What is a Literature Review?
The purpose of a literature review is to provide an overview of literature (scholarly articles, books, etc.) on a particular subject matter.
Literature reviews are not meant to be persuasive or argumentative. They are meant to be summative and provide an analysis on information that has already been published on the topic being researched.
How To Start
When you begin a research project, it is a good idea to take a moment to reflect on your prior knowledge of the topic area. How much do you already know about this topic? How confident are you in moving forward with this topic? In most cases, you will need to do a bit of research to get some general information on your topic.
A great way to gather background information is through searching reference materials. Reference materials such as Encyclopedias and Dictionaries are arranged alphabetically and contain a general overview of a term or subject matter.
The library has access to encyclopedias and dictionaries in print and online through particular databases. Below you will find a list of helpful print encyclopedias for your literature review.
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21st Century Sociology by SAGE Reference is proud to announce 21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook. The field of sociological inquiry is multi-faceted in perspective, and does subsume a variety of specialty interests, as a result the literature in this discipline has developed and proliferated in a near exponential fashion. Sociology, today, has become so specialty driven in its research and theory agenda that the result is an enormous and complex body of sociological knowledge that is often considered to be unwieldy. 21st Century Sociology provides, in two volumes, a concise forum through which the vast array of knowledge accumulated, particularly during the past three decades, can be organized into a definitive resource. 21st Century Sociology focus on the corpus of knowledge garnered in traditional areas of sociological inquiry, as well as documenting the general orientation of the newer and currently emerging areas of sociological inquiry. Key features include: - a timely and comprehensive assessment of the 100+ specialty fields of sociology with contributions by leading international authorities in their area of expertise; - an examination of the four distinct phases of development in the history of sociological inquiry: a period of theoretical development; the emphasis on methodological development and refinement; the phase of specialization; and a period that has taken representatives of the discipline into previously unexplored areas; - discussion on the various traditional sub-fields of sociology such as: political sociology; educational sociology; rural sociology; criminology; occupational sociology; and minority relations, among others; - an exploration of the important new, evolving sub-fields, such as: environmental sociology; sociology of sports and leisure; military sociology; medical sociology; the sociology of food and eating; and the sociology of emotions, among others; - a discussion on the 'satellite' or 'peripheral' sub-disciplines, such as women's studies, black studies and gay and lesbian studies. 21st Century Sociology is the most comprehensive overview of modern sociology making it a 'must have' resource for any academic library.Call Number: REF HM585 .A13 2007ISBN: 1412916089Publication Date: 2006-11-17 -
The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology by Providing an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the classical and the contemporary, this volume is an indispensable guide to the vibrant and expanding field of sociology. Featuring over 600 entries, from concise definitions to discursive essays, written by leading international academics, the Dictionary offers a truly global perspective, examining both American and European traditions and approaches. Entries cover schools, theories, theorists and debates, with substantial articles on all key topics in the field. While recognising the richness of historical sociological traditions, the Dictionary also looks forward to new and evolving influences such as cultural change, genetics, globalization, information technologies, new wars and terrorism. Most entries incorporate references for further reading and a cross-referencing system enables easy access to related areas. This Dictionary is an invaluable reference work for students and academics alike and will help to define the field of sociology in years to come.Call Number: REF HM425 .C36 2006ISBN: 052183290XPublication Date: 2006-08-14 -
Encyclopedia of Social Theory by The Encyclopedia of Social Theory, two-volume set, is an indispensable reference source for anyone interested in understanding the roots of contemporary social theory. It examines the global landscape of all the key theories and the theorists behind them and presents them in the context needed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of all the key areas of the discipline. These include: -Structural fundamentalism; -Marxist theory; -Critical theory; -Phenomenology; -Ethnomethodology; -Exchange theory; -Rational choice; -Feminism; -Multiculturalism; -Postmodernism. The Encyclopedia of Social Theorydraws together a team of international scholars led by the Editor, George Ritzer, one of the most prolific social theorists. This is a benchmark reference tool for understanding the development, achievements and prospects of social theory. Key features and benefits include: -Over 280 entries; -A master bibliography; -A complete Reader′s Guide; -Extensive biographical coverage of the major theorists; -Extensive cross-referencing.Call Number: REF HM425 .E47 2005ISBN: 0761926119Publication Date: 2004-08-19 -
Handbook of the Sociology of Education by This wide-ranging handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the field of education as viewed from a sociological perspective. Experts in the area present theoretical and empirical research on major educational issues and analyze the social processes that govern schooling, and the role of schools in and their impact on contemporary society. A major reference work for social scientists who want an overview of the field, graduate students, and educators.Call Number: Online ItemISBN: 9780387364247Publication Date: 2006-11-24
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Britannica AcademicProvides reference sources in almost all disciplines. Also includes historical timelines, multimedia, selected magazine articles, notable quotations, and a dictionary and thesaurus.
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Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL)Explore this database of encyclopedias and reference sources within the Gale eBooks platform. For multidisciplinary research. A collection of full text electronic reference books covering many subject areas. Can be searched by keyword, source, subject, image caption, full text, and audience. Individual books can be combined for cross-title searching.
Finding Articles
As part of your assignment, you are required to find peer-reviewed journal articles on a topic.
The library has access to peer-reviewed journals in print and electronic format.
Electronic articles can be searched through our databases. There are some general databases and some subject specific databases. To access the databases, click on the database tab on the library homepage. You can then browse through them alphabetically, or browse by discipline (i.e., sociology, education, etc.).
Below you will find a list of databases that will be helpful for your current assignment. It is not an exhaustive list, but it is a good place to start.
When you are searching the databases, make sure to limit to "peer-reviewed".
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Academic OneFileProvides over 54,000,000 articles, most full-text, from about 13,000 scholarly journals across most academic subject areas. Coverage is from 1980 to the present.
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Academic Search CompleteFull text for about 8,500 periodicals including over 7,300 peer-reviewed journals across most areas of academic study as well as indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 magazines and journals. Coverage is from 1887 to the present.
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Education SourceFull-text for over 1700 journals, 550 books, and selected education-related conference papers. Covers elementary education, special education, literacy standards, multicultural/ethnic education, secondary education, and teaching methods. Encompasses all content from Education Research Complete.
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ERICCitations and abstracts for over 1000 education publications. Offers over 300,000 full-text documents. Coverage is from about 1966 to the present.
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JSTORFull-text of over 1400 core scholarly journals and Books across most subject areas.
Can be used for course content: Titles from many university presses and other academic publishers -
Project MuseFull text of over 100 scholarly journals and books from university presses in fields including literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, political science, gender studies, and economics.
Can be used for course content: Includes books from many university presses and scholarly journals -
PsycARTICLESProvides access to over 100,000 searchable full text articles from 48 journals published by the American Psychological Association from 1894 to the present.
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Psychology & Behavioral Sciences CollectionA comprehensive database covering information concerning topics in emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry & psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational & experimental methods. This is the world's largest full text psychology database offering full text coverage for nearly 400 journals.
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ScienceDirectProvides full-text access to journals in the fields of science, psychology, medicine, and technology.
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Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)This full-text resource provides access to a wide assortment of the most important English-language social science journals. Social Sciences Full Text includes full-text articles from hundreds of journals, covering the latest concepts, theories and methods from both applied and theoretical aspects of the social sciences. Content Includes: Full-text articles from 360 journals Full-text content dating as far back as 1972 High-quality indexing for more than 750 periodicals, over 510 of which are peer-reviewed.
