This is for science, not the social sciences, but it is very similar. What differences do you see, based on your knowledge of how social sciences knowledge is created and shared? This chart explains how time, knowledge creation, publication, and access are all related. As you go throuogh the rest of thsi guide, think about how your process: presearch to get a very board oveview of the concepts that make up your topic (and maybe help you to refine your topic and generate keywrods for searching); books to give you a broad-based synthesis of the literature around your topic; and reseach articles that focus on particular aspects of your topic. You'll see that your process is this chart, in reverse...

Image source, The University of Washington Libraries

The Scientific Publication Cycle: Access, Publication, Knowledge, and Time