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Key Databases, BU Libraries Search
If you're looking for a poll or public opinion research on a specific topic - say, abortion - search
abortion public opinion or abortion poll
​BULSearch will retrieve a variety of materials: books, articles, government documents, etc.
The left side bar lets you limit to a particular format (resource type) or range of years; or you may want to limit to peer-reviewed articles:
As always, when using ​BULSearch - don't forget to sign in!
Data within content (subject research)
Often polling information is provided within the context of an article or report discussing the topic. These sources are particularly useful in identifying research based on polls and public opinion:
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Indexes and abstracts international relations, political science, and foreign affairs literature. May include references to dissertations, books, or scholarly articles. Some full text included; links provided to BU content.
- Social Sciences Full Text This link opens in a new window
Social Sciences Full Text provides access to hundreds of English language journals in the social sciences. About two-thirds of the journals are peer-reviewed.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Sociological Abstracts indexes and abstracts the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews. It also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Forty percent of the content is published outside of North America.
- Humanities Full Text / Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window
- ProQuest One Business This link opens in a new windowCovers business magazines, scholarly journals, and trade publications including the Wall Street Journal. Search "poll OR public opinion" in the SU field for best results.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowMultidisciplinary database that includes current newspapers and magazines, trade journals, wire services and transcripts; date coverage varies by publication.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This database provides full text access to the back issues of core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Book reviews are included as well as journal articles. Abstracts are available for some of the articles.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new window
The PAIS International database covers current public policy issues and areas of potential legislation. Cited articles, books and documents can date back to 1910 and are listed in the original language. While some full text is included, the index primarily links to full text articles available through existing BU subscriptions.
- APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
Provides access to articles, books and book chapters, and dissertations that cover the scholarly literature in the psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. Includes material of relevance to psychologists and professionals in related fields such as psychiatry, management, business, education, social science, neuroscience, law, medicine, and social work.
If you're searching for public opinion on a specific topic, you'll be better off either searching BULSearch or a subject database. Here are a few of the major journals focusing on surveys, polls, and public opinion:
