Welcome to this Guide

The Sociology Subject Guide has been designed by the LWTech Library to provide you with helpful information to support your research process in your Sociology course. Use the sections below as-needed, and you can always contact your librarian for more information if something is missing.

For all of the sections below, note that you will be asked to log in with your student account to access LWTech databases.

This guide was last updated in Fall 2023.

Meet Your Librarians

The Sociology librarians at LWTech are Katherine Kelley (she/her) and Stirling Holland-Stone (they/them). You can email them at katherine.kelley@lwtech.edu or stirling.holland-sto@lwtech.edu with questions. You can also send an email if you would like to request an online or in-person appointment to discuss your research. For faster support, consider using the 24/7 Library Chat tool located on the library website.

Reference Information and Other Starting Points

Trying to form your topic and get started on your research? In addition to Wikipedia, the library provides access to the following useful databases as starting points.

Credo Reference
Issues and Controversies
Opposing Viewpoints via KCLS (log in with your KCLS library card or student account)

Sociology Books

The library's physical collection of books contains many Sociology titles. You can browse the titles in the physical library or through Library Search. You may also find the Diversity and Social Justice Collection useful in your research. You can see the books included in this collection via the DSJ Finding Aid.

Additionally, the following eBook databases may contain helpful information for your research in Sociology:

Ebook Central
EBSCOhost eBook Collections

News Information

If you are interested in news information, you can use the library's databases to get connected to a diverse sources. Use the links below to get connected to the various databases and subscriptions provided by the library.

EBSCO's Academic Search Complete
Issues and Controversies
KCLS Databases (log in with your KCLS library card or KCLS student account)
New York Times (requires registering with your student email address here)
ProQuest

Local News

Accessible local news sources that may be helpful include:

Learning About the News

If you are interested in learning about research and the news, consider exploring organizations and resources like the News Literacy Project.

Research Articles

EBSCO's Academic Search Complete and ProQuest are both databases with high quality academic/scholarly sources. Many of these sources are peer-reviewed. Both databases are searchable through the main Library Search. You can learn more about research, including database use, on our Research Tools & Resources page.

You might also find the following useful for finding high quality academic/scholarly sources. Note that if you come across sources that are inaccessible due to a paywall (or other barrier), please use the Request an Article form and the library will attempt to get you access.

Additional Useful Websites

The following websites are generally useful in conducting Sociology research:

American Sociology Association
Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
EdChange.org
Everyday Sociology Blog
The Marshall Project
Pew Research Center
Society for the Study of Social Problems
United Nations Millennium Development Goals
Voice of the Shuttle: Queer Studies
World Heath Organization

Diversity Organization Websites

The following diversity organization websites will support weekly discussions in some Sociology 101 and are generally useful for conducting Sociology research.

Age
- American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
Disability
- American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
Gender and Sexuality
- Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)
- National Organization for Women (NOW)
Race and Ethnicity
- Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
- League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
- Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
Social Class and Economic Issues
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ)
- United for a Fair Economy (UFE)

Video Resources

The library has a small DVD and Blu-ray collection that contains some academic materials. You can browse this information in Library Search or by visiting the physical library.

The library provides access to streaming academic and documentary videos through Kanopy.

Specific documentaries that may be used in Sociology courses at the college include:

KCLS Videos

Note that KCLS video databases include Kanopy, Culturegrams, Gale in Context: Biography, and the CBS 60 Minutes Video Collection via the ProQuest Research Library.

Streaming Video Websites

The following sources may contain relevant videos for your research:

Source Evaluation

Evaluating sources is an important part of the research process. Consider meeting with or attending an instruction session hosted by a librarian. Also visit the LWTech Library's Research Tools & Resources page to gain access to helpful evaluation tools.

APA Citations

Avoid plagiarism, document your research, and join a community scholarship by using the American Psychological Association (APA) format in your work. Creating citations may be challenging at first but there are numerous tutorials and tools available at no cost. Visit our Citation Tools page to learn more.