SA 356: Ethnography & qualitative methods

Contact info

For Library research help, please contact Moninder Lalli, Librarian for Sociology / Anthropology by email (moninder_lalli@sfu.ca) or Ask a librarian.

Essay  

Start Your Research Here - This page gives you an overview of the research process, or in other words how to find materials for your essay.

Specialized Library guides

Selected encyclopedias and handbooks

Find books

Library Catalogue search guide | Catalogue search tips

Search the SFU Library Catalogue: Advanced keyword

  • ethnograph* AND (method* OR research OR analysis)
  • (ethnogra* OR ethnolog*) AND (research method*)
  • qualitative research
  • reflexive* AND (research OR method*)
  • (ethnograph* OR ethnolog*)  AND (virtual OR hypermedia OR "second life" OR cyberspace OR "digital world")

Combine different concepts using AND
Combine same concepts using OR
Use quotation marks to search for a phrase
Use brackets for synonyms
Use asterisk (*) for different endings of words

Note:  For Catalogue Search, when combining concepts, use CAPITAL letters ( "OR", "AND")

Look at the titles in the "results list" and for those books that look relevant, click on their subject headings.

Selected books

Browse by subject

Catalogue Search / Browse

To search for books by subject heading, use the Browse Search option in the SFU Library Catalogue, then select Subject browse from the drop-down menu

Change "Title" to "Subject" and enter:

For more ideas, try the Library guide: Research methods for Anthropology and Sociology 

Find journal articles

Search within the databases below for scholarly articles.  

How to find journal articles tutorial. 

What is a scholarly (or peer-reviewed) journal?

If the full-text of the article is not available within the database then use the "Get@SFU" link to find it or to initiate an inter-library loan request.

  • Anthropology Plus - material relating to anthropology and archaeology. Unites Harvard's Anthropological Literature and the Royal Anthropological Institute's Anthropological Index Online
  • AnthroSource - Full-text access to journals produced by the American Anthropological Association
  • ProQuest Sociology Collection - for issues related to class, gender, racism, sexuality and sexism and theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and policy science.
  • Ageline  for all aspects of "ageing" including eldercare, grandparents
  • Sage Research Methods Online
  • Access to research methods from books and numerous reference sources.

Writing help

Selected resources on writing essays: