Sozialwissenschaftlicher Fachinformationsdienst - soFid
Social Science Specialized Information Service

Biannual coverage of 27 topics

order form [de]

The Social Science Specialized Information Service biannually updates the reader on new entries in 28 disciplines and specific topics from the databases SOFIS and SOLIS by offering their contents in a specially prepared form. The subscription service is an appropriate instrument for the focused observation of the research activities and the bibliographic output of the social sciences in German-language countries: It is specifically conceived for those who wish to continually keep abreast of certain social science topics on a long term basis.

Publication is scheduled for spring/early summer and autumn. Depending on the topic, each biannual publication contains between 100 and 600 literature and research references with a description of contents (abstracts).

soFid in printed form

Two issues yearly in book form divided by chapters; paperback.; index to authors, subjects, and institutions.

soFid on CD-ROM

As an alternative to the printed material, we also offer all 28 soFid-topics on CD-ROM. The same schedule of two issues per year as with the printed material applies, with six biannual issues per topic included on one CD-ROM.
The CD-ROM contains the same unabridged information found in the printed material. Likewise, the user can page through the literature and research references, by subject matter or chapter, as well as directly search via the person, subject and institution listings. Moreover, the CD-ROM makes it possible to conduct free text searches in the titles and abstracts of a specific topic.
The CD-ROM requires at least Windows 98 and offers access to the topics subscribed to by the user. The versions available are for single work stations and for personal use.

Specialist contributions in selected soFid-topics

Some topics include – usually in each edition – a contribution which offers an overview on one more or less specific problem of the broader theme. These specialist contributions have been provided by institutions or individual researchers working in close cooperation with the Social Science Information Centre and are generally available (in German). 

Topics

Example

order form [in German]

General sociology

Compiled by Helmut M. Artus
Basic terms and theories of sociology; social stratification; social structure; social systems; domination; power; institution; role; norm; status; mobility; social change.

Sociology of occupations

Compiled by Gisbert Binder
Vocational training; career start; job histories; careers; reintegration; women and jobs; job and family; occupational field; occupational image; professional ethics.

Demography

Compiled by Ulrike Adler
History, methods, theories, policies, and data situation of demography; global, regional and epoch-related demographic descriptions; fertility rate, mortality, marriages, age distribution, gender relations; regional distribution; migration, domestic and foreign; socio-economic structures and developments. 

Educational research

Compiled by Ulrike Adler
General findings on the educational system; school education, vocational education, education in companies and political education; advanced education; university; adult education, problem groups. 

Family research

Compiled by Sybille Frickel
Partner relationships and parenthood; family abroad, family policy.

Women’s and gender studies

Compiled by Ulrike Adler
Theoretical studies on women’s and gender studies; women and their positions in society; women and jobs; gender-specific socialization and identity; a historical and cross-cultural comparison of  the images of women.

Leisure time - Sports - Tourism

Compiled by Matthias Stahl
Recreational offerings, recreational activities, leisure time society; athletes, sports clubs and associations, sociology of sports, sports and economics, tourists, mass tourism, tourism policy.

Societal change in the New Federal States of Germany

Compiled by Ute Koch
Political change; economic restructuring; social structures, life situations, well-being; women, family; education and science; culture, art, media; social conflicts; comparative studies of the new and old federal states of Germany.

Health research

Compiled by Gisela Ross-Strajhar
Health research, health behaviour; health policy; health care system; medical sociology; social medicine; occupational medicine; social psychiatry.

Industrial and business sociology

Compiled by Wolfgang Mallock
Industrial society, discussion of theories; industrial relations, power and domination, labour policy, codetermination; work organization; rationalization - humanization; business management, companies’ social policy, qualification, labour market, working hours; occupational medicine, industrial safety, ecology; sociology of economics.

International relations + peace and conflict research

Compiled by Gisbert Binder and Matthias Stahl
Theoretical and historical studies; foreign and security policy, conversion; regional and ethnic conflicts; economic relations; developmental aid policy; cultural exchange; migration; international  organizations; peace research, peace education; conflict research; violence in society.

Youth research

Compiled by Gisbert Binder
General and historical studies; life situations of adolescents; youth culture; attitudes and values; marginal and problem groups; youth welfare and law; youth policy.

Communication science: mass communication - media - language

Compiled by Hannelore Schott and Bernd Meyer
General findings of mass communication; mass media: content analyses, usage and effects; journalism; media policy, media economy;  media law; communication technology; public relations/advertising; media education; language and interpersonal communication.

Sociology of crime and law

Compiled by Gisela Ross-Strajhar
Theories and methods; crime; forms of offense; criminal procedure; execution of sentence; prevention; rehabilitation; law development; law cultures; legal consciousness; judiciary, jurists, legal usage. 

Sociology of art and culture

Compiled by Sybille Frickel
Theoretical approaches to the sociology of culture; cultural history; cultural change, cultural criticism, social change; lifestyles, values, norms; cultural anthropology, ethnology, ethnic studies; cultural industry, cultural policy; everyday life, leisure time, socio-culture; cultural identity; political culture; organizational culture; communication/ mass media/ new media.

Methods and instruments of the social sciences

Compiled by H. Peter Ohly
Methodology and the organization of research; interpretative procedures and guidelines; content analysis and document analysis; data collection and measuring instruments; data analysis procedures; intervention and interaction methods; social indicators and data collections as well as software, media and instruments.

Migration and ethnic minorities

Compiled by Bernhard Santel (Landeszentrum für Zuwanderung NRW) and Hermann Schock
Demography and statistical information; migrants' motives and behaviour; international migration and national studies; socio-economic aspects of migration: consequences for (a) economy, labour markets and social security, (b) for enterprises and the conditions at working places; political and legal aspects of migration: (a) politics and legislation on aliens and immigration, (b) politics and law on asylum, (c) politics on expelles and ‘ethnic Germans’, (d) European migration politics, (e) international migration politics; citizenship and naturalization, human and minority rights; migrants political and social participation, self-organisation; social work on migrants and minorities by state and privates; migration in local/municipal contexts; migration and health; young migrants socialisation, education and further training; situation of life and social integration of migrants and minorities; remigration; migration and media; nation, ethnicity and culture; racism and discrimination; history of migration and minorities.

Organization and administration research

Compiled by Gisela Ross-Strajhar
Organizational theory, organizational culture; organizational development, human resources development; administration, bureaucracy; private law organizations, enterprises, organization of manufacture; intermediate organizations; trade unions, political parties; study of countries.

Research on Eastern Europe

Compiled by Agnieszka Wenninger
Relations between Eastern and Western Europe, European Integration; general aspects of the transformation in Eastern European countries; Russia/Community of Independent States: international relations, political transformation and its impacts, history, economy and law, art, culture, media, politics towards nationalities; migration; Balkan States; Baltic States; Poland; Czech Republic; Slovak Republic; Hungary; Rumania.

Political sociology

Compiled by Stefan Jakowatz
Basic political terms and concepts; theory and history of political systems; state theory and governmental action; political parties and party systems; elections, voting behaviour; political attitudes and political movements; political culture and ethics, political elites; studies of countries.

Research on religion

Compiled by Helmut M. Artus
Christian and non-Christian religions; church policy; church history; religiousness.

Social problems

Compiled by Hermann Schock
Poverty, homelessness; elderly employees, transition to retirement, aging and living conditions in old age, neediness and services; adolescent and adult disabled: living conditions and school integration, occupational rehabilitation and integration; illness, care, rehabilitation; AIDS (information provision, threat, the situation of the infected); addiction (addiction to drugs and medication, alcoholism, gambling); various marginal groups (prostitutes, criminals, etc.).

Social policy

Compiled by Hermann Schock
General social policy; local social policy; shaping the world of work; social security; labour market policy; shaping familial living conditions, adolescents, the elderly and minorities; health policy; additional areas of intervention such as income distribution and housing; associations and the organization of social policy measures; social policy in other countries (EU, Austria, Switzerland, Eastern and Central Europe, non-European states) and international comparison of social policies.

Social psychology

Compiled by H. Peter Ohly
Theoretical approaches and models, methodological and institutional aspects; primary and secondary socialization; attitude research, perception research and behaviour research; communication and interaction in (small) groups; psychology of society.

Urban and regional research

Compiled by H. Peter Ohly
Theoretical and methodological approaches; urban and regional analyses; regional disparities; social segregation; living conditions and identification; cultural, political, economic and ecological aspects; selected problems from developing countries and history.

Environmental research

Compiled by Dietrich Lohmeyer
Environmental policy, ecological aspects of research and technology policy, energy, transportation and local policies and Third World and foreign policies;  social theory, philosophical and evolution history studies of environment and nature; environmental consciousness and behaviour, attitudes and value systems of individuals and social groups; environmental economy: economic systems, ecological management, economic policy concepts, eco-balances; ecological agriculture and industrial waste disposal.

Science and technology studies

Compiled by Helmut M. Artus
Social science research of science and technology: research and teaching, technology and research policy, technology and social environment, acceptance of technology, public, technology transfer, women and science/technology, technology and social change; history of science and technology; theory of science, scientific ethics, general philosophy of science.