Books and E-Books

MU Libraries Book Finder http://muarchives.missouri.edu/ms_book_search.pl
	Also Known as: Find it at MUUse this link to search for for books in the MERLIN Library catalog and through the MOBIUS statewide library network. Click "Request" to order books from other MERLIN and MOBIUS libraries. If the book is not found in a MERLIN or MOBIUS library, you can request it through interlibrary loan at this URL.

MERLIN Library Catalog http://laurel.lso.missouri.edu/search~S1/

Searches books and other materials (videos, musical recordings, journal titles, newspaper titles, magazine titles, microformat sets, government documents etc.) owned by the MU Libraries. Example: MERLIN Subject Search: Subject searches are good for NAMES of people, groups, agencies, places or events, as well as conventions/treaties: kissinger, henry or fuerza democrática nicaragüense or geneva conventions 1949 or united nations commission on human rights Example: MERLIN Keyword Search:globali* (retrieves globalization, globalisation, globalizing, globalised, etc. -but not global),capital punishment OR death penalty (retrieves items with EITHER phrase),inequalit* AND incarcerat* (retrieves items with BOTH/ALL words), and (birth control OR family planning OR contracept*) AND aid [more]

Google Book Search http://books.google.com

Google Books contains the full text of books provided by libraries and publishers. Materials that are out of copyright (generally pre-1925) can be viewed online. For more recent books, Google Book Search functions as a detailed index. Books identified may be available at MU, via MOBIUS, or may be requested through ILL@MU. When searching for books "containing something about" (Example: "kissinger commission and nicaragua") - use ADVANCED search. Some older books and government documents are available in full text, but many items will give you "snippets" or a few pages only. You can limit your search to "full view books." [more]

Journal Articles

Use the MU Libraries Journal and Article Finder (first item below) if you already know the precise article you are looking for.

To find articles on a topic, use the other databases listed in this section.  For databases not containing the full text of the articles, follow the FindIt@MU links from results pages.

InfoTrac U.S. History Collection http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/morenetuomcolum?db=SPJ.SP24
	This collection covers current thought on events in U.S. History as well as scholarly work established in the field. Access provided by MOREnet.

InfoTrac World History Collection http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/morenetuomcolum?db=SPJ.SP12
	This collections covers leading journals in the field of world history, including Australian Aboriginal Studies, China Review International, Historical Studies, Journal of African History, Latino Leaders and more. Access provided by MOREnet.

MU Libraries Journal and Article Finder http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2105/
	Also Known as: Find it at MizzouSearch for articles and journals available through University of Missouri Libraries.

Academic Search Premier http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=aph

Academic Search Premier provides full text for over 4,600 academic, social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for nearly 8,500 journals. Over 3,500 journals are peer reviewed. Full text backfiles go as far back as January of 1990, while indexing and abstract backfiles go as far back as January of 1984. Provided courtesy of MORENET. [more]

America History and Life http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=ahl

Contains almost 400,000 bibliographic references concerning the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. In addition to covering all key English-language historical journals, selected historical journals from major countries, state and local history journals, and a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities and also included. [more]

ERIC http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=columbia&access=columbia8&db=eric-set-c

A U.S. national bibliographic database covering the journal and research literature in the field of education. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, ERIC blends two files: Resources in Education (RIE), covering the fugitive document literature, and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE), covering the published journal literature from over 775 periodicals. The database also includes the full text of ERIC Digest records. These one- to two-page full-text records, targeted specifically to teachers, administrators, and other practitioners, provide an overview of information on a given topic and supply references with more detailed information. [more]

Historical Abstracts http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=hia

References cover the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life), including the key historical journals from virtually every major country, plus a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of history. In addition to articles, each year Historical Abstracts includes approximately 3,000 citations to useful historical books as reviewed by the most prestigious journals in the field and citations to abstracts of dissertations completed worldwide of particular interest for historical research. [more]

JSTOR http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.jstor.org

A full-text database consisting of the Arts and Sciences I, II, III, IV, Ecology & Botany and General Science Collections which provide access to the back files of over 300 scholarly journals. Areas included are history, sociology, business, economics, ecology, literature, mathematics, music, political science, population studies, Asian studies, philanthropy and finance. Coverage begins with volume one of each title and continues to within 4-5 years of the present. [more]

PAIS http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=columbia&access=columbia8&db=pais-set-c
	PAIS covers the range of the social sciences, with emphasis on national and international economic, political and public policy issues. [more]

Project Muse http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://muse.jhu.edu/muse.html
	Project Muse provides full-text access to more than 100 scholarly journal titles from the Johns Hopkins University Press and other University presses covering the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Mathematics. [more]

