages:  Website of sociology resources, especially Discoveries page.


    Using JSTOR

    JSTOR is an online storage site for journals.  JSTOR is very helpful for research.  You can search for individual journals or groups of journals.  The downside to JSTOR is that there is a "moving wall" which only allows access to journals a few years old.  For the most recent journal articles, you have to access the journal directly (using the links above for Contexts or Contemporary Sociology) or you can read the latest articles in print at your university library.  


    Applying your secondary source understanding

    Do your own search in the NY Times for sociology by clicking here for a Google search of "sociology" in the NYT.  Choose an article that looks interesting to you.  What was it about? Skim the article to find the sociology research in it.  Can you identify who did the research and where it was published? 

    Search JSTOR for secondary sociology sources in Contemporary Sociology and Contexts.  Choose topics that are interesting to you.  What research did you find?  Was the research qualitative or quantitative?

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