Research guides: Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies: Reference Resources

What Are Reference Resources?

Reference resources can be general or discipline-specific. Examples include:

encyclopedias
dictionaries
biographical sources
guides
handbooks
manuals

They often contain foundational information, such as:

definitions of terms
verification of factual information
overviews on your topic
background information
research and writing support

They are useful to consult during the early stages of your research and can help you to:

learn the terminology appropriate for your topic
understand your topic's broad context
establish a coherent organizational structure for your work

Reference Sources for SMF

Dictionary of Psychology
With over 11,000 authoritative and up-to-date entries, this best-selling dictionary covers all branches of psychology, including psychoanalysis, psychiatry, criminology, neuroscience, and statistics.
Dictionary of sociology
Has international coverage of terms and concepts; related terms from psychology, economics, anthropology, philosophy, and political science; and material on topics such as cultural studies and identity, mass media, and the Internet, nationalism and McDonaldization.
Dictionary of the social sciences
Designed to make social scientific language comprehensible to general readers. Collecting anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, human geography, cultural studies, and Marxism in one volume, the dictionary presents concise, clearly written definitions of more than 1,500 important terms.
Encyclopedia of human rights
Offers “comprehensive coverage of all aspects of human rights theory, practice, law, and history in over 300 entries signed by leading scholars and human rights experts.”
Encyclopedia of sociology
Includes "articles covering core issues such as race, poverty, violence, economics, pregnancy and abortion have been updated and expanded, and completely new articles have been written on topics such as the Internet, privacy and epidemiology."
Encyclopedia of research design
A collection of scholarly entries on “how to plan and conduct empirical research, including the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods”.
Handbook of Social Psychology
Handbook of contemporary European social theory
This encyclopedia "maps out the broad and interdisciplinary field of contemporary European social theory. It covers sociological theory, the wider theoretical traditions in the social sciences including cultural and political theory, anthropological theory, social philosophy and social thought in the broadest sense of the term."
International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences
"This Encyclopedia is the first attempt in a generation to map the social and behavioral sciences on a grand scale ... it comprises 4,000 articles, commissioned by 52 Section Editors, and includes 90,000 bibliographic references as well as comprehensive name and subject indexes." Also available in print at the Dana Porter Library, Reference Collection. Main Floor (NonCirculating) (H41 .I58 2001 )
Fifty Key Sociologists: The Formative Theorists
"Covering the life, work, ideas and impact of some of the most significant thinkers in sociology, Fifty Key Sociologists: The Formative Theorists concentrates on figures in the field writing principally in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."
Fifty Key Sociologists: The Contemporary Theorists
"Fifty Key Sociologists: The Contemporary Theorists covers the life, work, ideas and impact of some of the most important thinkers in this discipline. Concentrating on figures writing predominantly in the second half of the twentieth century, such as Zygmunt Bauman, Pierre Bourdieu, Judith Butler, Michel Foucault and Claude Lévi-Strauss."

Print Reference for SMF

Historical dictionary of feminism
A succinct reference book covering more than 1,000 entries on the persons, organizations, campaigns and court cases, goals and achievements, and current and future directions of the feminist movement.
Encyclopedia of women's health
Davis Centre Library, Reference Collection, Main Floor
RA778 .E5825 2004
Encyclopedia of women and gender: sex similarities and differences and the impact of society on gender
Dana Porter Library, Reference Collection, Main Floor Call number: HQ1115.E52x 2001
Encyclopedia of women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England
St. Jerome's Library, Reference Area, Main Floor Call number: HQ1148 .W67 2007
Canadian women in history: a chronology
Dana Porter Library, Reference Collection, Main Floor Call number: HQ1453.A76x 1990
Encyclopedia of feminist theories
Dana Porter Library - Reference Collection
HQ1190.E63 2000