LibGuides: ENGL 127 Research Writing: Social Sciences (Pittser): Find Web Sites

But is it a "Good" Site?

Assess your Sources: CRAAP Test (download)
Download and print this table in order to help you assess and evaluate your own resources

Searching the Web

Key Web Resources

Useful Websites

The following web sites (and search engines) are a place to start, though they offer just a hint of what's out there.

Statistics & Government Resources

USA.gov
The portal to all official U.S. Government agencies, departments, publications, and more.
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Census data reflects the demographic make-up of the U.S., with figures on family size and structure, income, health insurance coverage, and much, much more.
538DataLab
Founded by statistics whiz Nate Silver, 538 journalists bring the world of statistics to life
UN Statistics Division
The homepage for all topics under the UN's international statistics

Select Research Centers /Public Policy Think Tanks:

Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides reports and statistics on the issues, attitudes and social trends shaping America and the world.
The Annenberg Public Policy Center
The Annenberg Public Policy Center performs research in the fields of political communication, information and society, the media and more
Kaiser Family Foundation
Kaiser is a non-profit organization focusing on national health issues, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. Unlike grant-making foundations, Kaiser develops and runs its own policy analysis, journalism and communications programs, sometimes in partnership with major news organizations. We serve as a non-partisan source of facts, analysis and journalism for policymakers, the media, the health policy community and the public.
Washington State Institute for Public Policy
Policy areas include child welfare, criminal justice, education, health care, mental health, government, the state economy, and employment/welfare. Each topic links to recent studies and analysis.

Specific Social Issues:

Center on Reinventing Public Education
"CRPE engages in independent research and policy analysis on a range of K-12 public education reform issues, including choice & charters, finance & productivity, teachers, urban district reform, leadership, and state & federal reform."
The Factbook: Eye-Opening Memos on Everything Family
Excellent information on topics like Family Roles and Responsibilities, Word and Play, Children, Love and Marriage, Economic Issues, Families in Crisis, and more.
Menstuff
An online information source on all kinds of topics for men
U.S. Department of Education
Research, statistics, news, policy, and more information on education in the United States.
National Institute of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
Studies of the impact of social issues on key health concerns
West Coast Poverty Center
Run through the UW, the Center researches the causes of poverty and effective means to reduce poverty.
Women and Develpment Resources on the Internet
A directory of the Gender and Technology Network
XYonline
XY describes its focus as men, masculinities, and gender politics.

Sites for education topics

There is much information related to education out there on the world wide web. Here are a few good sites to start with:

National Center for Education Statistics: International Activities Program
Provides "statistical data for cross-national comparisons of education."
U.S. Department of Education
Research, statistics, news, policy, and more information on education in the United States.
Center on Reinventing Public Education
"CRPE engages in independent research and policy analysis on a range of K-12 public education reform issues, including choice & charters, finance & productivity, teachers, urban district reform, leadership, and state & federal reform."
National Assessment of Educational Progress: The Nation's Report Card
"The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative, continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas."

Why Websites?

image source below

The web is a great resource for:

Government information
International sources
Up-to-the-minute and local news
Local resources
Organizations involved in an issue
Statistics
Opinion
Images and video
and much more

Image Source: "Internet1" by Rock1997 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Effective Web Searching

Improve your search results with site-specific searching:

Limit to:

Government websites: site:.gov
Educational institutions (but watch out for student work!) site:.edu
Non-profit organizations (and some businesses) site:.org
Specific industries and many news sources are commercial enterprises. site:.com

Google Advanced Search
Use this search to help you limit by resource, date and more. Find specific types of websites, such as those created for academic purposes (.edu) or government (.gov).

Sites for family topics

There are hundreds of great sites dedicated to marriage and family out there! I've culled through many of them and highlighted some that I think are the best:

Dual Career Couples
"Collection of writings and other resources on dual career couples in the academic field. Topics include how to approach a job search, advantages and disadvantages of applying for jobs as a couple, the difficulties of being a "trailing spouse," and more. Includes several case studies of dual career couples in the geoscience field. From the Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College."
The Factbook: Eye-Opening Memos on Everything Family
Excellent information on topics like Family Roles and Responsibilities, Word and Play, Children, Love and Marriage, Economic Issues, Families in Crisis, and more.
Family Law Center
"Here you will find in-depth legal information on a number of common family law issues -- including divorce, marriage, child custody, child support, adoption, and much more."
National Healthy Marriage Resource Center
"The National Healthy Marriage Resource Center (NHMRC) is a clearinghouse for high quality, balanced, and timely information and resources on healthy marriage."
Pew Charitable Trusts: 50-State Rundown on Gay Marriage Laws
National Marriage Project
A site from Rutgers University dedicated to providing "research and analysis on the state of marriage in America."

Holman Library

ENGL 127 Research Writing: Social Sciences (Pittser)

But is it a "Good" Site?

More on Statistics

Searching the Web

Key Web Resources

Useful Websites

Statistics & Government Resources

Select Research Centers /Public Policy Think Tanks:

Specific Social Issues:

Sites for education topics

Why Websites?

The web is a great resource for:

Effective Web Searching

Effective Web Searching

Improve your search results with site-specific searching:

Sites for family topics