Scientific standards
Reading several dictionaries could facilitate the development of a deeper understanding of the inevitable scientific (bad) habit of using terms in different ways.
In sociology, foreign words and technical terms that are rarely used in everyday language are all too often employed, leaving first-semester students to simply marvel at them or skip over them. On the other hand, sociologists use a lot of everyday terms as technical terms, which take on a different meaning when used as sociological terms than they do in everyday language. These meanings also vary slightly depending on the school of thought.
Suggested literature
- Werner Fuchs-Heinritz et al.: Lexikon zur Soziologie (Encyclopedia of Sociology), 3rd edition, Opladen 1994.
- An encyclopedia that explains basic concepts in a highly differentiated manner and draws attention to the origin and theoretical context of the terms.
- Günter Hartfiel/Karl-Heinz Hillmann: Dictionary of Sociology, Stuttgart.
- The "Kröner Sociology Dictionary"
- A classic and comparable to the dictionary above.
- Raymond Boudon/Francois Bourricaud: Sociological Keywords: A Handbook, Opladen 1992.
- A handbook that is strongly oriented toward rational choice theory. The historical discussions of the keywords are particularly worth reading.
- Dirk Kaesler/Ludgera Vogt (eds.): Major Works of Sociology, Stuttgart 2000.
- Here, the 107 most important works in sociology are presented in short articles.
Highly recommended! - Sven Papcke/Georg W. Oesterdiekhoff: Key Works in Sociology, Opladen 2001.
- Similar in design to Kaesler/Vogt. Discusses 202 works. Also recommended, but not nearly comparable to Kaesler/Vogt in terms of quality.
- Joachim Ritter et al. (eds.): Historical Dictionary of Philosophy in 25 volumes, 1972ff.
- The encyclopedia, which is planned to comprise 25 volumes (not yet completed), provides information on the historical origins of the most important philosophical terms. The handbook is always relevant for sociologists when a term, concept, or tradition of thought needs to be traced. Incidentally, "browsing" through the handbook is extremely educational.
Highly recommended! - Otto Brunner et al. (eds.): Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe (Basic Historical Concepts). Historical dictionary of historical and political language in Germany, 8 volumes, Stuttgart 1975ff.
- The historical counterpart to the philosophical dictionary. Here you can trace the theoretical and historical-political origins of terms.
Highly recommended!
Digital literature search
To succeed in your studies, it is essential to familiarize yourself with the research options available on the Internet as early as possible. This makes it much easier to find relevant literature (books, journals, research reports). In addition, proficiency in using the Internet is now one of the basic requirements for studying, so you should not only be familiar with what is available, but also make use of it. Please keep in mind: Google and other search engines are not suitable for literature research!
Below you will find a list of the most important research tools available to you through theUniversity Library (UB) and theBavarian State Library (Stabi).
In order to make full use of these services, you must (in most cases) be connected to the university server using eduVPN and your LRZ/campus access. If you encounter any problems, please contact the IT Service Desk.
Useful sources
- Online catalog of the University Library (OPAC)
- Here you can order books and other media that you have previously researched. The OPAC is only used to search for locations and borrow items; you cannot search for articles in journals and books here.
- Stabi "Search and Find"
- Here you can access the Stabi's online catalog, for which the same applies as above.
- DBIS list of electronic media subjects
- Here you will find the databases for various subjects provided by the University Library.
- UB Databases Economics and Social Sciences
- Here you can search for specific articles in subject-specific databases.
- DBIS Social Services Abstracts
- This database contains abstracts of thousands of ongoing publications.
- Sociological Abstracts
- International bibliography on theoretical and applied sociology and related fields.
- Regensburg University Library: Electronic Journals
- From here, you can access the University of Regensburg's electronic journal library. Using this tool can be extremely worthwhile, as many journals are now also available online. This will save you a lot of money and time on photocopying!
- BVB - Bavarian Library Network
- Here you can search various libraries throughout Bavaria and then order the media you need via interlibrary loan in OPAC.
- KVK - Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog
- Here you can search various libraries throughout Germany (and even further afield) and then order the media you need via OPAC using interlibrary loan.
- VLB - Directory of available books
- Books that you cannot find here may be out of print! In that case: ZVAB
- ZVAB - Central Directory of Antiquarian Books
- Here you can search for out-of-print books and order them from antiquarian bookshops.