Dr. Shirley Curtis-Ference ENC 1101 English Composition I
Investigative Research Project Social Problems related to Socio-Economic Issues

Choosing a topic | Reference Sources | Circ. Books | Finding Articles | Internet Resources | PCC Library Home Page

An Example:
Socio-Economic Status of Women Related to the Violent Acts Committed Against Them?

Choosing your topic

As you may already have discovered this is often the hardest step in the research paper writing process. It is also a very important step. If you choose a topic that is very broad - "Poverty" - you will be over whelmed with information and you will have difficulty organizing your ideas and findings into a manageable, cohesive paper. If you choose a topic that is very narrow - "Gifted Children Living in Poverty Benefit From Having Pet Fish" - obviously, you will have trouble finding enough information sources to support your paper. Take time to focus your topic. If you can, try to choose a topic that truly interests you. The tables of contents and indexes of some of the general social science resources are good places to look for ideas (this also gives you an idea about the availability of information); some of these resources are listed below.

 

CQ Researcher REF H35 .E35 The CQ Researcher provides weekly briefings on social, political, economic, international, and scientific trends and issues. Each report provides an overview, pros & cons, stats & graphs, and a bibliography for leads to related resources. The index to this resource is located in the current issues binder (it's blue). CQ Researcher is also available in electronic form from the Library Workstations.
Statistical Abstract of the United States REF HA202 .A35 1999 (back to 1950's) Summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Compare education, income, teen-pregnancies...for different race groups, states, economic levels...
Taking Sides REF H33 .T3997 This multi-volume (the last volume is the index) set is great for research ideas, background information, pros & cons, and leads for further research
The Social Science Encyclopedia REF H41 .S63 1996 A one volume resource - good for general background information and definitions.

There are many books in the Circulating Collection that will get you well on your way to uncovering some interesting and valid research. Remember, if you find a really great source, check the sources they used. Most books that include research information will include footnotes and a bibliography. Check the index of the books you find some may have specific sections dedicated to economic considerations.

Also, take a closer look at the LINCCSearch catalog record for books you find valuable. The catalog record will list the subject descriptors used by the cataloger to describe this book. You can use them to find similar books - the descriptors are even hypertext so you can link directly to books under that heading.

By the way, have you used LINCCSearch lately? It changed a bit this year. If you haven't used it this term take a minute to play with the new features - and remember, you can search for books at the Winter Haven, Lakeland and any Florida Community College (and other library materials as well) on your home computer, in the TLCCs or any where you find Internet access.

This is the Basic Search screen for LINCCSearch
When your feeling really frisky try the expanded search

The library has quite a few series that deal with social issues.
Take a look at the Opposing View Points, Turning Point, or Current Controversies series.
You can search for these series by putting the series name in the search field and searching by title.

Here are some examples of titles you'll find at PCC.
If you don't find anything on your topic - ASK THE LIBRARIAN .
They like to feel needed, and they would like to know what areas need more fortification.

 

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual Harassment (click here for information about this book title)

Death Penalty

Does Capital Punishment Deter Crime? (click here for information about this book title)

Capital Punishment (click here for information about this book title)

Legality of Abortion

Abortion Controversy (click here for information about this book title)

You may already have some articles in mind that you want to get because you were paying attention and looked at the bibliographies and footnotes in the books and reference sources that you found before, or because you found some great articles in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature or in the New York Times Indexes, (The green and red indexes on the 1st shelf in Reference) or maybe you have nothing yet - not because you didn't look at the suggested bibliographies and footnotes and such, but because you chose a very tricky topic that will require extra researching - right?

To find articles in newspapers, magazines, and journals you can use a print index tool or an electronic indexing tool (a database). I suppose you could try your luck and just browse the shelves and hope a great and relevant article falls on your head, but that would take a very long time and I'm sure you have better things to do.

Print Indexes - don't let them scare you.
(you may appreciate them one day when the Internet Connection is down)

The print indexes are fairly simple to use
(you can even read the page or two of instructions at the beginning of the indexes if your really want a clue)

1. Pick the year you want to search

2. Look for your topic in the alphabetically arranged index

3. Copy down the complete citation information

Sometimes you get redirected because what you may call "guns" they may call "fire arms" but basically it works out. The most important thing to remember about using the print indexes is to write down all the information completely (or make a copy if you like).

By using the print indexes you are able to get a feel for the subject headings (future search terms) that are used for your topic.

Another nice thing about the print indexes is they go back many years; the electronic resources are working on that, but generally they go back 5 or 10 years tops. If you have found some recent articles using the print indexes you may be able to find them and print them out for free - by using on of PCC's electronic resources.

