Research Tools - Sociology - Research Guide

Style guides and manuals

American Sociological Association style guide
Print only. Most recent: 5th ed., 2014. Earlier editions also available.
"Quick Tips for ASA Style" (ASA website)
A 2-page overview of the ASA Style, per the ASA Style Guide (4th ed., 2010).
"Preparation checklist for ASA manuscripts" (ASA website)
Formatting guidelines for ASA journals.
"ASA Writing an Informative Abstract" (ASA website)
Retrieved from Internet Archive, 4 June 2016.
A guide to writing sociology papers / The Sociology Writing Group.
Print only. 7th ed., Worth Publishers, 2013.
Step by step through the writing process. Includes separate chapters on genres: text analysis, qualitative, quantitative.
The sociology student writer's manual / William A Johnson et al.
Print only. 5th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006 and earlier editions.
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
APA style guide to electronic references
Publication manual: print only. E-ref guide online.
Most recent: 6th ed, 2010. Earlier editions also available.
The APA style is the de facto social-science writing style.
Chicago guide to writing about numbers and
Chicago guide to writing about multivariate analysis
These two books by Penn Demography alumna Jane Miller offer guidance on presenting numeric information in your writing. Both books are now in their 2nd editions.

Citation Management

A research project can generate hundreds of citations from diverse sources. Learn about citation management software that can help you save and organize your citations, as well as automatically generate bibliographies. Penn Libraries supports the use of two tools: RefWorks and Zotero.

RefWorks - web-based tool for extracting citations from databases and creating bibliographies.

Zotero - free, open source tool for saving citations in your browser, from databases or web sources.

Handbooks on research methods

SAGE Research Methods
SRM's Methods Map provides a visualization tool for getting at handbook chapters on specific methodologies, techniques, and practices in social research. SRM also includes a Project Planner with checklists for project stages, and a "Which Stats Test" guided discovery tool.
Handbook of research design and social measurement / Delbert C. Miller, Neil J. Salkind.
Ebook and print. 6th ed. SAGE, 2002. Guide to research design; grant proposals; library, field, and laboratory research; statistical analysis, and sociometric scales and indexes. Big on lists and checklists.
SAGE handbook of social research methods
SAGE, 2008.
Not for the beginner, this offers chapters with rich bibliographies but it expects the reader to have basic understanding of many methods discussed.
The Little Green Books - Quantitative applications in the social sciences
This series of slender books published by SAGE focus on specific procedures and tasks. A typical Little Green Book provides an overview of the procedure, the mathematical or statistical proof, and real-life examples of the procedure's application.
Handbook of survey research
Print only. 2nd ed. Emerald, 2010.
SAGE handbook of public opinion research
SAGE, 2007.
Analyzing social settings: a guide to qualitative observation and analysis
Print only. Most recent: 3rd ed., Wadsworth, 1995.
How-to approach to qualitative data collection.
Series on understanding qualitative research (Oxford Univ Press book series)
Various titles, print and online. Titles on conducting oral history, interviewing, and focus groups.
Qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook
Print only. 3rd ed. SAGE, 2013.
The Little Blue Books - Qualitative Research Methods
SAGE's "Little Blue Books" are valuable handbooks for conducting qualitative social science.
Coding manual for qualitative researchers / Johnny Saldaña
Print only. 3rd ed. SAGE, 2016.
Researching interpersonal relationships: qualitative methods, studies, and analysis / Jimmie Manning, Adrianne Kunkel.
SAGE, 2014.
Each chapter highlights a particular method context, and analytical tool.
SAGE handbook of interview research: the complexity of the craft
2nd ed. SAGE, 2012.
The first edition, Handbook of interview research (SAGE, 2002), is more clearly focused on specific populations and tasks.
Ethnographer's Toolkit
Ebook and print. 2nd ed. 7 vols. Altamira Press, 2010-2016.
Individual volumes describe planning, conducting, notation, and reporting techniques, as well as mixed methods approaches. The 1st edition, 7 vols. (1999) is arranged in a more practical fashion.
Doing ethnography today : theories, methods, exercises / Elizabeth Campbell and Luke Eric Lassiter.
Wiley Blackwell, 2015.
Another handy book is: Doing ethnography / Gabo Giampietro (SAGE, 2008).
Handbook of participatory video
Ebook and print. Rowman & Littlefield, 2012.
Community oral history toolkit
Print only. 5 vols. Left Coast Press, 2013.
Individual volumes treat planning, conducting and managing, and processing oral histories.

Directories

Directories can provide a subject or name approach to organizations, organizational membership, programs, publications, library collections, subject specialists, and ongoing research.

American Sociological Association. Directory of members
Print version covers 1970-2007
Guide to graduate departments of sociology.
From the American Sociological Association.
Research Centers Directory
Research institutes, foundations, centers, bureaus, laboratories, experiment stations, and other similar nonprofit facilities, organizations, and activities in the United States and Canada. RCD is only one of many organizational directories offered through the Gale Directory Library

Sociology - Research Guide: Research Tools

Style guides and manuals

Citation Management

Handbooks on research methods

Directories