Sociological Abstracts http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=columbia&access=columbia8&db=socioabs-set-c
	Indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Search and display cited references for key journals published since 2001, and all journals since 2004. Each individual cited reference may also link to an abstract and/or to other papers that cite that reference. Formerly known as Sociofile. [more]

News

Factiva http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://global.factiva.com/en/sess/login.asp?xsid=S003Wvj0XNyMTZyMTApMDAqNDAvNXmm5DFHY96oYqZlNFFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFB
	U.S. and international newspaper articles in full text, date coverage varies by title but generally late 20th/early 21st Century to present [more]

LexisNexis Academic http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic
	Lexis Nexis Academic offers full-text of legal materials, (court cases, legislation, statutes, regulations, law reviews, and more). Click on the "LEGAL" tab in the navigation bar to access. [more]

ProQuest Historical Newspapers http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/login?COPT=SU5UPTAmVkVSPTImREJTPTFBQ0QrMUFDQw@@&clientId=45247
	ProQuest Historical Newspapers digitally reproduces every issue of the New York Times (1851-2005) and the Wall Street Journal (1889-1991) from cover-to-cover. It provides full page-image and full-text searching of these newspapers. [more]

Federal Sources

SUGGESTED TITLES:

U.S. State Department Introduction to Human Rights
Traces the development of human rights in the United States from their origins as political theory in 17th-century Europe to their present-day acceptance as an international standard.  Includes a human rights timeline.

Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation - Analysis of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 28, 2002 
Supreme Court cases set a precedent and contribute to an evolving body of legal rights in the US.

Foreign Relations of the United States  - Paper copies or Full text, 1861-1960
The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.  Foreign Relations volumes contain documents from Presidential libraries, Departments of State and Defense, National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, Agency for International Development, and other foreign affairs agencies as well as the private papers of individuals involved in formulating U.S. foreign policy.  In general, the editors choose documentation that illuminates policy formulation and major aspects and repercussions of its execution.  

Country Studies series
Provides full text versions of books previously published (1988-98) in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Army. Because the original intent of the series' sponsor was to focus primarily on lesser-known areas of the world or regions in which U.S. forces might be deployed, the series is not all-inclusive. At present, 101 countries and regions are covered.

U.S. House Ways & Means Committee Green Book (1996-2004)
Provides program descriptions and historical data on a wide variety of social and economic topics, including Social Security, employment, earnings, welfare, child support, health insurance, the elderly, families with children, poverty and taxation. It has become a standard reference work for those interested in the direction of social policy in the United States.

Lexis Nexis Congressional http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp

Lexis Nexis Congressional indexes to congressional publications (1789-date), an extensive bill tracking service (1989-date), legislative histories (1969-date), floor votes (1989-date), public laws (1989-date), treaties with Indian tribes (1778-1874), treaties with foreign countries (1776-1949). In addition, full-text is available for the Congressional Record (1985-present), the Federal Register (1980-present), the Statutes at Large (1789-present), Congressional Research Service reports (1916-present) and Committee Prints (1830-present). This database also includes biographical, financial and voting information on current members of Congress. [more]

Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/crsreports/index.html
	The Thurgood Marshall Law Library website offers a browse-by-subject feature for CRS reports on selected topics. CRS reports provide Congress with non-partisan and in-depth legislative research and analysis. The full collection of CRS reports are indexed in the Lexis Nexis Congressional database.

U.S. Congressional Serial Set http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/?db=SERIAL&s_startsearch=customized&s_home=mulibraries.missouri.edu
	The U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980 is a vast primary source collection for U.S. political, social, cultural, military and ethnic history, as well as international relations, explorations, genealogy, commerce, industrial development and more. [more]

U.S. National Archives research galleries http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/topics/
	Topical galleries include full text documents.

Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U. S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html
	Beginning with the Continental Congress in 1774, America's national legislative bodies have kept detailed records of their proceedings. These legislative records dating from 1774-1875 provide a rich primary source history of the construction of the nation.

Digital National Security Archive http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com/
	The Digital National Security Archive is a comprehensive collection of significant primary documents central to US foreign and military policy since 1945. The Archive is organized into dozens of topical collections, each containing government documents declassified under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). [more]

LexisNexis Academic http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic
	Lexis Nexis Academic offers full-text of legal materials, (court cases, legislation, statutes, regulations, law reviews, and more). Click on the "LEGAL" tab in the navigation bar to access. [more]

US General Accountability Office (GAO) http://www.gao.gov/
	Also Known as: GAOKnown as "the investigative arm of Congress," the GAO analyzes policies, programs and performance of the federal government. Full text reports dating back to the 1930s are available through the website.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://catalog.gpo.gov/
	Also Known as: CGPThis is the most comprehensive database for U. S. federal publications issued from 1976-present. MU Libraries will not own everything shown in this database. [more]

Historical Publications of the US Commission on Civil Rights http://www.law.umaryland.edu/Marshall/usccr/index.html
	Includes full text publications dated 1957 to the present. Suggestion: look for LOCATE PUBLICATIONS section; then click SUBJECT.

