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- Unit II. Research Methods
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Exploring Data
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Using Sociological Abstracts to Identify Primary Research Studies
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Theme 2. Understanding the Scientific Basis of Sociology
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DescriptionThis exercise asks students to locate abstracts to papers containing original research, using a database of scholarly abstracts. Students can either search on an assigned topic or on one of their own choosing. Since not all abstracts are to papers with original research, students need to learn how to distinguish such papers from ones without original research.
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Learning GoalsUnderstanding a key component of the scientific basis of sociology by learning to recognize from an abstract whether an article contains original scientific research. Learning how to search a database of scholarly abstracts is an important skill for students to get. All scholarly fields have databases of abstracts that can be searched, retrieved, and analyzed.Back to top
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Things NeededComputer access to a database containing abstracts of sociological papers. CSA Sociological Abstracts is proprietary, is available to those college and university students whose libraries subscribe to it, and may be accessed on the web. JSTOR contains abstracts (and the full text of articles) to a core of sociological journals. The most recent journals are several years old. Supported by college and university libraries, foundations, and private subscribers, Jstor offers an individual members of the American Sociological Association access to the JSTOR database of archival journals for $40 per year. The ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) database provides bibliographic records of education literature, some of which is research, and some of which is done by sociologists. ERIC is publicly available on the web at no cost. Some librarians offer classes for students teaching them how to access such databases. If the library does not offer this, instructors should become familiar with such databases so they can teach students how to use them to search for relevant abstracts. Can be done in two 45-60 minute class periods.Back to top
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ActionsOnce students have become familiar with using one of the abstracts databases to find papers relevant to their topic, ask them to find four abstracts related to their topic or question and decide whether or not each of those abstracts refers to a paper based on primary research. They should write down their reasons for identifying an abstract as being to a paper containing primary research, or not. To identify a primary research paper, students should look for certain clue words in the abstract: study, data (it can be qualitative or quantitative data), study design, survey, experiment, observations, interviews, variables, sample, analysis, findings, results, evidence. Not all the clue words need to be present in each case. Some abstracts refer to theoretical (or idea) papers, while others are reviews and syntheses of existing research. While useful, these are not the same as primary research studies.Back to top
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More InformationFor information on how this exercise was used to teach the scientific nature of sociology, see “Assessing Strategies for Teaching Some Key Sociological Understanding". See also the January 2006 special issue of Teaching Sociology devoted to cultivating quantitative literacy.Back to top
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Creator/SourcePrepared by Caroline Hodges Persell, New York University