Research Workshop
Soc/Anth Thesis Writers
Simon Elichko (they/them)
Social Sciences & Data Librarian
9/25/23 & 10/2/23
What we'll be covering:
-
Situating your research in the relevant scholarly literature, how to do this more intentionally than haphazardly
-
Effectively using College-provided resources
(can help make your lives easier and/or make your research more interesting)
- Recognizing when you might benefit from advice or assistance with aspects of your work
Simon Elichko Social Sciences & Data Librarian
Schedule an appointment: bit.ly/selichk1
• Document your process
• Save consistently
• Annotate sources
Three ways to stay organized
while doing research:
{ ideas, searches, sources }
{ done & to-do }
{ while you still remember }
1. Document your process
Keeping a research log or journal:
- What steps did you take today?
- How did it go?
- What are your next steps? (even if they're tentative)
- Search logs (see Tools & Worksheets)
-
Saved searches
- Look for permanent/persistent links
- Can test by opening in Incognito window
- Always label your links in case they break
- Browser history
2. Save your materials consistently
Stick to a system that is easy and reliable
Be predictable
Capture key information so you can cite the source if it turns out to be useful:
- Basic citation information: title, author, journal, year
- Automatically-generated citations can be a helpful starting point
- One easy citation creator: zbib.org
- Double-check automatically-generated citations before using in your paper (errors are common)
- Using Zotero streamlines the process of saving as you go
Take a moment to annotate or categorize your sources when you come across them. Think of it as a gift to your future self.
Annotations:
- Why does this article (book, etc.) seem relevant?
- What aspect of your research topic does this relate to?
- How does this fit into BEAM (bg, exhibit, argument, method)?
Methods & Tools:
- Keep a running list of all sources in Google Docs/Sheets
- Organize printed articles (etc.) into themed folders
- Arrange PDFs into themed folders and sub-folders
- Use Zotero to organize your sources and notes
3. Annotate sources as you save them
Statistics & Visualizations
Research Advice + Suggestions
Other ways to get help
McCabe Research & Info Desk
Drop by to talk with a librarian or RIA
(across from the main desk in McCabe)
Chat button in Tripod
Simon Elichko
Social Sciences & Data Librarian
• Schedule an appointment
(link on guide: bit.ly/soan-libguide)
• Email: selichk1@swarthmore.edu
Last week (9/25)
-
Clarifying your research direction and how particular sources fit (or don't) into your project
- Mind-mapping
- BEAM (background, exhibit, argument, method)
-
Book reviews, review articles, handbooks, and other similar sources
-
Organizing your sources and project
- Transcribing interviews (+ other audio)
- Zotero (organizing and annotating sources)
This week (10/2)
- Cited reference searching
-
Finding relevant scholarly sources
- How to do targeted searches in databases for sociology and anthropology research
- Particularly helpful when you can't find what you need in Annual Reviews, Oxford Bibliographies, etc.
-
How do you possibly read everything?
- Tools and strategies for managing your reading load
-
Starting points for:
- Finding reliable statistics
- Navigating government records
Cited Reference
Searching
Research strategy that helps you find sources that cite each other
This is a particularly useful strategy when:
- You're looking for newer scholarship on a topic
(maybe you have a few sources, but they're older)
- You keep finding the same author over and over, and you'd like to expand beyond them
- You're not sure about the reputation of an article, book, author, or journal
*Important caveat: heavily cited ≠ well-regarded. Authors cite
works they're critiquing, not just ones they agree with.
1. Start with a book or article.
For example, Jessica Winegar's Creative Reckonings: The Politics of Art and Culture in Contemporary Egypt
Cited Reference Searching
Cited Reference Searching
2. Search for the book or article in Google Scholar
To find out which sources that cite this book, choose "Cited by"
Cited Reference Searching
3. By clicking on "Cited by" you get a list of articles and
books that cite the one you searched for.
(This example shows sources that cite Creative Reckonings.)
Cited Reference Searching
4. You can also search within these citing sources.
Check the box "Search within citing articles."
Then enter your keyword(s) into the search.
Here are some examples of searching within cited sources for the book Creative Reckonings:
- nationalism (314 → 182)
- "social media" (314 → 92)
- Bourdieu (314 → 113)
nationalism
Finding Relevant Secondary Sources
This is particularly helpful when:
- You can't find the sources you need in Annual Reviews, Oxford Bibliographies, etc.
