Social Issues
From Simmons Library Research Guides
We have selected these resources to help you find relevant information on your research topic. Please contact a librarian for help using the resources listed in this guide or for help with your research process.
Contents |
Reference and Background Information
Search for Reference sources that contain information about your specific research topic here:
You may also consult the resources below for overviews of the topic that you have chosen to research. Use these resources to help you to put your topic in context and give you the big picture of what information exists about your topic. These resources may have bibliographies at the end of each entry that can help further your research.
- CQ Global Researcher
Eresource
With a more international focus than CQ Researcher, CQ Global provides timely, organized background information, critical assessments, maps and graphs, pro/con statements, and bibliographies on topics like pollution, arms control, international relations, and regional affairs.
- CQ Researcher
Simmons Eresource
CQ Researcher publishes weekly reports on issues in the news, and provides thorough and up-to-date coverage on various topics such as social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Each 12,000-word report includes an overview, chronology, pro/con statements, a bibliography, and more.
- Encyclopedia of American Social Movements
Level 1 Reference HN57 .E594 2004
A four volume encyclopedia that extensively discusses influential social movements in America. Movements discussed civil, labor, religious, antiwar, and student movements.
- Social Issues in America
Level 1 Reference HN57 .S624 2006
This eight-volume encyclopedia is a good resource for thorough, introductory reading on current social problems. Each signed, essay-length entry includes a bibliography, websites, a glossary, and the text of relevant official documents at the end. Although the essays are organized in alphabetical order, the excellent Topic Finder at the beginning of each volume helps locate the narrower topics within larger issues such as "Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Issues" and "Health and Medicine Issues."
Background Resources on Specific Topics
Abortion
- Encyclopedia of Abortion in the United States
level 1 Reference HQ767.5.U5 P35 2002
This encyclopedia discusses history, politics, law, religion, society and its relation to abortion. Terms and issues related to abortion are listed alphabetically, and each state is listed along with the specific abortion laws in the state. The time period stretches from the beginnings of the U.S. Government to 2002. Pro-choice and Pro-Life groups are listed. There is a bibliography and an index.
- The Pro-Life/Choice Debate
Level 1 Reference HQ767.5.U5 H467 2003
This book covers the debate surrounding the issue of abortion with a focus on the developments made in American in the last century. The author provides a reasonably neutral perspective to the heated issue, as well as easy to read narrative takes on the pivotal court cases and historical events that are central to the issue. This book is best used as general guide or research resource than a quick source of facts.
Children and Families
- Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood: In History and Society
Level 1 Reference HQ767.84 .E53 2003
This three volume set of encyclopedias takes a look at childhood throughout history, from ancient to modern times. The entries are short, topical essays that include full bibliographies to facilitate further research. This is definitely a good place to look for research for a paper.
- Encyclopedia of Family Life
Level 1 Reference HQ534 .E53 1999
Focusing on North America, this five volume set of encyclopedia investigates issues that pertain to modern family life with long essays on topics like "Blended Families," and "Poverty." Longer entries include bibliographies to aid further research, and all entries are helpfully cross referenced.
- International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family
Level 1 Reference HQ9 .E52 2003
Focusing on issues relating to marital and familial relationships, this four volume encyclopedia has a broad geographic scope, including entries on the cultural practices of individual countries, as well as including cross-cultural perspectives in pertinent topics. Targeted at professionals in the field, the encyclopedia nevertheless has a very readable, if academic, style. The entries are long and in-depth, and include extensive bibliographies.
- Marriage, Family, and Relationships: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia
Level 1 Reference HQ536 .B76 1994
This one volume encyclopedia covers topics related to major human social relationships, across multiple cultures. The entries take the form of longish articles on general and specific topics relating to the subject, and are written in an easily readable style targeted at general readers, or those beginning in the field. An index is included for ease of searching.
- Statistical Handbook on the American Family
Level 1 Reference HQ536 .S727 1999
This handbook presents recent statistical data on family, marriage, and children in over 350 graphs, figures and charts. Apart from demographic information, the issues covered also include topics like the amount of time husbands spend doing household tasks, cohabitation, and parents' interaction with children. A list of the graphs and tables organized by subject helps locate the data.
