SSCI 386: Qualitative Social Science Research Methods

The last layer is the soil base. This won't be covered in our library session, because it involves original research - it's what will be covered by your course overall! This requires significant specialized knowledge and tools.

Research has layers, just like soil. As you dig, you'll need to use more specialized tools.

At the surface, you're using tools you use everyday - things like Google, Wikipedia, social media, or review sites. These are easy to access, but are shallow and not in-depth. You don't need to be looking for anything specific

Under the surface layer is topsoil. In this layer, you'll need to use either specific tools or knowledge, but it will still be things you're familiar with. This might include resources like newspapers, magazines, easily accessible statistics or government sites, or it might include refining the searches you're doing using tools like Google with filters. This layer is a little more work to access, but we can still be broad with our searches.

This is the subsoil layer. In this layer, we need specialized tools and we need to be clear about what we're looking for and what question we're trying to answer. This includes original data, government sources not searchable using Google, scholarly sources. These may have restricted access or be difficult to navigate.

The last layer is the soil base. This won't be covered in our library session, because it involves original research - it's what will be covered by your course overall! This requires significant specialized knowledge and tools.