U.S. State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor http://www.state.gov/g/drl/
	The Department of State is the leading U.S. foreign affairs agency. The Department advances American interests around the world by advising the U.S. president's foreign policy. The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor focuses on these issues in particular and can help inform U. S. bilateral diplomacy, multilateral engagement, foreign assistance, and use of economic sanctions.

Treaties and Agreements

 

• If necessary, consult this treaty guide from the University of Colorado.
• Find full text treaties in University of Minnesota Human Rights Online Library

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - Major Human Rights Instruments http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/
	Includes texts of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Civil and Political Rights, and the seven core international human rights treaties.

HeinOnline http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/Welcome?collection=journals

HeinOnline is most useful for providing full text when the exact citation to a primary source legal document is already in hand. However there is a browse feature which allows some amount of "drilling down" into subjects of interest. When using this source, first click on the "Library" of interest, for example, "Treaties and Agreements Library." Then click the SEARCH tab in the upper navigation bar. [more]

Treaties in Force http://laurel.lso.missouri.edu/search/o?SEARCH=48946862
	A list of treaties and other international agreements of the United States in force on January 1st of each year. This is NOT limited to documents pertaining only to human rights. Organized by country (bilateral treaties) and subject (multilateral treaties). This is available in electronic full text through the Lexis Nexis Academic database.

UN

The United Nations maintains a system of depository libraries in the United States each of which are designed to serve the general public.  The depository which serves Missouri residents is located at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.  Reference Librarian Ann Fuhrman is the  UN Specialist.  If you have questions about UN materials, contact her at (417) 836-3077 or email AnnFuhrman@MissouriState.edu.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - Country Pages http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/Pages/HumanRightsintheWorld.aspx
	Also Known as: OHCHRIndividual human rights reports by the UNHRC for countries around the world, including the United States.

Yearbook of the United Nations http://laurel.lso.missouri.edu/search/i?SEARCH=0082-8521
	Summary of United Nations activities since its inception on July 1, 1947. [more]

United Nations Official Document System (ODS) http://documents.un.org/welcome.asp?language=E
	The United Nations Official Document System (ODS) provides full-text access to all types of official United Nations documentation, beginning in 1993. ODS also provides access to the resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 onwards. [more]

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - Document Search for Treaty-based Bodies http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf

Includes documents from the Committee against Torture, the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - Document Search for Charter-based Bodies http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/mainec.aspx
	Allows users to search for human rights documents from the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Human Rights Council, and its predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights. Dates of coverage vary.

Official Records of the United Nations Economic and Social Council http://laurel.lso.missouri.edu/search/o?SEARCH=1172097
	Records of the Economic and Social Council from the first meeting January 23, 1946 to the present. [more]

Official Records of the United Nations General Assembly http://laurel.lso.missouri.edu/search/o?SEARCH=1588470
	Official records of the General Assembly. University of Missouri library has extensive, but incomplete holdings since the Assembly's first session. [more]

United Nations Documentation Research Guide http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/index.html
	An indispensable guide to finding documents and publications issued by United Nations. Includes a special section on Human Rights.

UN-I-QUE: United Nations Info Quest http://lib-unique.un.org/lib/unique.nsf
	A ready-reference file designed to provide quick access to document symbols/sales numbers for UN materials. Focuses upon documents and publications of a recurrent nature: annual/sessional reports of committees/commissions; annual publications; reports periodically/irregularly issued; reports of major conferences; statements in the General Debate; etc.

Statistics

Large, Standard Statistical Sources

Lexis Nexis Statistical http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.lexis-nexis.com/statuniv
	Indexes content of statistical tables from the U.S. government and other sources indexed in the American Statistics Index, Statistical Reference Index, and the Index to International Statistics. Use the "Power Tables" feature to request statistics for particular geographic areas, time periods, etc. [more]

Statistical Abstract of the United States (annual), 1878-present http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/past_years.html
	The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Access by year makes targeted historical research especially easy.

NationMaster http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
	Search, compare and graph statistics for a country or region of the world. Includes statistics on internally displaced persons, health, corruption (police, business and political) and much more. Sources for statistics include the CIA World Factbook, the UN, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF, OECD and more.