- State of America's Children, 1991-2004
Level 1 Reference and Level 2 Books HV741 .C55
This publication is the Children's Defense Fund's annual analysis of children's social issues in America. It includes reports on the latest developments, state-by-state comparisons, and other data concerning education, family income, juvenile justice, childcare, health insurance, early childhood development, and more.
Domestic Violence
- Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Sourcebook
Level 1 Reference HV6626.2 .D66 2000
Part of the Health Reference Series, this thorough reference book provides health information about Physical, Emotional, and Sexual abuse in the following populations: Spousal/Partner, Children, Siblings, Parents, and Elders. The book has a historical section, glossary, and resources for further reading as well as contact information on safe houses, hotlines, and governmental and non-governmental organizations.
- Child Maltreatment: Reports from the States to the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect
Level 1 Reference HV6626.52 .C56 2004. Earlier editions available.
This annual publication presents reports, tables and graphs summarizing data and statistics on child abuse, covering issues pertaining to the victims, perpetrators, and the provision of child protective services.
Racism
- The Color of Words: an Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States
Level 1 Reference E184.A1 H466 1997
This book defines over 850 ethnic and racial terms and expressions that reflect bias or that are often regarded as controversial or confusing. Besides the definition, many entries are also supplemented with information on the (social, historical, etc.) origin of the term.
- Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture
Level 1 Reference GN495.6 .D53 2003
This book is a dictionary of terms relating to race, ethnicity or culture, from aborigine to Zionism. Most entries are long in addition to a simple definition include a historical background and origin for each term as well as related social issues. There is also an index in the back of the text for quick searching and cross referencing.
- Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights
Level 1 Reference E185.61 .E54 1992
This volume contains nearly 800 short, signed entries in alphabetical order on notable persons and events in African-American emancipation and civil rights. Coverage includes important court cases but not opponents to the civil rights movement.
- Voices of Freedom
Level 1 Reference E185.61 .H224 1990
Sexism
See Women's Studies or Feminism
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Finding Articles
Below are suggested databases and indexes for articles on the topic that you have chosen to research. These databases include articles from newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals. Articles are shorter and more narrowly focused than books or reference materials so you should use them after you have narrowed your topic.
- Current TOPICSearch
Simmons Eresource
Search newspapers and other news sources for fulltext articles and images on current events and topics, such as the presidential campaign, global warming, and immigration.
- Sociological Abstracts
Simmons Eresource
A key resource for finding published research in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database draws information from an international selection of over 2,600 journals and other serial publications, plus conference papers, books, and dissertations. Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search.
- Social Sciences Index
Simmons E-resource
A database of abstracts and full-text articles from several social science publications. Updated weekly.
- Academic Search Complete
Simmons Eresource
Academic Search Complete is a great place to start your search for both popular and scholarly articles, no matter what your topic is! It contains journals from almost every topic and is designed specifically for academic institutions. It provides more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, 4,400 of which are peer-reviewed journals. This resource also features content as far back as 1865.
- Academic Onefile
Simmons Eresource
Academic Onefile contains 8,000 academic journals, the majority in full-text, available in HTML and PDF formats. In addition it contains hundreds of podcasts and transcripts from NPR, CNN, and the CBC.
- Expanded Academic ASAP
Simmons Eresource
From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Access scholarly journals, news magazines, and newspapers - many with full text and images. Updated daily.
TIP: Use the Advanced Search for a more precise search!
- AGELINE
Simmons Eresource
Produced by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), AGELINE provides bibliographic coverage of social gerontology, which is the study of aging in psychological, health-related, social, and economic contexts. The delivery of health care to the older population and its associated costs and policies is particularly well covered, as are consumer, employment, and public policy issues. Literature covered is of interest to researchers, health professionals, service planners, policymakers, employers, older adults and their families, and consumer advocates.
- Alcohol/Alcohol Problems Science Database
Simmons Eresource
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's (NIAAA) Alcohol and Alcohol Problems Science Database, commonly referred to as ETOH, is an online bibliographic database containing over 110,000 records on alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Includes abstracts and bibliographic references to journal articles, books, Dissertations and Theses - Full Text, conference papers and proceedings, reports and studies, and chapters in edited works. Access to ETOH requires a browser with frame capabilities. Updated monthly.
