WEB LINKS
For SERIOUS SOCIAL SCIENTISTS
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Chabot's Homepage
Want the additional data
necessary to fill in all the gaps that newspapers, magazines, textbooks, and
instructors fail to give you on an important topic? The web can provide you
with instant access to the numbers, tables, and articles that give dimension to
any topic on your mind. Below are some of my favorite.
A word of warning: Be sure that any information you get off of your
computer screen has itself been screened by other experts in the field. While
government websites have their own biases, you can trust most of the data for
being what each department says it is. Private websites
may give opinions and heavily altered data as "fact" that no
reputable sociologist would ever want to rely upon. Be sure you know your site
and your data.
Reading the Web
Just because the information is on the web doesn't mean you can access it. A lot of public information can only be read using the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may download this very useful tool for free by going to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
U.S. CENSUS AND DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
That is, statistics on people, like how large the population, where they live, how much they make, and how many years of school they've had. You can get aggregate data on counties, cities, or the nation. Some very worthwhile links here if you want a statistical picture of what the American people are all about. The CIA page is pretty benign, just giving info on various counties, their population and economic base.
U.S
Census Bureau:
State and County Quick Facts : http://quickfacts.census.gov/
Main page for the U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/
Some detailed data pages (if you know what you want): http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/
The
U.S. Department of Commerce: Publisher of the U.S. Statistical Abstract. Excellent information on labor, economy, business, education, and
many other areas of interest.
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-us.html
Some good
info on counties in the U.S. from the Missouri Census Data Center:
http://www.oseda.missouri.edu/mscdc/
Strictly
California (finance, economy, demography - you name it). They've made this
unnecessarily difficult to search through, but the information is there. Be
patient and click a lot.
World Wide Information on other nations' population,
economy, etc., via the CIA
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
I think this is self explanatory. Naturally, most information will come from the FBI or the U.S. Department of Justice but you can search out other opinions and data.
Department
of Justice and the FBI
The best and most useful statistics are here: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Crime
and Corrections in California
Information on war policy, politics, and the machines we use. Lots of information from the U.S. Department of Defense, but you may also try other web sites that simply study the issue or have a very specific (pro or con) opinion about it. Naturally, you may want to refer to the national budget and how much is spent on defense.
What the
government wants you to know
The following
is brought to you by Council for a Livable World with hopes for peace but lots
of good information on military budgets, policies, and other data
http://www.clw.org/milbud.html
Jane's,
the ultimate in private profit sector media updates on military
"toys"
I refer you to the Department of Education, but the Census Bureau (see above) also has a lot of information on education in the United States.
The
Department of Education
Education
in California
Places to get information, facts, and background data on subjects you're newly interested in. I would say that this is a good quick start, but don't forget the old ink and paper tomes resting in the local library. Naturally, the web link will depend on the specific type of information you're interested in.
Smithsonian
Institution: Information and updates relevant to the SI.
http://www.si.edu/resource/faq/start_text.htm#h
The
History Channel: great for information on specific topics, events, or people
from the past
http://www.historychannel.com/
The
National Geographic site is great for natural history, maps, and other info
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/
I only include some of the major players in the field for both physical and mental health. These will at least give you statistics on national and state trends.
National Center for Health Statistics. Morbidity and
mortality, births, marriages, and all of the other tasty tidbits associated
with life and death. Lots of fun.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/default.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They brought you
the above, but here's their main web page.
California's Department of Health Services. Just to the
right of the top page they provide another link to other health related
services, state and national. Takes some digging, but a lot of information can
be gotten through this one site.
Department
of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families. Part of DHHS, but
specifically devoted to welfare, TANF, and the other services sociologists like
so much to study.
California
Department of Social Services, among other programs.
Human Rights Watch. Keeping an eye on the
loss of human rights around the world.
IMMIGRATION, MIGRATION,
and REFUGEES
A complex subject, and about as political as you can get. More than a million immigrants and some hundreds of thousands of refugees enter the United States every year, and the most recent 1996 amendments to the Immigration Act haven't made the process simple. Below is only a token link to information on this issue and the people behind it.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (A Bureau of the
Department of Homeland Security); best viewed from afar.
http://uscis.gov/graphics/index.htm
U.S.
Government actions and policies concerning refugees around the world
Another
site dealing with international refugee issues
and of course, here is the site for the United Nation's High
Commissioner for Refugees
For those
who think of immigration in terms of "race", here's a site that
provides links to and information on hate groups, particularly those who think
"white is right." Not for the impatient or narrow minded.
http://www.bcpl.net/~rfrankli/hatedir.pdf
As ever, the census bureau (see above) can also give you a lot of information on labor, employment, and other related issues. See below for a couple of other standard sites.
This
is the government's main page
But I
prefer the following
California
State Government site on labor, employment, and industrial relations
Another excellent source for California, and especially for women
in California.
http://www.equalrights.org/welfare/cfess.htm
Information on population growth, migration, death (morbidity and mortality) and all sorts of other things related to people and this planet.
Population
Reference Bureau
Statistical Abstract, principally for the U.S.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/index.html
Some resources for the sociologist, or community affairs major, looking for academic discussions, data, and current research on topics of social import. From Marx to methodology, you can find it somewhere here.
The SocioWeb: an excellent collection of Sociological Journals
and Magazines online
http://www.socioweb.com/~markbl/socioweb/journals/
Electronic
Journal of Sociology
Data on
the Net: links to websites with numeric data ready to download
or, you can try the following collection of data sets and research institutes
http://osiris.colorado.edu/SOC/RES/data.html
Annotated
Internet Resources on Sociology
http://www.academicinfo.net/soc.html
A Better
Listing of Internet Resources for the Sociologist (my favorite)
http://www.wcsu.ctstateu.edu/socialsci/socres.html#2
And yet
another good list of internet resources for the Sociologist
http://www.library.mwc.edu/sociology.html#Ful
The
Yahoo Page: a collection of sociology sites collected by a top search engine.
http://www.yahoo.com.au/social_science/sociology/
Specific topics
of interest are listed below: wonderful essays/lectures by Michael Kearl at Trinity University with dozens of networks and cyberlinks within each for you to go off on. I cannot
recommend these sites enough. Truly inspirational.
Click and enjoy.
Sociological
Social Psychology: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/socpsy.html
Social Gerontology: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/geron.html
Marriage and Family Life: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/family.html
Demography: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/demograp.html
Gender and Society: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/gender.html
Race and Ethnicity: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/race.html
Sociology of Death and Dying: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/death.html
Mass Media: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/commun.html
Political Science: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/polisci.html
Health Statistics: http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/health.html
RESEARCH INSTITUTES and
THINK TANKS
Alternet, another
view via various journalists across the nation. The most up-to-date of
the studies and reviews you can find on issues relevant to modern America.
The Center for Economic and
Policy Research. Liberal, but with a lot of good research and publications.
The Urban
Institute, a well established non-profit research group studying national
policy and the social problems considered most important to our American
society.
The
Brookings Institution, known for its analysis and critiques of public policy
and government institutions.
The Cato
Institute, a "non-partisan" research institute dedicated to
libertarian politics and timely research to aid in the formulation and
implementation of government policy
The
Heritage Foundation, known for conservative publications and research interests
The Rand
Institute, another well known public policy research group
The Public Policy Institute of California. Good non-partisan
research and analysis on issues specific to California by a leading
non-profit organization.
The
General Accounting Office: The investigative branch of the Federal government.
Good for the low down and dirty on Government programs.
Applied Research Center: A left of liberal institute known for
researching what mainstream publications don't want to touch, and they
naturally come up with the findings you'd expect. Also
connected with the Utne Reader.