Library Assignment Alternative for Methods of Research

*  note:  this is an alternative to attending the poster session and handing in a poster session report form.  If you attend the poster session and hand in a report form, you should not complete this assignment.  * 

The purpose of this assignment is find four scholarly articles related to a sociological research topic.  These should be studies published in academic journals, NOT popular magazines.  These are usually not available on the open internet, although you can often find them through Google Scholar (not the regular Google web search).  Most of these publications must be accessed through the Rutgers Library or another institution that has paid for access to them.  However, these sources can be accessed from home, as long as you log on to the Rutgers Library site with your user name and password.  Learning how to use these sources will give you access to valuable information that you can use in other courses and in graduate school or on the job after graduation.  A basic resource for this assignment is the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Department's Library Sources Guide which provides links to the key library resources.  You may find it useful to keep that page open while doing this assignment.

Instructions

1.  Open this file in Microsoft Word or another text editor.  You may find it helpful to paste your findings directly in the assignment file.  If you cannot do this because of the way the web site is configured, you can type them in. 

2.   Type a one paragraph description of your research topic here:

3.  List some key words and/or researchers' names that would be useful for searching on your topic:

3.  Use Google Scholar, Academic Search Premier, or any other academic search tool to find original research articles on your topic.  These are studies that report on research for the first time.  They usually have an abstract at the beginning that summarizes the findings.  Find FOUR original studies.  You will not receive full credit for articles that are not original research reports in scholarly journals.

4.  Read the chapter on APA documentation in the Penguin  Manual (there are also online sources on this, listed on the Sociology & Criminal Justice Department Home Page). 

5.   For each of the four articles you find, type a full citation using APA style.  Also type a brief abstract (you may copy and paste this if convenient).  Also include the text of a hyperlink to the article if available. 

Article One, Citation:
Article One, Hyperlink:
Article One, Abstract:

Article Two, Citation:
Article Two, Hyperlink:
Article Two, Abstract:

Article Three, Citation:
Article Three, Hyperlink:
Article Three, Abstract:

Article Four, Citation:
Article Four, Hyperlink:
Article Four, Abstract: