Sociology: Research Methods & Evaluating Sources

Books and journal articles are typically going to be about a specific topic or event, and are secondary sources. Looking for books and articles on sociology? Check out the Books & Articles tab on this guide for more information.

Questionnaires and surveys can help you collect information from specific population groups in a much more structured manner than an interview.

A questionnaire is a set of questions with a choice of answers used for a survey. A survey can be used to gather information about a specific topic or issue.

There are many different ways that you can conduct a survey; check out the sources listed below to learn more.

Letters and diaries are more personal primary sources and can provide valuable insight to an event.  They are often associated with historical research, but can be useful in sociological research as well (think email correspondence!).  To search for letters or diaries, try using terms like correspondence, personal narratives, description and travel, letters, autobiography, or notebooks. If you are searching for the correspondence of a specific person, you might also find that there is an archival collection of their papers.

Newspapers and magazines deliver information on events from the time in which they took place, making them primary sources. But, newspaper and magazine articles that cite additional data or studies, would be considered a secondary source. See our guide on Finding Resources: Newspapers to learn more about accessing newspapers at Sarah Lawrence College Library and beyond.

Statistics and data are considered primary sources in fields like sociology. They are primary because they are the raw materials from which scholars in the field will draw their own analysis and conclusion. Looking for data-sets to work with? Check out the Finding Data & Data Resources page on this guide.