PS/CJ 3115 Research Methods

Sources and Strategies for Finding Articles & Data Related to Political Science & Criminal Justice

Two steps in beginning social science research are:

(1) Doing a literature review --finding what research has already been done on the topic before you even start gathering data or writing. A thorough search for scholarly articles within the Library's various article indexes and fulltext databases is key to fitting your research into the history of the topic to date.

(2) Collecting data to support one's thesis.
A great deal of data is collected by international organizations, governmental agencies and private groups. Some data sources on the web are more reliable than others so be sure to take some care in determining the quality and accuracy of a website. Knowing how and where to access quality data can save a researcher wasted hours of searching. Guides such as this serve to provide a starting place for directing researches to key resources but do not intend to be exhaustive. For more information and assistance visit the Library Reference Desk, contact a librarian online through Ask a Librarian service, or make an appointment to work at length with a librarian on your project in a RAP Session .

1. Doing a Literature Review

Library Databases for Books & Articles

Citing Sources

2. Collecting Data Online

Comprehensive Collections of Data
International Information
United States Information
           Crime Data
           Demographic Data
           Election Data
Public Opinion Resources
North Carolina and Other State Level Data

1. LITERATURE REVIEW-- See what research has already been done

BOOKS

The ASU library spends thousands of $ every year on new books in political science and criminal justice, so many key books in your area will likely be in the Western North Carolina Library Network.

Check the ASU Library Catalog for books related to your research at ASU, UNCA, and Western Carolina Univ. (Books from UNCA and WCU are available via ABC Express van service within a couple of days)
To search thousands of library catalogs of the world simultaneously (approx. 40 million records) , use the Library's WorldCat database.

ARTICLES

Use library databases to find articles in the area you wish to do research (accessible on & off campus). Some databases that include both scholarly& popular materials provide a means of limiting to scholarly works (also referred to as "refereed" or "peer-reviewed")

ASU Library has grouped related electronic resources together for your convenience under Databases by Subject in the Articles and More section of the Library Website. Scroll down among the subjects and click on:

Criminal Justice or
Political Science

Examples of useful multi-discipline article databases:

Academic Search Premier | Full Text | To limit your search to only scholarly articles check the box beside "to refereed publication"
Project Muse, Johns Hopkins Press, Full Text , 1995 - to date
Available on & off campus | about
Provides full text access to scholarly electronic journals in the humanities and social sciences from Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses.
JSTOR, Full Text |
Available on & off campus | about From volume 1 excluding the latest 3-5 years .
Provides access to the complete back runs of scholarly journals in many academic disciplines--including some that have been published continuously for more than 100 years.
Blackwell Synergy Blackwell | Full Text |
Access to electronic journals from Blackwell.
SpringerLink | Full Text |
Access to all electronic journals from Brill, Kluwer Academic and Springer.
Sociological Abstracts | About
Covers many areas of criminal justice and political science. Includes all aspects of sociology, such as community development, culture and social structure, demography, environmental interactions, family and social welfare, law, group interactions, welfare services, and women's studies.

Examples of Criminal Justice Specific Indexes

Criminal Justice Periodicals Proquest (CJPI) | Covering crime prevention and deterrence, juvenile delinquency, police issues, courtroom procedures, and other criminal justice issues. More About .
NCJSR (National Criminal Justice Reference Service) Provides abstracts of more than 180,000 publications across the entire field of law enforcement and criminal justice. Publications indexed include books, journals, magazines, and government documents. Subject areas include corrections, courts, crime prevention, criminology, drugs and crime, juveniles, law enforcement, statistics, technology, and victims of crime. The NCJRS also offers separate access to the full-text of numerous government publications relating to criminal justice.

Examples of Political Science Specific Indexes and Databases

CQ Researcher | Full Text |
CQ Weekly | Full Text |
CIAO Columbia University Press (Columbia International Affairs Online) | Full Text | publishes a wide range of scholarship that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs.
Left Index NISC - Topics covered include politics, economics, the labor movement, ecology and environment, women's studies, race and ethnicity, social and cultural theory,

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Citing Sources
Explains how to cite web and internet sources using MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual of Style

2. COLLECTING DATA FOR RESEARCH

General Statistics Sources

ASU Library Subject Guide to Statistics [From the ASU Library homepage, select Articles and More and scroll down By Subject to Statistics. ]
University of Michigan Documents Center Statistical Resources on the Web www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html [Links to numerous international, national and regional statistical sources. Easy to use breakdown by subjects & categories.]
Statistical Universe Lexis-Nexis | provides indexing and abstracts of statistics compiled by the U.S. Government. Includes thousands of full text sources covering crime, demographics, economics, and health statistics, and much more. Indexing from U.S. federal and state government sources, international agencies, Statistical Abstract of the United States , and the American Statistical Index.]
FedStats www.fedstats.gov/ [The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies. ]