United Nations Common Database (UNCDB) http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cdb
	[more]

World Development Indicators http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/search/databases/ellisonly.htm
	World Bank data for over 200 countries, including countries that are not members of UN. Along with financial data, it also contains social indicators, and natural resources. Coverage starts in 1960. This database is only accessible within Ellis Library (CD ROM Workstation, Information Commons, First Floor) [more]

2008 World Population Data Sheet http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2008/2008wpds.aspx
	The Population Reference Bureau's 2008 World Population Data Sheet and its summary report offer detailed information about country, regional, and global population patterns. Topics include: population, birth, death, health, migration, urbanization, poverty, environmental conditions and more. [more]

EuroStat Data Explorer http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/url/page/PGP_QUEEN/PGE_QUEEN_TREE?screen=welcomeref&open=/&product=EU_MAIN_TREE&depth=1
	EuroStat Data Explorer provides access to statistical tables, data series and publications from Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. [more]

FedStats http://www.fedstats.gov/
	Includes statistical information on a wide variety of areas provided by more that 70 agencies of the US federal government. [more]

Historical Statistics of the United States http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://hsus.cambridge.org
	Historical Statistics of the United States presents the numerical history of the United States. It contains more than 37,000 annual time series of quantitative historical information covering virtually every quantifiable dimension of American history, all from the earliest times to the present. [more]

Specialized Statistics

AMA Physician-Related Data Resources by County http://www.ama-assn.org/cgi-bin/sserver/datalist.cgi
	Also Known as: American Medical Association Physician Statistics by CountyDiscover the total number of physicians in any U.S. county, or in a given medical specialty in a county. From the AMA Physicians Masterfile.

Child Welfare Resource Center Statistics http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/statistics/
	Find reports, databases, and other sources of statistics and demographic data on children and families in the United States, child abuse and neglect, child welfare services, children and youth in foster care, and domestic and international adoption. [more]

Dartmouth Atlas http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/

The Dartmouth Atlas Project is run by the Center for Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Dartmouth Medical School. It's goal is to "accurately describe how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States." Using information compiled by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the data covers hospitalizations of people aged 65 to 99 in the traditional Medicare system who are free to select any participating physician or hospital. Data is available from 1994-2003. [more]

FAOSTAT http://faostat.fao.org/
	Sponsored by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Covers international statistics in agriculture, nutrition, fisheries, forestry, food quality, and more.

National Center for Health Statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/default.htm
	The main portal for delivery of data gathered by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, including the Vital & Health Statistics Series, the National Health Care Survey ( NCHS ), the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and more.

National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/
	Also Known as: NCESThe National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences, is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education. [more]

PeriStats http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life http://pewforum.org

UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/tableviewer/document.aspx?ReportId=143
	The UNESCO Institute for Statistics collects the data for more than 200 countries from Member States and international organizations. The Data Centre contains over 1,000 types of indicators and raw data on education, literacy, science and technology, culture and communication. [more]

TRI - Toxic Release Inventory http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?TRI
	A system for tracking the release of chemicals into the environment. Search by company, geographic location, or chemical for a given year. [more]

Personal Papers

 

In MERLIN, you can locate personal papers by using a KEYWORD search for the person's name and (papers OR sources).

Example: Truman and (papers OR sources OR correspondence OR diaries)

You can use the same trick to get primary source documents of this kind related to a place or a subject.

Example: Bosnia* and (papers OR sources OR correspondence OR diaries)

 

Eleanor Roosevelt Papers: The Human Rights Years, 1945-1948 http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/aboutEbook.do?actionString=DO_DISPLAY_ABOUT_PAGE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=morenetuomcolum&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=GALE%7C9780684315485&contentSegment=9780684315485

Covers Eleanor Roosevelt's post-White House years, the part of her life that has received the least attention from biographers and students of history, but which, in many ways, is the time when she wielded influence we are only now beginning to understand. It contains 410 documents selected from more than 90,000 documents the Papers staff has collected from 263 archives in fifty states and nine nations. The introduction contains several pages of political biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. [more]

NGOs

Amnesty International, USA http://www.amnestyusa.org/
	This is the United States section of the international human rights organization, Amnesty International, dedicated to research and action focused on preventing “abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights.”

Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/
	Also Known as: HRWInternational non-governmental organization dedicated to “protecting the human rights of people around the world.”

National Economic and Social Rights Initiative http://nesri.org/
	Also Known as: NESRIAn organization dedicated to promoting human rights in the United States.

