yo yo tep 1. Find one or two broad topics to explore. Ø Start with the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. o To get to the encyclopedia, go to the Library home page www.csulb.edu/library o Click Find Books and Media o Type in the title of the encyclopedia. o This an electronic book, which you can access remotely. Click Access via the Internet. (You will be asked for your Campus ID and Library Password. (If you don’t have a library password, return to the home page and click My Library Account to set up one.)
Ø Click the Table of Contents for the encyclopedia and browse the A-Z list, OR
Ø Choose a broad topic from the box to the left, and search it in the encyclopedia, using Advanced Search. Search for the topic in the Chapter Title (not in the full text). Step 2. Read the entry for the topic, scan the bibliography at the end and the list of See Also topics. This will give you a sense of the topic and how you might narrow the topic. After Step 2, if the topic no longer interests you, choose another one and repeat Step 2. Step 3. Use these steps to briefly scan the research literature on your topic to see if a lot has been written about it. If not, or if what has been written doesn’t appeal to you, choose another topic.
Ø Start with a broad research database, such as Academic Search Complete found on the Find Articles/Databases page (see tab at top).
Ø Search your broad topic. (Make sure you mark the box for scholarly peer-reviewed Journals.)
Ø Scan the titles of at least 30 articles to see if there are five or six that catch your interest. If so, you probably have a broad topic that will work. If not, choose another topic.
Step 4. There are many ways to narrow your topic.
Ø Pick an age group or ethnic or social group that relates to your topic. o For example: For the topic “Friendship,” you might narrow it to friendship during old age, or adolescence. Or you might look at the topic of “Adoption” for gay couples.
Ø Pick a sub-topic. o For example, if your original topic is White-Collar Crime, you might look at in relation to the banking industry. Step 5. Now use these steps to briefly scan the research on your narrowed topic to make sure enough has been written. See Step. 3.
Ø Return to the database Academic Search Complete.
Ø This time put your main topic in the top search box (e.g. adoption)
Ø In the second box, put your age group, social group, or ethnic group or subtopic. (e.g. ado