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Getting Started
SAGE provides a research guide to help you in your exploration of research methods in the social sciences. In this guide are tips to find resources on the SAGE Research Methods platform. It will also guide you in finding the best literature to enable you to choose a methodology and launch into your research project.
This new resource contains books, encyclopedias and dictionaries and customized project planners to help with your research methods questions: how do I do a literature review?
Another type of review is the systematic review
One resource for this type of research is The Campbell Collaboration which presents evidence-based studies for a variety of social issues.
Develop your Research Question or Thesis
Say you have a topic of interest like one of the examples below:
- Victim compensation packages
- Legalizing marijuana
- Treating autistic children with applied behavior analysis
Start by writing a question or statement that describes your topic. For example:
- There needs to be more discussion about victim compensation packages, especially for survivors of rape or domestic violence.
- Is it a good idea to legalize marijuana?
- Applied behavior analysis has been proven successful in treating autistic children. Why isn't it covered by healthcare insurance in all states?
At the same time, collect some background information to set up the scope, or limits of your thesis statement. Here are some suggested resources:
- Oxford English Dictionary -- Did you know the phrase "restorative justice" was first used in 1834?
- International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences
- Start with one piece of your topic and use the "Search within results" to further refine results. NOTE: Applied behavior analysis as a search found over 900 articles--adding autism refined it to a more manageable 10.
- Sometimes searches will mention names of organizations, think tanks, research centers or government agencies with additional information. For example--Council for Affordable Health Insurance ( Google search looks like "Council for Affordable Health Insurance") located a report on state laws, autism and health insurance or lead to State Insurance Mandates for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Check out the Research Tutorials page--tutorial topics include:
How do I choose a research topic?
How do I develop a research question?
How do I choose keywords for my search?
How do I find peer-reviewed articles?
Research Methods
SAGE provides a research guide to help you in your exploration of research methods in the social sciences. In this guide are tips to find resources on the SAGE Research Methods platform. It will also guide you in finding the best literature to enable you to choose a methodology and launch into your research project.