- Child Abuse, Child Welfare and Adoption
Simmons Eresource
The Child Abuse, Child Welfare and Adoption Documents database contains over 20,000 bibliographic citations and abstracts of professional literature, primarily of U.S. origin. Publication types include books, journals, government reports, conference papers, state annual reports, curricula, and unpublished papers.
- Contemporary Women's Issues
Simmons Eresource
This resource focuses on a range of topics relevant to women's studies and issues including pay and gender equity, reproductive rights, health, family life, politics, and more. The database searches more than 2000 resources from non-profit groups as well as government and international agencies in 150 countries.
TIP: Use the Advanced Search to combine search terms and set limits on publication year, geographic regions, or publication types (reports, newsletters, bibliographies, fact sheets, etc).
- Family & Society Studies Worldwide
Simmons Eresource
Family & Society Studies Worldwide Database (FSD) is the comprehensive, systematic, and non-evaluative resource of research, policy, and practice literature in the fields of Family Science, Human Ecology, and Human Development. FSD, including FAMILY, provides over 611,700 abstracts and bibliographic records drawn from over a thousand professional journals, books, popular literature, conference papers, government reports, and other sources, many of which are indexed exclusively in FSD. About 10,000 abstracts are added each year. Updated monthly.
- LGBT Life
Simmons Eresource
The database includes comprehensive indexing and abstract coverage as well as a specialized LGBT Thesaurus containing over 6,400 terms. Full text content available includes The Advocate, Gay Parent Magazine, Girlfriends, GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian & Gay Studies, James White Review, ISNA News, Ladder, Lesbian Tide, New York Blade, ONE, Tangents, Washington Blade, and many more.
- JSTOR
Simmons Eresource
JSTOR offers both multidisciplinary and discipline-specific collections. Provides full-text backfiles of many core scholarly journals, some dating back to the 1800s. However, JSTOR is not the database for current issues as it focuses on older journals.
- Project MUSE
Simmons Eresource
Offers nearly 250 quality journal titles from 40 scholarly publishers. As one of the academic community's primary electronic periodicals resources, Project MUSE covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others. Project MUSE is setting the standard for scholarly electronic journals in the humanities and social science.
Searching the Web
Tips for Searching the Internet:
- Use the advanced search function, which is available from most search engines:
- Google - See also "Advanced Search Tips"
- Ask - Click "Advanced." See also "Advanced Search Tips"
- Live (MSN) - See also "Options"
- Exalead - See also "Exalead FAQ"
- Yahoo! Search
- Limit your search to .edu and .gov sites. These often provide quality research, statistics, and commentary. Sites ending in .org often have good information, too, but are likely to espouse a strong stance or bias on the issues they cover and may not be objective.
- Try Scandoo, which presents search results from Google, Yahoo! Search, or Live (MSN) with an evaluation about the objectivity, credibility, and overall reliability of the site.
- Consider using a directory of pre-screened, annotated sites:
Writing Style and Citation
For more information on style and citation for this discipline, please contact the Simmons College Writing Center
You may also consider consulting these resources:
- Writing Resources
Free Online
The Writing Center provides online resources for citing your research. If you are unsure of which citation style to use, consult your professor and consider the following:- Use APA (American Psychological Association) when your topic is in the Social Sciences
- Use ASA (American Sociological Association) when your topic is in Sociology
- Use MLA (Modern Language Association) when your topic is in the Humanities
- Use Chicago/Turabian when your topic is in Literature, History or the Arts
- Use CSE (Council of Science Editors) when your topic is in the Sciences
- RefWorks
Simmons Eresource
RefWorks is a great program for organizing articles, books, and other materials you need for research. You can also use RefWorks to create bibliographies, create in text citations in your paper (Write-N-Cite), and share your research with others. Access RefWorks from the A-Z list of resources on the library's web page, and then follow the instructions to create your own username and password. We hold RefWorks Clinics throughout the semester. For more information, ask a reference librarian
