How do you know if a website is legitimate? A search in Google can return thousands, even millions of results. Are they all good? Should you use them? The URLs themselves give hints regarding their authenticity.
.com: .com's are commercial sites. It's possible that they can provide you with quality information, but their main purpose is to make money.
.org: A .org is the website of an organization. An organization may or may not be a credible resource, and has the potential to be strongly biased, depending on what the organization is working towards.
.edu: A .edu is the site of an educational institution. Miami.edu, for example, is the web address of the University of Miami. .edu addresses are generally reliable. The .ac ending is similar to the .edu ending. .ac stands for "academic" and is sometimes used in international institutions of learning.
.gov: .gov websites are government owned and run websites. They are generally reliable resources. WhiteHouse.gov, for example, is the website of the White House. State.gov is the website of the Department of State.
Welcome to the Introduction to Sociology 210 Guide! This page on the Sociology guide is specifically designed to assist with Sociology 210. Think of it as a one-stop-shop for all your research needs. Take a look through this page and other tabs throughout the Sociology guide for research help.
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- CQ Researcher Plus Archive
The CQ Researcher explores a single 'hot' issue in the news in depth each week. Topics range from social and teen issues to environment, health, education and science and technology. 44 reports are produced each year. - ERIC
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) is an authoritative database of indexed and full-text educational literature and resources. Essential for education researchers of all kinds, it features journals included in the Current Index of Journals in Education and Resources in Education Index. - LGBT Life with Full Text
A database of literature regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. LGBT Life with Full Text contains all of the content available in LGBT Life as well as full text for 50 of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as dozens of full text monographs. The database includes comprehensive indexing and abstract coverage as well as a specialized LGBT Thesaurus containing over 6,400 terms. Full text content available in LGBT Life with Full Text includes The Advocate, Gay Parent Magazine, Girlfriends, GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian & Gay Studies, James White Review, ISNA News, Ladder, Lesbian Tide, New York Blade, ONE, Tangents, Washington Blade, and many more. - Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints is an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, the solution features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience. - PAIS International
PAIS indexes a wide range of literature on politics worldwide, public affairs, current events, international relations, public administration, marine policy, law and related topics. - ProQuest Research Library
ProQuest Research Library provides in-depth coverage of the top 150 core academic subject, including 5,060 titles -over 3,600 in full text- from 1971 forward. It features a highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers. - PsychInfo
Abstracts of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, in behavioral science and mental health. Citations and summaries date back to early 1800s; journal coverage from 1887 to present. From the American Psychological Association. - Sociological Abstracts
Sociological Abstracts indexes and abstracts research literature published worldwide in journals and other serial publications. Social Planning/Policy Development (SOPODA) is included as a subfile, providing additional literature on policy issues addressing violence, abuse, housing, the environment and other social issues. - Urban Institute
The Urban Institute measures effects, compares options, shows which stakeholders get the most and least, tests conventional wisdom, reveals trends, and makes costs, benefits, and risks explicit.
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Population, housing, economic, and geographic data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau and other government agencies. - CIA World Factbook
US government profiles of countries and territories around the world.