International Statistics and Data

United Nations : www.un.org [Example: Select "Welcome" then "Economic & Social Development" in top bar then "statistics" ]
U nited Nations Statistical Division : unstats.un.org/unsd/ [Can be found in the Index of the UN site. Includes international demographic, social, housing, energy, environmental, & industrial statistics. Example: Select Demographic - then Mortality - etc.]
U.N. Human Development Report Contains the full text of Human Development Reports, annual independent reports commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the status of people's long term well-being throughout the world. Each report contains a wealth of statistical data dealing with human development.
World Bank: Besides a considerable amount of information on itself and on topical issues (including news releases, speeches, and summaries of new projects), the World Bank offers a wealth of information on development and growth topics. Their "Country Data" (part of the "Data" area) offers "Country Briefs" (several thousand word descriptions of economic policies and events) and "Country-at-a-Glance" (summary statistical information, with many cross-country comparisons). They also offer "World Development Sources (WDS)" which has some 6,000 searchable World Bank reports (the search engine is quite sophisticated).
United Kingdom Statistics : Includes the latest comprehensive range of official UK statistics and information about statistics. Statistics are arranged in themes: agriculture, commerce & industry, compendia & reference, crime & justice, education & training, health & care, labour market, natural & built environment, population & migration, social & welfare, travel & tourism, and other. There are also the latest economic indicators.
CIA World Factbook Contains information drawn from many government agencies about each country in the world. For example, it covers geography, people, governments, economics, communications, transportation, and defense. It also includes abbreviations for international organizations, selected international environment agreements, weights and measures, estimates of gross domestic products on an exchange rate basis, and regional maps.

Sources for United States Statistics and Data

General

Statistical Abstract of the United States Compiles a wide variety of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States. Selected international data are also included. [To search this online government document you must either search the Index or Tables. For more detailed searching of this resource, use Statistical Universe Lexis-Nexis |
ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) [Data downloadable to SPSS to support research in the social sciences, including economics, geography, political science, psychology, sociology, and history, plus education, public health, social work, public administration, urban affairs, foreign policy, law, and criminal justice.]

Crime Data

Bureau of Justice Statistics: Part of the U.S. Department of Justice, it provide the primary source for criminal justice statistics in the United States. BJS collects, analyzes, publishes, and disseminates information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.
- Uniform Crime Reports : Contains the statistical publications: C rime in the United States & Hate Crime Statistics .
- Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
  Brings together data on all aspects of criminal justice in the U.S. from more than 100 sources.
NCJSR (National Criminal Justice Reference Service) Has links to many U.S. Government statistical publications. [See further description in section on article databases above]

Demographic Data

Election Data

Federal Election Commission www.fec.gov/ [Contains images of hard copies of campaign finance reports by candidates, parties and PAC's and other information from the U.S. agency that oversees campaign finance laws. FEC Table of Contents | Information about Candidates, Parties and Committees
NARA | Federal Register | U. S. Electoral College Contains historical election results, records of how electors voted, and links to other election information.
American National Election Studies conducts national surveys of the American electorate in presidential and midterm election years and carries out research and development work through pilot studies in odd-numbered years. The longevity of the NES time-series greatly enhances the utility of the data, since measures can be pooled over time, and both long-term trends and the political impact of historical events can be identified.
Campaign Finance Links at Opensecrets.org [Sponsored by The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy.

Public Opinion Resources

Gallup Brain | Full Text | The Gallup Brain is a searchable record of 70 years of public opinion. Answers to more than 136,000 questions, and responses from more than 3.5 million people interviewed by The Gallup Poll since 1935. This public opinion database also houses Gallup Poll News Service articles, Gallup Poll Tuesday Briefing articles, and Gallup Management Journal articles that feature in-depth public opinion and management data analyses.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Full Text Search the source Public Opinion for Roper Center polls.
Polling Report.com An independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion.
The Southern Focus Poll / The Carolina Poll -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
ASU Library Research Guide to Public Opinion Resources

North Carolina & Other State Level Data

North Carolina State Data Center specializes in disseminating and assisting with interpretation of decennial census data. It adds value to census data products by displaying tables, graphics, and reports specific to North Carolina. Use this page as your starting point to locate North Carolina census information
North Carolina Legislature
South Now Program Contains some of the the best online resources dealing with Southern politics, media and public life. Contains N. C. data packs including analysis of North Carolina voter trends, historical voting patterns, political geography by county, and campaign expenditures, with special focus on U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races.

Evaluating Websites

Look at the website, Project Vote Smart , <http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm> . Click on "About Us" to find out more about the organization and the site. What is the primary purpose of the site? Is it a commercial, advocacy or reference website?
[Example site called Secondhand Smoke is now offline]
Go to the website: Documenting the American South, <http://docsouth.unc.edu/> Is it a commercial, advocacy or reference website and what is it about the site that tells you this? Who is sponsoring the site?
Go to the website entitled World Trade Organization, <http://www.wto.org> Who is the author?
Compare this site (World Trade Organization) to an antt-WTO site at <http://www.gatt.org> sponsored by the Yes Men activist group.

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Compiled by Allan Scherlen ( scherlnag@appstate.edu ) Appalachian State University Libraries