LibGuides: Sociology and Public Policy: Useful Websites

Doing in-depth research?

Search these recommended databases for your research projects, dissertations and theses.

Gender: Identity and Social Change This link opens in a new window Essential primary sources documenting the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations from the nineteenth century to the present. This expansive collection offers sources for the study of women's suffrage, the feminist movement, the men’s movement, employment, education, the body, the family, and government and politics.
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers contain the working documents of the British government for all areas of social, political, economic, and foreign policy. It covers Bills, Reports of Royal Commissions, Reports of Select Committees, Accounts and Papers and other materials.
JSTOR Arts & Sciences I Collection This link opens in a new window JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization with a dual mission to create and maintain a trusted archive of important scholarly journals, and to provide access to these journals as widely as possible. Content in JSTOR spans many disciplines, primarily in the humanities and social sciences.
Proquest This link opens in a new window The Proquest platform hosts the following databases: ABI/INFORM Complete, ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, Accounting & Tax, Banking Information Source, British Periodicals, ebrary, Periodicals Archive Online, ProQuest Asian Business & Reference, ProQuest Entrepreneurship, PsycARTICLES.
SAGE Journals Online This link opens in a new window SAGE Publications is an independent international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media.
Scopus This link opens in a new window Scopus is a comprehensive, bibliographic database covering scientific, medical, technical and social science subjects.
Taylor and Francis Online Journals This link opens in a new window Taylor & Francis Online hosts multidisciplinary, scholarly journals and reference works.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window Web of Science provides seamless access to the Science Citation Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, and Medline.

Official Bodies and Associations

Academy of Social Sciences
The Academy of Social Sciences promotes social sciences in the UK for the public benefit. It has useful links, reports and publications.
British Sociological Association
The British Sociological Association is the professional organisation representing sociologists in Britain. It promotes sociology, supports sociologists, and is the public face of sociology in Britain.
Europa
Official website of the EU. Topics include policy, economy, law and financial reports.
European Sociological Association
The European Sociological Association (ESA) aims to facilitate sociological research, teaching and communication on European issues, and to give sociology a voice in European affairs.
Local Government Association
The LGA represents all local authorities in England and Wales. Their website contains key documents and policies from the Association and includes sections on Public Service Agreements, Best Value, Community Leadership, e-government, Ethics/Code of Conduct and Local Governance (including New Political Arrangements).
NatCen Social Research
Britain's leading Centre for independent social research. Good high quality research in a range of social policy areas.
UK Parliament
Guide to news and work of Parliament. Information about members of both houses. Downloadable guides available.

Subject Gateways

OECD iLibrary
OECD iLibrary is the online library of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) featuring its books, papers and statistics and is the gateway to OECD’s analysis and data. All book and journal content is available to read online by clicking the READ icon.
The SocioWeb
An independent guide to sociological resources on the Internet. Links to other websites, journals, surveys and statistics.
World Digital Library
The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world. Filter search by place or language.

Statistics and datasets

Afrobarometer
A pan-African series of national public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, and society.
Birmingham City Observatory
The Birmingham City Observatory is a free and open data-sharing platform where anyone can access data relating to the city. Whether you're a citizen, organisation, business owner, researcher or developer, the site provides insights and evidence to help you understand Birmingham.
Eurostat
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union situated in Luxembourg. Its mission is to provide high quality statistics for Europe.
The Government Data Graveyard
The Government Data Graveyard memorialises UK government datasets and statistical collections that have been discontinued.
IMF data
The IMF publishes a range of time series data on IMF lending, exchange rates and other economic and financial indicators. Manuals, guides, and other material on statistical practices at the IMF, in member countries, and of the statistical community at large are also available.
International Labour Organization dept of statistics
The ILO Department of Statistics is the focal point to the United Nations for labour statistics. Allows access to international statistics on all aspects of labour, employment and the labour market worldwide. It includes countrys and thematic sections. Topics covered in women and work, migrant labour, the working poor.
Nation Master
NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from hundreds of sources. Using the forms below, you can get maps and graphs on all kinds of statistics with ease. We want to be the web’s one-stop resource for country statistics on everything from obesity to murders
OECD data
Find, compare and share the latest OECD ( Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) data: charts, maps, tables and related publications …
Office for National Statistics
ONS is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute of the UK.
UK Data Service
An extensive range of UK and International datasets providing access to socio-demographic, macro-economic and government data from leading UK and international statistical agencies eg: Office of National Statistics, Eurostat, IEA, ILO, IMF, OECD, United Nations, UNIDO and World Bank.
UN Data
UN data provides an access point to statistical data collected by the United Nations and its agencies.
World Bank
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. Its five institutions share a commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development.

Useful sites for Sociology and Public Policy

Guide to Undergraduate Dissertations in the Social Sciences
This companion has been produced by a team of mostly social scientists working in collaboration with the Higher Education Academy's Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics, the Centre for Social Work and Policy and Sheffield Hallam University.
Society @ Guardian
Web page from The Guardian newspaper. A useful source of current news on sociological topics.