if you can't think of any ideas for your paper, try browsing through your textbook to find inspiration. Below you will find some sources that may also help get you started with topic ideas. You will need to log in with your MyWCC username and password if you are off-campus.
THESE DO NOT CONTAIN SCHOLARLY ARTICLES.
When searching the databases for articles, do not type in whole sentences.
Use the KEYWORDS of your topic when searching for sources.
e.g. search Poverty AND Self-Reliance
Think of other terms that can be used to describe the event you are researching and try those also: Poverty, Impoverishment, Unemployed, Underemployed, Low Income, Poor; Self-Reliance, Self-Reliant, Independent, Self-Supporting etc.
Try using narrower or broader terms:
Government Support, Government Assistance, SNAP, WIC, Social Services, Social Support, Welfare, Benefits
Be careful of words with multiple meanings, use alternate or additional words to clarify:
(e.g. Viking (Norse warrior); Viking (moon lander); Viking (football team); Viking (WCC student newspaper)
You might need to search multiple times in a single database before deciding it does not have any useful articles.
Use the asterisk * to truncate words and widen your search. Child* will search for Child, Children and Childhood.
Use quotation marks to keep phrases together: e.g. "Poverty Line"
e.g. search "Working Poor" AND Inequality
or Poverty AND Self-Reliance
or Social Programs AND Poverty AND Support
Try your search terms in different combinations to get the greatest number of results.
Remember you don't need to read the entire book! Use the index or search function (for e-books) to find the relevant chapter or section and read that.
The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Poverty by
Despite remarkable economic advances in many societies during the latter half of the twentieth century, poverty remains a global issue of enduring concern. Poverty is present in some form in every society in the world, and has serious implications for everything from health and well-being toidentity and behavior. Nevertheless, the study of poverty has remained disconnected across disciplines.The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Poverty builds a common scholarly ground in the study of poverty by bringing together an international, inter-disciplinary group of scholars to provide their perspectives on the issue. Contributors engage in discussions about the leading theories andconceptual debates regarding poverty, the most salient topics in poverty research, and the far-reaching consequences of poverty on the individual and societal level. The volume incorporates many methodological perspectives, including survey research, ethnography, and mixed methods approaches, whilethe chapters extend beyond the United States to provide a truly global portrait of poverty.A thorough examination of contemporary poverty, this Handbook is a valuable tool for non-profit practitioners, policy makers, social workers, and students and scholars in the fields of public policy, sociology, political science, international development, anthropology, and economics.
Poverty: Background, Issues and Programs by
Poverty estimates--the number and percentage of persons living in poverty--have been of interest to Congress not only to gauge the nation's economic health, but also because they are used to determine funding allocations for a variety of programs.Chapter 1 provides a synopsis of poverty measurement in the United States, focusing on the following: the official measure of poverty, which is used to obtain official counts and percentages of the poor; the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which is used for research purposes only and was developed to improve upon some limitations of the official measure; and the Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines, which are used in administering programs for low-income persons but not to measure the poor population. In chapter 2, the numbers and percentages of those in poverty are given based on the Census Bureau's estimates. It also presents a historical perspective as well as information on poverty for demographic groups (by family structure, age, race and Hispanic origin, and work status) and by state.The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) is a measure of economic deprivation--having insufficient financial resources to achieve a specified standard of living. Chapter 3 describes the SPM, how it was developed, how it differs from the official poverty measure, and the insights it can offer.Chapter 4 explains why targeting funds to persistent poverty counties might be of interest, how "persistent poverty" is defined and measured and how different interpretations of the definition and different data source selections could yield different lists of counties identified as persistently poor.Our current welfare system is failing to deliver results for those that need it most. The current system is a disjointed maze of more than 80 different programs. We need a system that provides more Americans with personalized solutions, real paths out of poverty, and better opportunities to realize their potential, as detailed in chapter 5.
Measures of Poverty: selected reports from the U.S. Census Bureau by
The official U.S. poverty thresholds create an explicit boundary that defines who lives in poverty, and the U.S. Census Bureau reports annually on this vulnerable population. Less is known about the low-income population living just above official poverty thresholds. This book describes individuals and families living near poverty- those individuals whose family incomes are close to, but not below, official poverty thresholds. It also presents data on poverty based on information collected in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP); and describes patterns of poverty using measures with different time horizons and provides a dynamic view of the duration of poverty spells and the frequency of transitions into and out of poverty.
American Poverty in a New Era of Reform by
This new edition of American Poverty in a New Era of Reform provides a comprehensive examination of the extent, causes, effects, and costs of American poverty nearly ten years after the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996. The author includes the most current available demographic, budget, evaluation, and program data to evaluate the impact of this sweeping legislation on federal and state policies, as well as on poverty populations. This revised edition takes into account the economic slowdown that took place in 2001 through 2003. It examines the state decisions about how to implement PRWORA, and how changes have affected the poverty population and overall welfare system. The author identifies the positive implications of welfare reform along with problems that must be addressed. New features for this edition include an appendix of Internet sources a state-by-state tables of poverty rates.
