Spend some time brainstorming keywords and search terms. Use subject headings or descriptors to help generate search terms.
When you find a good article, look at its References or Works Cited list. That will often lead you to other useful sources.
Do you have an article citation, but need to find the full-text article?
Three Steps to Finding the Full Text Article...
1. Check the Holy Cross Libraries' Catalog to find the journal in print or in electronic format by searching in the TITLE field for the name of the JOURNAL (not the article name): HC Catalog
2. If the catalog does not produce positive results, check the Electronic Journals A-Z List by searching for the Journal name (not the article name) in the "Find" box.
3. If the Electronic Journals A-Z list does not produce positive results, order the article through InterLibrary Loan.
SocIndex (Full Text; coverage varies)
Indexes more than 1,986,000 records in the field of sociology, including journal articles, books & conference proceedings.
ProQuest Central
A great multidisciplinary database. To limit your search to the social sciences, go to Advanced Search and then select "Social Sciences" from the link on the right under the heading "Search subject areas"
ISI Web of Knowledge Cross-Search
Covers over 10,000 journals in the social sciences, sciences, and arts and humanities, as well as conference proceedings.
JSTOR (Full Text: coverage varies)
An archive of scholarly journal articles from a variety of subject areas, including sociology.
Project Muse (Full Text: coverage varies)
Provides full-text journal articles from a variety of subject areas.
Academic Search Premier (Full Text: coverage varies)
A multidisciplinary database that offers indexing and abstracts for 7,100 journals
Expanded Academic ASAP (Full Text: 1980-Present)
An interdisciplinary index to journals and national news magazines.
Check out the library's e-journals list to search for articles in specific journals. For example:
ProQuest Statistical Insight
Provides access to statistical information produced by U.S. Federal agencies, States, private organizations, and major intergovernmental organizations. Try using the Basic Search or, for a more targeted search, experiment with Advanced Search. With Advanced Search, you can use the Subject List link to the right of the search form to view various search terms that you may want to use. You can go to a broad topic, such as "Families and households," and then find narrower topic that can be pasted into your search.
Think about what organizations might have produced the type of statistics and reports that you need. ProQuest Statistical Insight provides access to information from many of these groups and some groups (such as the National Center for Children in Poverty) may provide information freely available online as well.