- You're mostly finding research from other academic disciplines (i.e. it isn't anthropological or sociological scholarship)
- You've found research that's only tangentially related to your topic.
How to do targeted searches in databases to find sociology and anthropology research
Common issue when looking for anthropology or sociology research
Google Scholar
search
<-- article published in a medical journal
(medical journal)
(sociology journal)
(anthropology journal)
Sociological Abstracts database
Subject-specific databases can make it easier to find the kind of secondary sources you need. These databases emphasize journal articles in your field(s) and provide more filters than Google Scholar.
You can find links to databases on SOAN 098 Research Guide:
Finding Articles --> Anthropology Focus
Finding Articles --> Sociology Focus
Databases use tagging systems to indicate what topics articles are about. So they'll usually work better when you explore the database a bit, and then choose your keywords.
For example: If you search in the database Anthropology Plus for Hurricane Matthew and Haiti, you find one relevant article.
You can find more relevant articles by expanding your search:
(hurricane OR disaster OR survival OR "first responders")
AND Haiti
Searching Databases
Web of Science is a multi-subject database that is useful for many Soc/Anth topics and projects.
Example search in Web of Science:
Search terms:
childbirth* (All Fields)
AND midwiv* OR midwif* (All Fields)
Filter your results using Web of Science Categories Choose: Sociology, Anthropology
Searching Effectively
"birth center" OR "birth centers"
"birth center" OR "birth center" OR childbirth* OR midwi*
("birth center" OR "birth center" OR childbirth* OR midwi*)
AND (nigeria* OR africa*)
--> Articles including either phrase (exact match)
--> Articles including at least one of the keywords
Exact phrase for "birth center" or "birth centers"
Can match any word ending for childbirth or midwife
--> Articles including at least one of the keywords from each
group. Exact phrase for "birth center" or "birth centers."
Word endings can vary for childbirth, midwife, Nigeria, or
Africa.
Searching Effectively
Every word counts
For every keyword added to your search, you'll get fewer articles. Use the fewest possible keywords to express your point. (Exception: if you're using OR, see below.)
Search for multiple related keywords
How to do this: Separate your keywords with OR
Example: birth centers OR childbirth OR midwives
Specify how to handle each keyword
Match a multi-word phrase exactly: "birth centers"
Allow varied word endings: midwi* (midwife, midwives, etc.)
Research Tools
for Sociology & Anthropology
1. Go to the SOAN research guide: bit.ly/soan-libguide
Open this page: Finding Articles
2. Pair up with the person next to you. One person should go to this page:
Anthropology Focus. The other should go to this page: Sociology Focus.
3. The partner looking for Anthro articles should follow the link for
the database Anthropology Plus. The partner looking for
Soc articles should follow the link for Sociological Abstracts.
4. Each partner should search for articles about their research
topic. Try broader keywords if needed. Open 2-3 results, each in its own tab.
5. What do you notice? Discuss. (Try switching topics to compare.)
More ideas & resources for choosing keywords and finding sources:
Interactive keyword brainstorm tool (UT Libraries)
Turning your questions into keywords tutorial (UCLA Libraries)
Or reach out for help! You can talk with Simon or a RIA.
Reading + Selecting Sources
How should you evaluate a potential source?
Going through search results:
- Look at abstracts, subjects, and author-supplied keywords
Be quick + focused:
- Review the abstract, table of contents, index
- Skim the intro and conclusion
- Look at titles of headers and sections
- Look up the author in Google
Reading + Selecting Sources
Sociologist Kristin Luker suggests you treat each book "as if you had only twenty minutes to get everything useful to your study out of it, and then it will disappear in a puff of smoke." (Salsa Dancing into the Social Sciences, p.95)
See also: Prof. Tim Burke's How to Read in College
Fast Book Outliner (printable notes template, easy to replicate in a Google Sheet)
Mindmapping
Tools
Analog: Pen and paper, a whiteboard
Digital: coggle.it
(You can login with Swat Google, but you don't have to)
Create a mindmap of your research project
- Start with a short topic statement or question
- Branch out with related questions and topics
Intellectual Interests
↓↓↓
Topics
↓
Research Question
Sources
(find, analyze, interpret)
↓↓↓
↓
Argument
Secondary Sources:
Articles & books by scholars
Background information
Primary Sources:
Your data- interviews, observations, social media & web content, films, etc.
Image Credit: Justina Elmore, University of Rochester
Some purposes that sources
can serve in your writing:
BEAM Model
• Background • provide contextual
information, help introduce a topic
• Exhibit • something to analyze and
interpret, evidence for your argument
• Argument • claims you can respond to,
build on, or challenge
• Method • suggest an approach to studying
or understanding something
<< your primary sources / data
<< scholarly literature
Resources for situating your research
in the sociology and anthropology literature
Book Reviews
Annotated Bibliographies
Review Articles
Handbooks & Companions
Academic Encyclopedias
Resources for situating your research in the literature
Book Reviews
1. Choose a scholarly book. Ideally one you might cite.
2. Search for the book in Tripod: tripod.swarthmore.edu
3. Look in the results for Book Reviews.
What journals are they being published in? Do you see
any Sociology or Anthropology journals?
SOAN 98 Research Guide bit.ly/soan-libguide
Find Articles > Anthropology Focus or Sociology Focus > Databases
Examples:
• Creative reckonings: politics of art and culture in contemporary Egypt
• Hobos, hustlers, and backsliders: homeless in San Francisco
Resources for situating your research in the literature
Book Reviews
Useful for:
-
Previewing the book
- Gives you a short summary of what it's about
- The main argument and methods
-
Evaluating the book
- If it's an academic book review (published in a journal), you're getting one scholar's perspective on the book.
- This can be helpful, but keep in mind it's an argument - you don't necessarily need to agree!
-
Situating the book
- Sometimes a review will mention other related works in the field, or earlier works by the same author
Resources for situating your research in the literature
Annotated Bibliographies
1. Open the SOAN 98 Research Guide: bit.ly/soan-libguide
2. Go to the page Scholarly Conversations & Overviews
3. Look at the box Bibliographies.
Follow the S link for the Oxford Bibliography of your
choice: Sociology or Anthropology
4. Browse through the bibliography titles. Explore one of
your choice. How is the topic broken down?
What can you find in the bibliography?
Resources for situating your research in the literature
Review Articles
1. Start from the Scholarly Conversations & Overviews
page of the SOAN 98 guide (bit.ly/soan-libguide).
2. Look at the box Review Articles.
Follow the S link for the Annual Review of your
choice: Sociology or Anthropology
3. When you search for articles published in these journals,
try a broader topic (for example, disaster)
Resources for situating your research
in the sociology and anthropology literature
Book Reviews
Annotated Bibliographies
Review Articles
Handbooks & Companions
Academic Encyclopedias
Take 10 minutes to explore one (or more) of these resources.
SOAN 98 Research Guide bit.ly/soan-libguide
>> Scholarly Conversation & Overviews
Useful tools for SOAN Seniors
Transcribing audio
- Interviews, lectures, events
-
Tools:
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- Panopto
Organizing & citing research
- Save and group your sources
- Highlight, annotate, and take notes
- Create formatted citations (Zotero)
-
Tools:
- Zotero -- particularly good for scholarly sources
- Atlas.ti -- particularly good for primary sources
Zotero
What does Zotero help you do?
- Create your own personal research library
- Save sources and citations as you find them using Zotero's browser extension/add-on
- Organize your sources and attach notes to them
- Highlight and annotate PDFs
- Cite your sources Google Docs and Microsoft Word
How do you set it up? (bit.ly/zotero-setup)
- Create a Zotero account
- Install the Zotero program on your computer, and install the browser extension/add-on.
- Sign into your Zotero account in the program and extension.
Creating collections in Zotero
Citing sources in Zotero
a project continuum
Too little
(you need more sources/data,
or you need different kinds than you have now)
Just right
Too much
(need to narrow down and focus more)
Primary Sources / Data / Fieldwork ?
a project continuum
Too little
(you need more sources/data, or need different kinds than you have now)
Just right
Too much
(need to narrow down and focus more)
Secondary Sources /
Scholarly Articles & Books?
You can find links to everything we discussed on the
SOAN 98 Research Guide:
bit.ly/soan-libguide
Research Advice + Suggestions
Other ways to get help
McCabe Research & Info Desk
Drop by to talk with a librarian or RIA
(across from the main desk in McCabe)
Chat button in Tripod
Simon Elichko
Social Sciences & Data Librarian
• Schedule an appointment
(bit.ly/selichk1)
• Email: selichk1@swarthmore.edu
See you here (LibLab) next Monday (7:00)
Soc/Anth Senior Thesis Writers
By selichk1