Electronic Indexes
(Faster, stronger, smarter - well, maybe sometimes)

The PCC Libraries have many electronic resources (databases) that will let you search for newspaper, magazine, and journal articles by just about any subject. You can also search by author, date or source of publication. They all work in a similar fashion, like the LINCCSearch online catalog (which is just another database - it's just that it is for books, not articles) there is usually a box where you type in what-ever it is that you are looking for (you can adjust the dates or sources if you like) and then you click on search and the clever thing gives you a list of compatible results - it's kind of like computer dating only the computer is matching you to an article not your future spouse.

Where are they?
You can access many of the PCC Library electronic resources through
the Library Home Page: http://www.polk.cc.fl.us/it/library

Where to begin? Which resource to Choose?
Some of PCC's electronic resources only index articles
(you'll get a citation like you did in the Reader's Guide to Periodical literature, and then you have to go fetch the article yourself).
Some resources will index the articles and provide a link to the actual text of the article.
Some provide a copy of the article with the graphics and everything.
There are resources for:
- Images
- Statistics
- Newspapers
- Literary Criticisms
- Websites
- General Resources for newspaper, magazine and journals
- Subject specific resources (articles on education, art, or science...)

One of the biggest problems students often have is finding the right tool for the job they need done.

What's a good general resource for articles?
(you can always get more specific later if you like)

Try Academic Search Elite for starters

EBSCOhost's Academic Search Elite offers full-text articles for over 1,250 journals dating back to 1990, and abstracts and indexing for nearly 2,880 scholarly journals dating back to 1984. Many of the journals are peer-reviewed. Academic Search Elite offers embedded images and provides journal coverage for most academic areas of study, including biological sciences, economics, communications, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences and women's studies.

Do a quick search for your topic and see what you get.

1. Put your search term(s) in the "Find" box
Omit little words like an, and, or the
2. Click on Search
You will receive a list of results in the form of citations.
(Notice that at the top you will see how many records were found - do you need to broaden or narrow your search?)
3. Choose what results you would like to see
Click on the title of an article that looks promising and you will receive more information about that article - a summary
To see the "whole enchilada" click on the link that says " Full Text" or "Full Image"... and t here's your article.
4. Print your article or save it to a disk.
Now print from the file menu or from your tool bar, or email the article to your account, or save the article to your disk.

An Example:
Socio-Economic Status of Women Related
to the Violent Acts Committed Against Them?

Suppose that the this is my topic. I start my research journey by looking through the Reference Resources. There are some good articles on family violence and such in the CQ Researcher. These articles include statistics and history and lots of interesting cases, but I just can't seem to clearly relate Family Violence to the Socio-Economic aspect of our research project. So, I decide to look at some books on my topic. The Current Controversies: Violence Against Women (These are like the Taking Sides books) - sounds promising.

Current Controversies: Violence Against Women, can be found in the Reference Section of the PCC Winter Haven Campus Library.

I take a look at the index in the back of the book for "socio-economic" - there is no such heading, however, there are entries for "economy". One of the entries is "economy - women's position in, 192". I go to page 192 and I find the the two paragraphs under the heading The Human Rights Concept really help me see how I can assemble all those great statistics and articles I have found so far to support my topic and create one great cohesive paper. Want to know something else? If I decided to change my topic today, I could probably use this as a jumping off point for many other socio-economic topics as well (Tobacco is more easily sold to disavantaged teens because... There will always be homeless children because....) I would have to support my topic by researching the specific statistics, government and cultural trends but I'm sure the librarian could help me do that if I've forgotten how.   For Your Topic Think about who the people are who are affected by your issue. Why are they so susceptable to this problem. What kind of statistical information do we have about them to illustrate their existance? What control do these people have over their situations? Why? Who does have control over their situation? How? What could be done to improve their situation?

Internet Resources

But... if you've got your heart set on using web sources, try these for fun.

Western Connecticut State University
Department of Social Sciences
WCSU List: Sociology Internet Resources

World Bank Group
Economic Research
Ya, but who is the World Bank Group - do you trust their findings?

Institute for Reseach on Poverty
University of Wisconsin - Madison

Global Urban Indicators Database
This site was created to provide information on urban conditions and trends

National Center for Children in Poverty
The mission of this organization is to share information about poverty as it affects children in the United States. Read the facts on child poverty, get state and local information and learn about the effects of welfare reform on young children.

U.S. Census Bureau
Get the official statistics on poverty.