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Library Data Resources for Social Data Analytics

A collection of resources for students in the SDA program, with a focus on data.

Introduction

How do you go from a research interest to a complete resaerch project? This question will overview some skills you can use in surveying the relevant literature and developing a search strategy.

Learn how to write a literature review

A literature review is a summary and synthesis of scholarly research on a specific topic. It should answer questions such as:

  • What research has been done on the topic?
  • Who are the key researchers and experts in the field?
  • What are the common theories and methodologies?
  • Are there challenges, controversies, and contradictions?
  • Are there gaps in the research that your approach addresses?

Learn more at the full guide: Literature Reviews

Review background guides and resources to refine your question

How do researchers in your discipline approach the topic you'd like to investigate? Before diving into case studies, working papers, and other specific evidence, it may help you to take a step back and look at what we call background resources. These include:

  • Handbooks and subject encyclopedias
  • Annual reviews
  • Books with an overview/pedagogical approach
  • and more!

Below are some specific places to start with sociology research:

Use keywords to develop a search strategy

Did you know that you can vastly improve your ability to find key relevant sources by employing a keyword strategy? Keywords are the specific words you identify as useful for investigating your research question, and the words you often put into database searches. But there's more nuance in finding, refining, and experimenting with keywords than you may expect.

Below is a quick video tutorial (6 minutes) about search strategy, and a link to our full guide for learning more.

Adopt a critical approach to research

Note: This section is still in-progress and based on the work of our talented colleague, Dr. Leo Lovemore!

The Brown University Library facilitates and supports critical research practices that ask how bias, power, and uneven access to resources are at work in the labor of scholarship. 

Consider reflecting on the following set of questions and resources to develop and integrate critical perspectives into your research plans:

  • What makes a source authoritative in sociology? Who decides?
  • How do dynamics of power shape citational practice?
  • What does it mean to decolonize knowledge?
  • Is sociology an objective deicipline? What counts as evidence?
  • How is bias embedded in knowledge-making?

Key resources for learning more: