Pearsall Library - North Carolina Wesleyan College

Dr. Karhnem-Willis, SOC 215: Choosing a Topic

Sociology 215 -- Choosing a Topic Dr. Karnehm-Willis 2007

This tutorial and review assignment will help you to develop the basic research skill of choosing a topic, which is often the most difficult part of academic research projects. Your instructor will provide you with general guidelines, such as possible topical areas and the scope of your project, but then it is up to you to determine the particular aspect of the general topic that you wish to research.

“Sociology is the study of social life and behavior, especially in relation to Social Systems, how they work, how they change, the consequences they produce, and their complex relation to people’s lives.” Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology, Pg. 299.

Dr. Phil kicks the creator of "Bum Fights" off of his show.

My Topic: "The Homeless"

Listed below are five different methods / resources that you can use to choose a topic.

STEP ONE: Consider your personal interests. What social phenomena have you read about or seen in the news that interests you? How can you personalize a topic?

STEP TWO: What are the topics being discussed in the courses that you are currently taking, or would like to take? Look at your class notes. Look at the texts from your various courses and examine the tables of contents. Browse through the text and look at the bold headings for ideas that may catch your eye.

STEP THREE: Search through reference books in the Library. Instructions:

a) Go to the college website www.ncwc.edu

b) Click on the library link on the right side of the screen.

c) Click on the Library Catalog link. – this is where you always search for books.

Type Sociology in the search box. DO NOT CLICK SEARCH YET.
Select Reference Collection from the drop down menu below.
Click the Search button.

The catalog displays a list of sociology books in the library Reference Collection. Use the call number to locate them on the shelves.

Search Tips: Look at the subject headings listed in some of the reference resources listed below. Also browse the index sections at the back of the book to see if you can discover a topic that interests you. Then read the relevant pages for that topic and see if you can identify any important keywords that describe that topic.

STEP FOUR: Browse the tables of contents of current periodicals related to Sociology, Justice Studies, and Psychology. Below is a partial list of Sociology-related journals:

American Journal of Sociology
American Sociological Review
Annual Review of Sociology
Ethnic and Racial Studies
Feminist Studies
International Social Science Journal
Journal of Black Studies
Journal of Marriage and the Family
Journal of Social Issues
Social Problems

Search Tip: The library owns these magazines and journals in both print and electronic formats. Find print periodicals in the blue shelves in front of the library lab, named Current Periodicals.

Find electronic periodical articles in Article Research Databases

a) Go to the college website www.ncwc.edu

b) Click on the library link on the right side of the screen.

c) Click on the Article Research Databases link. – A good one to get started in is Academic Search Premier. Ask a librarian for help searching for articles that discuss topics in Sociology.

STEP FIVE: Internet Sources: These are tricky. Some are reliable, corroborated research, other information on the internet is full of error or unsubstantiated.

This seems easy, but there’s a catch. Do a Google search to try to find a topic. Once you find something interesting, you have to prove to your instructor that your topic is valid, scientific, or worthy of scientific scrutiny. Remember, your professor conducts research FOR A LIVING. S/he will not accept any topics that are amateurish or unscientific.

Search tips:

Use only Keywords that describe your topic idea.

If your topic idea is a two or three word phrase, you can often enclose the keywords in quotation marks and the search engine will find only web information that uses that exact phrasing.

For example, a phrase might be “third world country”

You might combine phrases to search for an even more specific topic by adding AND:

“third world country” AND “overpopulation”

“fossil fuel emissions” AND “global warming”

“teenage prostitution” AND “drug abuse”

How do you prove that the topic you found on the web is viable/worthy?

Find the source of the website’s information. Does it come from a reliable source?

What are the author’s credentials?

Verify the topic by finding a clear definition for it in your textbook, a Sociology Encyclopedia, a Sociology Dictionary, or a Sociology book in the library collection.

Choosing A Topic Assignment