Welcome

This guide provides links to resources to help you get started with your research in Sociology.

Find Context

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and Guides in Sociology and the Social Sciences

Find Articles in Sociology and Related Disciplines

This is a selective list of databases relevant to Sociology research. You can find these and additional electronic resources on the Databases page of the Library website.

  • Sociology Database provides access to the international literature in Sociology.
  • ERIC  is an online library of education research and information, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.
  • Race Relations Abstracts is an essential resource for ethnic and racial studies.
  • Women's Studies International is a database for women’s studies and feminist research.
  • Econlit is a reliable source of economic research citations and abstracts from the American Economic Association.
  • America History & Life is the primary bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.

Find Articles in Multidisciplinary Databases

  • Web of Science indexes core journal articles in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. A key feature of the database is citation searching which enables you to find who has cited an article since it was published.
  • Google Scholar enables you to search for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, etc. Google Scholar also provides information on who has cited an item since it was published.
  • Social Science Premium is an index and full text database in the social sciences, including politics, sociology, and education.

Find Books in the Harvard Library & Beyond

Finding Books at Harvard

Finding Books Beyond Harvard

  • Borrow Direct - for books not currently available at Harvard. Submit a request and receive the book within 4 days. 
  • Interlibrary Loan - for articles, books, etc. request to borrow it from a broader network of libraries.
  • Purchase request - for items you need added to the Library collection.

Selected Sources on U.S. & International Data

United States

  • Statistical Abstract of the United States - The "National Data Book" contains statistics on social and economic conditions in the U. S. There is also a section on Comparative International Statistics, including information on finance, agriculture, and population.
  • Fedstats - A gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies. Data includes economic, healthcare, education, and crime.
  • Proquest Statistical Insight - Statistical tables from selected Federal, state and international inter-governmental publications as well as business and association publications.

International

  • International Historical Statistics Series / B.R. Mitchell; Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, N.Y. : Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
  • Africa, Asia & Oceania, 1750-2005
  • Europe, 1750-2005
  • the Americas, 1750-2005
  • Proquest Statistical Insight  - Statistical tables from selected Federal, state and international inter-governmental publications as well as business and association publications.
  • UN Data - from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Topics include agriculture, education, employment, energy, environment, industry, national accounts, population, trade and tourism.
  • World Development Indicators/WDI Online - Contains statistical data for over 1,100 development indicators and time series data from 1960 for over 200 countries. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators.

Library Services & Tools

  • Ask Us - send us your questions and we'll find the answers.
  • HOLLIS+ - Sign in and start searching the Harvard Library collection.
  • Check Harvard Library Bookmark - download and click on it to bypass the paywall for online materials.
  • Scan and Deliver - Free electronic document delivery service for Harvard students, faculty and staff.
  • For materials not available at Harvard,
  • Research Management and Citation Tools - collect citations and organize your sources, notes and pdfs in one place. The Library offers classes to get you started.
  • Harvard Library Research Guides - handy guides to subjects, tools, and services compiled by Harvard Librarians.