POL 301 - Methods of Political Inquiry
Course Description from Course Syllabus: The primary goal of this course is to understand the proper use and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative analyses of political problems. In this course, the students will learn how to formulate questions about politics, how to design research approaches to address their research questions and how to use and interpret research results, along with statistics, to properly answer these questions. What students learn in this course will also help them read and understand materials in other political science classes and allow them to become an informed participant in political discussion and debates.
- Begin your search with the general and multi-discipline databases, then use the additional subject databases for your research. Think beyond the Political Science databases! Depending on your research, there may well be a more useful and general database than the political science and government documents databases and indexes. For example, If you are researching illegal immigration and the nation's international economic competitiveness, you should first research this topic in Academic Search Complete database in addition to searching the specialized sources.
- Be creative when choosing the terms with which to frame your research. For example, if you're looking at illegal immigrants, it makes sense to use terms such as "migrants," "aliens," etc., in addition to "immigrants."
- Use both Primary and Secondary Sources
- Use authoritative or official sources for using statistical and data information
- When using the internet, make sure to use an Authoritative Web Page
- Always make sure to Cite your Sources properly
- FOR ADDITIONAL RESEARCH ASSISTANCE: don't hesitate to call or e-mail me to set up a research consultation in my office at the Main Library. My contact information is below. I prefer that you e-mail me and write a detailed message so I know what you're researching before you come in.
rawana@u.library.arizona.edu
621-4867
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/start/prim_sources.html
Primary sources are original records created at the time historical events occurred or well after events in the form of memoirs and oral histories. Primary sources may include letters, manuscripts, diaries, journals, newspapers, speeches, interviews, memoirs, documents produced by government agencies such as Congress or the Office of the President, photographs, audio recordings, moving pictures or video recordings, research data, and objects or artifacts such as works of art or ancient roads, buildings, tools, and weapons.
Some primary materials can be found using either the Library Catalog or WorldCat. Primary sources are found under the following Library of Congress subject terms: Sources; Biography; Diaries; Correspondence; or Personal Narratives.
WorldCat is a database showing the cataloging records of materials owned by many other libraries. This can identify items that the UA library doesn't own and which you could request on Interlibrary Loan. Ask a Librarian to help you with this.
Primary Source Materials for Political Science on the Web include the following:
- American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
[http://memory.loc.gov/] - Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm] - Repository of Primary Resources A listing of over 2900 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs and other primary sources for the research scholar.
- Government Documents Sources (see Government Documents page)
Major Sources for Political Science Researchers:
- Worldwide Political Science Abstract
- International Political Science Abstract
- Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
- EbscoHost Academic Search Premier
- Expanded Academic ASAP
- ABI Inform
- Lexis-Nexis Congressional Universe Includes Congressional record; text of bills, reports, hearings, etc.
- Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) Includes information business, public policy, government, and social sciences. Citations and abstracts. 1972 to present.
Related Full-text Articles from Electronic Journals
- CQ Weekly
Includes legislative news and analysis from Capitol Hill. - JSTOR
Back issues of full-text articles from selected journals relating to this area. - Project Muse
Includes current full-text articles from Journal of Democracy, Human Rights Quarterly, and World Politics.
See Data Set Sources
Lexis-Nexis Statistical Universe
Statistics Resource Finder : Lists statistical resources for the world by region, country, U.S. state, county and city statistics on a variety of subjects. All listed resources are available in the UA Libraries.
Census Resources : http://factfinder.census.gov/
Sociometrics Social Science Electronic Data Library
Congressional Materials:
Additional Resources
More News and Current Event Sources
Historical Abstracts [TIPS] World history, excluding the U.S. and Canada, from 1450 to the present
Ethnic Newswatch and ENW: a History A comprehensive full text database of newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic, minority and native presses. 1960 to present.
Alternative Press Index Index to articles from alternative, left, and radical publications that focus on social, political, economic and environmental causes. 1991 to present.
Reader's Guide Retrospective This does not include full text; however, in some cases the catalog record for a particular journal in Sabio will have full text. 1890 to 1982.
Sociological Abstracts Includes materials in sociology and related fields. Citations and abstracts. 1973 to present.
Access World News Full text of regional and local newspapers. Some as early as 1985.
New York Times (ProQuest) [ TIPS ] Full Text images of almost all pages of the New York Times, 1851-2001.
Los Angeles Times Full text, and full image of the LA Times, 1881-1984.
Citation and Other Useful Information: