Intro to Sociology

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Intro to Sociology

• Research The Keys to Success
• Becky Canovan
• bcanovan_at_dbq.edu
• October 23, 2008

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Goals for today-Keys for success

• Review the assignment
• Thesis
• What is it? How to I write one? Where does it go?
• Keywords
• What are my keywords? How do I use them?
• Sources
• What can I use?
• How do I get them?
• How do I cite them?

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Key 1 Knowing your assignment

• What is the assignment?
• How do you organize it?
• Are there specific requirements?
• Page length, citation style, thesis
• What do you need?
• What cant you use?

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Key 2 Thesis-the point of the paper

• Whats a thesis?
• The answer to a research question
• Describes what the essay will be about
• Like a topic sentence
• How do I write one and what makes it good?
• Not arguing one side or the other for this essay

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Which of following was not one of Beckys
undergraduate majors?

• English
• History
• Sociology
• Politics

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Where does a thesis go?

• The beginning of the introduction.
• The end of the introduction.
• The first sentence of the body.

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Youre writing a 5-page paper and have chosen the
following topic homelessness in America. Which
of the following is true of the topic?

• Topic is too broad
• Topic is too narrow
• Topic is just right

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Which of the following is the best thesis/topic
sentence?

• Sanctuary cities provide safe haven for illegal
  immigrants, despite federal law requiring
  cooperation.
• Most sanctuary cities are in the south some are
  even bordertowns.
• Sanctuary cities are illegal and should be
  outlawed.

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Keywords exercise What would you call this?

• Pop
• Soda
• Coke
• Caffeine

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Key 3 Keywords picking search terms

• Whats a keyword?
• Whats the difference between a keyword and a
  subject?
• Synonyms
• Combining keywords

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Your research question is does the gender of the
employee effect his or her salary? What are your
keywords?

• Gender, effect
• Gender, salary
• Gender
• Gender, employee, effect, salary

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Keyword activity 2

• In groups, brainstorm keyword ideas for the
  following topic drinking and college students
• Keep your list of words in an email. At the end
  of the 5-min brainstorming session, email the
  list to bcanovan_at_dbq.edu

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Key 4 Finding your sources

• Where to find the articles?
• Library databases/search engines
• Academic Search Premiere (magazines, newspapers,
  journal articles)
• Lexis-Nexis (newspaper articles)
• Opposing viewpoints (on controversial topics)
• SocINDEX (just sociology topics)
• Use keywords to search
• Have the search engines send you the citation in
  APA format

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Getting your hands on the stuff

• Look for PDF or HTML links
• If you have both options PDFs are better, because
  its easier to quote page numbers.
• No PDF or HTML full-text links? Use the FindIt
  button.
• Still no full-text? Request the article. Be sure
  to make sure it will be useful, also be sure to
  check the page length of the article!

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Key 5 Getting help when you need it

• Ask for help if you need it! Conversation is part
  of the academic process in college.
• Librarians and your professor are here to help.
• In person (desk or office), email, phone, IM,
  facebook
• Sociology Blog
• http//www.dbq.edu/library/sociology
• Tips, tricks, links, and resources
• Survey/feedback about today
• Also a place to leave a comments and tips for
  your classmates