SocResearch Lesson 1b: Sociology in Secondary Sources

HW (due in 3 days):  Read Gang Leader for a Day Introduction by Sudhir Venkatesh
For homework, read the excerpt in the link above.  This reading is the introduction of a widely popular book called Gang Leader For A Day by Sudhir Venkatesh.  Venkatesh grew up in California and attended undergrad there.  He then went to the University of Chicago for his PhD in sociology.  Venkatesh really wants to study race and poverty and he tries various types of research to learn about race and poverty's effects on Chicagoans.  As you read, think about all the ways that he tries to learn about race and poverty.  Additionally, think about the benefits and challenges of each way.

Today's lesson continues with the Google Form from yesterday - answer the questions as you go along. 

Here are examples of secondary sources that have sociology in them:

• 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.   7.  What research is this article based on?  You can do your own search in the NY Times for sociology by clicking here for a Google search of "sociology" in the NYT.  
• 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.

• Journal of Contemporary Sociology, a journal of reviews.  You can access Contemporary Sociology through the ILC page using the search by title page here.

Applying your secondary source understanding

Choose one of the secondary sources bulleted above (NY Times, Contexts, Society Pages, Journal of Contemporary Sociology).  Find an article about a topic you are interested in. Then explain what research the article was based on.  Feel free to try a few sources or articles before you decide to answer the questions below.

8.  What secondary source did you choose?

9.  What was the article you read?

10.  What research was the article about?