Social Issues

Controversial Subject Areas:

Here are some helpful subject headings to search for in our catalog and databases. These are just a starting point

Debates About Critical Issues in Society:

Titles in the following series facilitate the exploration of many sides of a “hot topic.” Written by experts, each book contains a bibliography of periodical articles, books and organizations specific to the topic addressed.

Don’t Miss:

CQ Researcher – found in print Ref H35.C67 or online (“Periodical Locator” on our homepage). The CQ Researcher is published in print and online 44 times a year. Each single-themed report offers in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. Each report includes a background and chronology; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources. CQ Researcher has won awards for journalism excellence.

Specialized Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks, etc.

The Reference Collection provides an excellent starting point for information about Social Issues. Introductory information, statistics, trends, and key issues on each topic are readily available. These are some of the titles that may be helpful when looking for information about Social Issues.

Age Groups:

• Aging in America A to Z
  REF HQ1064.U5 B379 2001
• Atlas of the Baby Boom Generation
  REF E741.A88 2000
• American Generations: Who they are, how they live, what they think
  REF HC110.C6 M545 1998
• The Millennials: Americans under age 25
  REF HQ796 .M55 2001

Biotechnology or Animal Research:

• Animals and the Law: A Sourcebook
  REF KF390.5.A5 C87 2001
• Animal Rights
  REF HV4708.Y84 2004
• Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering
  REF TP248.23.4684 2004
• Encyclopedia of Ethical, Legal, and Policy Issues in Biotechnology
  REF TP248.16 .E539 2000
• The Facts on File Dictionary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering
  REF TP248.16.S84 2001

Crime and Criminals:

• Encyclopedia of American Prisons
  REF HV9471.S54 2003
• Encyclopedia of Capital Punishment in the United States
  HV8694.P35 2001
• Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment
  REF HV6017.E524 2002
• Encyclopedia of DNA and the United States Criminal Justice System
  REF RA1057.55.P34 2004
• Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights
  REF KF3941 .A68 .U88 2000
• Encyclopedia of High-tech Crime and Crime-fighting
  REF HV6773.N48 2004
• Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice
  REF HV9104 .E58 2003
• Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the U.S.
  REF HV6446 .K43 2000
• Encyclopedia of Serial Killers Facts on File
  REF HV6245 .N49 2000
• Encyclopedia of White-collar & Corporate Crime
  REF HV6768.E63 2005
• Encyclopedia of Women and Crime
  REF HV6046 .E56 2000
• Guns in American Society: An encyclopedia of history, politics, culture, and the law
  REF HV7436 .G8783 2002
• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
  REF HV6787.S68 2002

Drug Related Problems:

• Drug Abuse
  REF HV5825.H435 2005
• Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol & Addictive Behavior, 4 vols.
  REF HV5804 .E53 2001
• Illegal Drugs: America's Anguish
  REF HV5825 .I55 2002
• World Drug Report 2000
  REF HV5801 .W73 2000

Environmental Issues:

• American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present
  REF GE55 .B43 2000
• Dictionary of Environmental Law
  REF K3584.6 .G55 2000
• Eccoterrorism
  REF GE197.L66 2004
• Encyclopedia of Environmental Studies Facts on File
  REF. TD9.A84 2001
• Encyclopedia of global change: environmental change and human society
  REF GE149 .E47 2002
• Environmental Law Handbook Government Institutes
  REF KF3775 .E55 2001
• Facts on File Dictionary of Environmental Science
  REF TD9.W95 2001
• Historical Ecology Handbook Society for Ecological Restoration
  REF GF13 .H58 2001
• State of the planet, a world transformed
  RV MAP CASE map 182

Ethics:

• Encyclopedia of Ethics
  REF BJ63.E45 2001

Health Related Issues:

• Death and the Afterlife
  REF GT3150 .T25 2000
• Encyclopedia of Bioethics 5 vols.
  REF QH332 .E52 2004
• Encyclopedia of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering
  REF R857.M3.E63 2004
• Encyclopedia of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  REF RC200.1 .S525 2004
• Encyclopedia of HIV and AIDS
  REF RC606.6 .W385 2003
• International Handbook of Suicide and Attempted Suicide
  REF HV6545 .I59 2000
• Social Studies in Health and Medicine
  REF RA418 .H36 2000
• Supreme Court Drama: cases that changed America 4 vols.
  REF KF4550.Z9 B73 2001

Immigration:

• Facts about American Immigration
  REF JV6465.B73 2001
• International Migration: trends, policies, and economic impact
  REF JV6217 .I59 2001
• Population Statistics / European Commission
  REF HA1107.5.P678 2004

Military/Political Issues:

• Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups
  REF HN49.R33 A85 2004
• Encyclopedia of Prisoners of War and Internment
  REF UB800 .E53 2000
• Encyclopedia of Terrorism
  REF HV6431.K883 2003
• Encyclopedia of World Terrorism
  REF HV6431 .E53 2003
• Encyclopedia of Youth and War
  REF HQ784 .W3 .S54 2000

Sociology:

• Dictionary of the Social Sciences
  H41.D53 2002
• Encyclopedia of Modern American Social Issues
  REF HN57 .K73 1997
• Handbook of Social Psychology
  REF HM251.H224 1998
• Social Science Encyclopedia
  REF H41.S63 1996
• State of the World:
  REF HC59.S74 2005

Women's Issues:

• Encyclopedia of Abortion in the United States
  REF HQ767.5.U5 P35 2002
• Encyclopedia of Birth Control
  REF HQ766 .R442 2000
• Encyclopedia of Women and Crime
  REF HV6046 .E56 2000
• Encyclopedia of Women's History in America
  REF HQ1410 .C85 2000
• Handbook or American Women's History,
  REF HQ1410 .H36 2000
• International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage
  REF JF851 .H28 2000
• Sourcebook on Violence against Women
  REF HV6250.4 .W65 .S68 2001
• Supreme Court Decisions and Women's Rights
  REF KF4758 .A7 .S87 2000
• World's Women: Trends and Statistics
  REF HQ1154 .W95 2000

Internet Resources:

• Data on the Net
  http://odwin.ucsd.edu/idata/
• Electronic Journal of Sociology
  http://www.sociology.org/electronicjournals.html
• ICPSR Data Archive
  http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/index.html
• Internet Public Library: Social Sciences
  http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/soc00.00.00/
• Poly-Cy: Public Policy
  http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/polycy/pspubpol.html
• SOSIG
  http://www.sosig.ac.uk/
• Yahoo! Society & Culture: Issues of the Day
  http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Issues_and_Causes/

Public Opinion on Current/Controversial Issues:

(Consider credibility, accuracy and bias when evaluating these sources!)

Books:

• American Attitudes, 3rd edition New Strategist Publications
  REF HN90 .P8 .M58 2000
• The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion Scholarly Resources Inc.
  REF HN90 .P8 .G35 (1992-2003)

Article Databases:

• Lexis/Nexis Academic: To find opinion/editorials on both sides of a current issue, go to the Guided News search form and select a news category and news source in steps 1 and 2. Type terms related to the issue in the Keyword box, such as television AND violence. In the next box, enter opinion OR editorial OR op-ed and change the pull-down list to Full Text. Please keep in mind that, since news sources have varying names for editorials, this search method is not guaranteed to retrieve every opinion piece written about a subject. You will also find Public Opinion Online in Lexis/Nexis Academic. The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research is the most comprehensive full-text collection of public opinion in the United States. It covers the full spectrum of public interest including politics and government, public institutions, international relations, business, social affairs and consumer behavior and preferences.
• Newspaper Database: allows you to limit your search by choosing Opinion and Editorial.
• ProQuest Newspapers: Go to Advanced Search and select Editorial as document type.

Internet Resources:

• Human Rights Watch
  http://www.hrw.org
• Public Agenda Online
  http://www.publicagenda.org/
• Urban Institute
  http://www.urban.org

Research Databases

The following can all be found under ">Database Descriptions" from the library's homepage.

• Academic Search Premier offers information from many sources found in no other database and full text for nearly 3,200 scholarly publications. Indexing going back to 1984 and images are also provided for nearly all academic areas of study including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, and ethnic studies.
• Facts on File Database
• JSTOR: is a collection of full-text journal information in the subjects of African-American Studies, Asian Studies, Ecology, Economics, Education, Philosophy, Political Science, Population, Science, Sociology, and Statistics. JSTOR chooses key journals in each discipline and provides full-text coverage going all the way back to the very first issue published by each journal. Recent information is not available in the JSTOR database.
• Lexis/Nexis Academic Database
• Newspaper Database
• Proquest provides access to over 1800 periodicals, plus current coverage of articles from The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. This database is updated weekly and information is very current.
• Science Direct (Choose Social Sciences from “Select a Subject Area” pull down menu)
• WilsonOmnifile: This large index covers all of the sources you would find in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, the Business Periodical Index, the Humanities Index, the General Science Index, the Education Index, and the Social Science Index. It also provides select indexing of the Library & Information Science Index, Applied Science and Technology Index, the Art Index, the Agricultural & Biological Index, and the Index to Legal Periodicals. To search for information from just one of these databases, go to the Subject choice and choose the Index you want to limit your search to.

Statistics to Back Up Your Research:

Books:

• Datapedia of the United States 1790-2005
  REF HA202.K87 2004
• Statesman's Yearbook 2004
  REF JA1 .S83 2004
• Statistical Abstract of the United States 2003
  REF HA202.U57 2003
• World Almanac and Book of Facts 2005
  REF AY67.N5 W7 2005

Websites:

• Child Stats
  http://www.childstats.gov/
• Education Statistics at a Glance
  http://nces.ed.gov/edstats/
• FED STATS
  http://www.fedstats.gov/
• Guide to State Statistical Abstracts
  http://www.census.gov/statab/www/stateabs.html
• NJ State Data Center
  http://www.state.nj.us/labor/lra/
• Social Statistics Briefing Room
  http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/ssbr.html
• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
  http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/
• Statistical resources on the Web: Sociology
  http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html

Also, check search engines specifically for government information:

• FirstGov
  http://www.firstgov.gov/
• Google's Uncle Sam
  http://www.google.com/unclesam
• SearchGov
  http://www.searchgov.com/

Last Updated - June, 2005