This dissertation describes the study of abundance variations among stars in Galactic globular clusters using the large set of spectroscopic data collected by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Globular clusters have typically been considered to be simple stellar populations - groups of stars that are coeval and chemically homogeneous. Observations within the last forty years have shed light on the possibility that they are not so simple after all by revealing the presence of star-to-star variations in light-element abundances. Additionally, several globular clusters are known to harbor multiple populations of stars by the presence of multiple sequences on a color-magnitude diagram.In this study, the procedure for membership selection is first described. Stars are selected from the vast data set available from SDSS Data Release 7 and several cuts are made to reduce the sample down to only those stars that are members of the globular clusters in this sample. This procedure is also performed on three open clusters as well and is further used to validate the current SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline.CN and CH molecular absorption indices are then measured for all globular cluster member stars and their distributions are analyzed. Bimodal distributions in CN are seen on the red giant branch in all clusters with [Fe/H] > -2.1, and hints of bimodality are seen for two metal-poor clusters as well. CN-CH anticorrelations are also seen and the implications are discussed.The observed distributions of CN absorption bandstrengths are examined and compared to theoretical predictions from two-population models. These results are combined with radial distributions and positions on the color-magnitude diagram as evidence for the presence of multiple populations of stars within the clusters in this sample.
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