Literature Must relate theory to research Must search for previous discussions of the topic chosen Avoids repetition Requires library use and skills

Websites Use of websites versus citation of websites A matter of balance and objectivity Website information may or may not come from valid research and citation Usually epistemic viewpoint may not use

What to use Books—some problem with objectivity Periodicals—juried journals—guarded against subjectivity and bad methods Some journals are better than others Not newspapers Not magazines Not Psychology Today

Where Computer search Library search

What Theories Textbooks and compendiums—look at the references they use empirical research—again look at the end of the article and find their resources local versus international—what applies to US may be more valuable than foreign discussions

How Key word searches Cambridge Sociological Abstracts Social Science Abstracts Google JSTOR—sociology and population studies Chinook for books—may order if not here

Citations ASA format Must be complete Go to website and download the format in.pdf format

Keywords multiple combinations fewer words bigger numbers of hits quotation marks mean exact phrase art not science

When you get a list recent better than old review articles references in the references Authors other stuff abstracts can save time whole articles—disc versus paper relevance—oft cited best

Example social class and race keywords are social class and race OR “social class” race hits early ones (2000) are usually the most pertinent winnowing new words, authors, dates manipulated, journals, reviews and books

Getting the sources disc, paper, check out Organize the reading reviews first to cite or not best support of your principles and results ongoing process second search for new data need ten serious cites and balance of theory, empirical and policy citations

What to Look for Solid design Randomness Reliable results Numbers