United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: NGO "Shadow Reports" http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds72-ngos-usa.htm

Includes links to supplemental submissions by many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) composed in response to the United States efforts to comply with the UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination. NGOs submitting reports include: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the American Civil Liberties Union. These submissions are in response to the United States Department of State Report referenced in this guide.

United States Human Rights Network http://www.ushrnetwork.org/
	A coalition of organization and activists dedicated to promoting human rights in the United States topics of activism include: civil rights, homelessness, immigration, and workers rights.

University of Minnesota Human Rights Library http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/index.html
	A comprehensive portal linking to thousands of human rights documents and organizations (IGOs and NGOs). Includes a unique search device for multiple human rights sites.

Citing Your Sources

University Wisconsin Madison Writing Center http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html
	Quick, printable reference guide to Chicago and Turabian citation styles.

Zotero http://www.zotero.org/
	Free, easy-to-use Firefox downloadable software that collects, organizes, manages, stores, and outputs citations in various formats.

Writing an INTERESTING Paper adapted from Murray S. Davis, "That's Interesting," Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 1971 vol.1, pp.309-344

 

---

Interesting papers and articles find some way to draw unexpected conclusions and show a contrast between "what might be expected" and what is found. For example:

A - The Characterization of a single phenomenon

(i) Organization

• what seems to be a disorganized (unstructured) phenomenon is in reality an organized (structured) phenomenon.
• what seems to be an organized (structured) phenomenon is in reality a disorganized (unstructured) phenomenon [or organized/structured in a different way.]

(ii) Composition

• What seem to be assorted heterogeneous phenomena are in reality composed of a single element.
• What seems to be a single phenomenon is in reality composed of assorted heterogeneous elements.

(iii) Abstraction

• What seems like an individual phenomenon is in reality a holistic phenomenon. (sociologizing)
• What seems like a holistic phenomenon is in reality an individual phenomenon. (psychologizing)

(iv) Generalization

• What seems to be a local phenomenon is in reality a general phenomenon.
• What seems to be a general phenomenon is in reality a local phenomenon.

(v) Stabilization

• What seems to be a stable and unchanging phenomenon is in reality an unstable and changing phenomenon.
• What seems to be an unstable and changing phenomenon is in reality a stable and unchanging phenomenon.

(vi) Function

• What seems to be a phenomenon that functions ineffectively as a means for the attainment of an end is in reality a phenomenon that function effectively.
• What seems to be a phenomenon that functions effectively as the means for the attainment the attainment of an end is in reality a phenomenon that functions ineffectively.

(vii) Evaluation

• What seems to be a bad phenomenon is in reality a good phenomenon.
• What seems to be a good phenomenon is in reality a bad phenomenon.

B - The Relations Among Multiple Phenomena

(viii) Co-relation

• What seem to be unrelated (independent) phenomena are in reality correlated (interdependent) phenomena.
• What seem to be related (interdependent) phenomena are in reality uncorrelated (independent) phenomena.

(ix) Co-existence

• What seem to be phenomena which can exist together are in reality phenomena which cannot exist together.
• What seem to be phenomena which cannot exist together are in reality phenomena which can exist together.

(x) Co-variation

• What seems to be a positive co-variation between phenomena is in reality a negative co-variation between phenomena.
• What seems to be a negative co-variation between phenomena is in reality a positive co-variation between phenomena.

(xi) Opposition

• What seem to be similar (nearly identical) phenomena are in reality opposite phenomena.
• What seem to be opposite phenomena are in reality similar (nearly identical) phenomena.

(xii) Causation

• What seems to be the independent phenomenon (variable) in a causal relation is in reality the dependent phenomenon (variable).
• What seems to be the dependent phenomenon (variable) in a causal relation is in reality the independent phenomenon (variable).

"The 'standard form' of the books and articles in which the research is presented is the following:

1. The author articulates the taken-for-granted assumptions of his imagined audience by reviewing the literature of the particular sub-tradition in question ('It has long been thought…'),
2. he adduces one or more propositions which deny what has been traditionally assumed ('But this is false…'),
3. he spends the body of the work 'proving' by various methodological devices that the old routinely assumed propositions are wrong while the new ones he asserted are right ('We have seen instead that…'),
4. in conclusion, he suggests the practical consequences of these new propositions for his imagined audience's on-going social research, specifically how they ought to deflect it onto new paths ('Further investigation is necessary to...')."

 

Gale Virtual Reference Library http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/morenetuomcolum?db=GVRL
	This set of reference sources contains, among other things, Governments of the World: A Global Guide to Citizen's Rights and Responsibilities and the Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. You can search within a single source, or across many sources. [more]