Getting Started: Search Terms + Databases
Searching in article databases is different than searching in Google. Remember that you don't ask questions or type in full sentences, but you narrow your search to the main concepts and their synonyms. Once you've done the work of identifying those search terms, then you'll likely select a number of subject databases in which to search. Sociology intersects with other social sciences disciplines, so you might find it useful to search not only in a sociology database but possible in a gender studies or education or even criminal justice database.
In Activity 2, you'll refine your topic into keywords, select databases to use, and then do some searches.
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Goal: Find at least one peer-reviewed quantitative journal article related to your narrowed topic. |
For your question, refine it down to 2-4 key concepts.
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These are real past research topics (in various stages of development) from students. Read them and jot down the most essential concepts (2-4) that you would use as potential search terms. Then flip to the second tab to see Dominique's answers! |
A) Does the amount of activities that parents are involved in (i.e. religious activities, raising children, providing for the family) contribute or take away from the idea of a stable home life and deviate from the satisfaction and overall happiness that parents have?
B) I will be searching for gender inequalities in “breadwinner” and “caretaker” roles. The research question that I am going to ask is are gender roles in family dynamics financially reliant on one sex more than another? If so, is maintenance of the house (cooking, cleaning, taking care of children) more reliant on one sex more than another? What are the implications of these trends?
D) This research proposal will focus on dynamics within family, specifically on the correlation between household labor division and marriage satisfaction. I will look into the impact that traditional gender roles have when it gets to household labor divisions and how this contributes to the level of marital satisfaction.
A) Does the amount of activities that parents are involved in (i.e. religious activities, raising children, providing for the family) contribute or take away from the idea of a stable home life and deviate from the satisfaction and overall happiness that parents have?
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Activities, Parents, Happiness Possible synonyms or related ideas? Parental satisfaction, marital satisfaction, parental happiness, work-life balance (Note: this topic is still very broad, and the student should think about focusing on an area of activity, rather than all activities). |
B) I will be searching for gender inequalities in “breadwinner” and “caretaker” roles. The research question that I am going to ask is are gender roles in family dynamics financially reliant on one sex more than another? If so, is maintenance of the house (cooking, cleaning, taking care of children) more reliant on one sex more than another? What are the implications of these trends?
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Gender inequalities, Roles, Family dynamics Possible synonyms or related ideas? Gender roles, marriage, household, child rearing |
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College-aged, Gender, Happiness Possible synonyms or related ideas? College students, gender, life satisfaction |
D) This research proposal will focus on dynamics within family, specifically on the correlation between household labor division and marriage satisfaction. I will look into the impact that traditional gender roles have when it gets to household labor divisions and how this contributes to the level of marital satisfaction.
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Household labor division, Marriage satisfaction Possible synonyms or related ideas? household, roles or labor, marital satisfaction |
Which subject areas under the"Recommended Article Databases" page map onto your topic? Can you identify a few subjects, and from that a few databases?
For example, if you were studying the impact of parental incarceration on the educational success of their children, you might select the subject areas of Sociology and Education. Under those subject areas in "Recommended Article Databases", you might decide to search in ProQuest Social Sciences Premium, Social Sciences Full Text, and Education Source.
I recommend using Social Sciences Full Text and ProQuest Social Sciences Premium. For your mini lit review, you then might add one or more of the others. Be sure, of course, to select "peer reviewed" only when you are in them. Watch the Activity 2 video in Camino to learn more.