This document provides guidance on reading for social science courses. It discusses how the social sciences seek to understand human existence by examining topics like politics, culture, and relationships. Effective reading strategies for social sciences include mapping concepts, evaluating arguments, and understanding journal articles. Journal articles follow specific formats, beginning with the abstract and conclusion, then examining results and analysis, and finishing with the methods section. Mapping tools like Venn diagrams, timelines and flowcharts help visualize relationships in social science texts.

1. PSYCH-ANALYSIS:
READING FOR THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
NWACC
READING
WORKSHOPS
SPRING 2014

2. “It was books that taught me that the
things that tormented me most were
the very things that connected me
with all the people
who were alive,
or who had ever been
alive.”
–James
Baldwin author,
playwright

3. THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, WHICH
INCLUDE HISTORY, ECONOMICS,
PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, AND
PHILOSOPHY, SEEK TO EXPLAIN AND
UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN.

4. • Students often enjoy the social sciences
because they give an understanding of
the connections between themselves
and each other.
• The social sciences better enable
students to begin to understand some of
the most enigmatic and universal things
about human existence: politics, culture,
religion, love, hate, violence, money,
social status, family and other
interpersonal relationships, and much
more.
These are things that humanity has been
trying to comprehend– and master– for a very
long time.

5. THE PURPOSES OF DIFFERENT READING
MATERIALS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:
Types of Materials Potential Purposes
Textbook Background knowledge, details, related
information
Peer-reviewed Papers, Abstracts Essay writing, class discussions, specific
examples of broader topics
News, Magazine Articles Class discussions, “real-world”
situations/application, details
Primary/Secondary Sources Essay writing, class discussions, “real-world”
situations/applications
Graphics (charts, graphs, pictures, tables, etc.) Class discussions, background knowledge,
details, to get the “big” picture

6. PURPOSE FOR READING IN THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES
Purpose could be any, all, or any combination of the following things:
• To identify arguments.
• To weigh evidence.
• To evaluate sources (and resources).
• To look for conflicts of interest and opinions disguised as facts.
• To question assumptions.
• To understand the “big picture.”
• To add additional details to other sources (such as lecture).

7. MAPPING IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL
READING AND UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL
SCIENCE TEXTS
• Mapping is a visual note taking style that emphasizes relationships
between ideas and the “big picture.”
• Mapping lends itself to the social sciences as it allows the student to see all
the details (so often emphasized by instructors) as well as how those details
fit into the larger subject.
• Mapping has many different ways it can be done depending on the material
itself. Mapping can be used in either lecture note taking or book note taking.

8. MAPPING IN ECONOMICS
GRAPHS
FLOW CHARTS
PROCESS GRAPHS

9. MAPPING IN HISTORY
TIMELINES
CAUSE/EFFECT
CHART

10. MAPPING IN PSYCHOLOGY
VENN DIAGRAMS
FLOW CHARTS
CAUSE/EFFECT
CHARTS

11. ANOTHER IMPORTANT
ELEMENT OF READING IN
THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IS
DISSECTING ACADEMIC
JOURNAL ARTICLES.

12. “WHAT IS AN ACADEMIC JOURNAL?”
• Academic journals are periodicals in which researchers
publish articles on their work. Most often these articles
discuss recent research.
• Journals also publish theoretical discussions and articles that
critically review already published work.
• Academic journals are typically peer-reviewed journals. Some
search engines that search for periodical sources identify
whether or not the sources are from peer-reviewed
publications, so look for that information when you do
searches.

13. HOW ARE JOURNAL ARTICLES
ORGANIZED?
SUBTITLES OFTEN INCLUDE…
• Abstract
• Theories & Evidence
• Background
• Methods or Data & Methods
• Results
• Discussion or Discussion &
Conclusion
• Notes
• References
• Acknowledgements
• Funding

14. “WHAT IS THIS ARTICLE ABOUT?”
•Abstract: Most articles start with a paragraph called
the abstract, which very briefly summarizes the
whole article.
• Introduction: This section introduces the topic of
the article completely and discusses what the article
contributes to existing knowledge on the topic.

15. “WHAT DO WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT
THIS TOPIC, AND WHAT IS LEFT TO
DISCOVER?”
• Literature review: A review of existing research and theory on the
topic is either included in the introduction or comes after the
introduction under its own subtitle.
• The review of literature is meant to discuss previous work on the topic,
point out what questions remain, and relate the research presented in
the rest of the article to the existing literature.
• Here should also be a clear discussion of what the hypotheses were
at the beginning of the project.

16. “HOW DID THE AUTHOR DO THE
RESEARCH?”
• Methods and data gathering: There is always some
discussion of the methods used to conduct the study being
reported.
• Sampling: Information about who the subjects were, how
they were selected, and what roles they played (control or
variable group, etc.)
• Instrumentation: Interview guides, surveys, normed tests,
journals, questionnaires, etc.

17. “WHAT DID THE AUTHOR FIND AND HOW
DID THEY FIND IT?”
• Analysis: Another important section or sections will be
devoted to discussing the kind of analysis that was
conducted on the data and
• Results: The research will then reveal the results of the
study. If it is quantitative in nature, the results will usually
have statistical significance and be in numerical form.
Qualitative results will reveal the words, essence, and/or
descriptive qualities of the subjects.

18. “WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN AND WHY IS IT
IMPORTANT?”
• Discussion and Conclusion: Articles typically end by
discussing what the results mean and how the study
contributes to existing knowledge.
• Here the research questions are answered, and it should be
clear at this point whether or not the hypotheses were
supported or not.
• The conclusion is usually the final section. It typically places
the research in a larger context, explaining the importance of
the research and discussing where future research on the
topic should be headed.

19. SHORT-CUTS TO READING JOURNAL
ARTICLES
Read the
Abstract
First
Here are some hints on how to sift through the multiple
possibilities, discard articles that are less helpful, and
Introductio
n and
Conclusion
Next
Analysis
and
Results
Next
Methods
Last
recognize potentially important sources:

20. READ THE ABSTRACT FIRST
• Titles don’t always give much information. The abstract should give
you just enough information to let you know the basics of the article.
• From this you will know whether you should read on or look elsewhere
for your project.
• Some journals print a list of keywords pertaining to the article as well.
These are further clues about the article.

21. INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSION NEXT
•These sections will give you the main argument of
the article, which should be helpful in determining its
relevance to you and your project.
• You’ll also get a glimpse of the findings of the
research being reported.

22. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS NEXT
• If you decide that you are committed to this article, you
should read in more detail about this research.
• Do the results support or refute your hypothesis, thesis, or
argument?
• Are the results important or significant to you? Why or why
not?

23. METHODS LAST
• If what you’ve read so far interests you, then spend some
time on understanding how the research was done.
• Is it a qualitative or quantitative project?
• What data are the study based on?
• What can you learn from the methodology about doing
research?

24. CONCLUSION
PURPOSES
Understand humanity
Evaluate scientific
evidence
Understand arguments
And more…
MAPPING
Venn diagrams
Flow charts
Cause/effect charts
Timelines
Process Charts
Graphs
JOURNAL ARTICLES
1. Abstract
2. Introduction and
Conclusion
3. Results and Analysis
4. Methods