Search Tips
Once you have identified your research questions generate a list of words that are related to your topic:
Use AND, OR, NOT to connect your phrases/keywords
to locate both morality AND norms
to locate either word discourse OR commentary
NOT will retrieve the first word, debate NOT argument
Keywords and phrases for violence: violence, bullying, peer pressure
Keywords and phrases for schools: school, high school, middle school, primary education
Keywords and phrases for video games: electronic games, electronic toys, video games, games
Sample keyword searches for a database:
violence and schools and electronic games
Tips for Evaluating Sources
In the research process, evaluating sources is vital.Consider the following questions in order to effectively evaluate and gain a more critical understanding of your sources.
- Does the author or publisher endorse political or religious views that could affect objectivity?
- Is the author or publisher associated with a special-interest group, such as Greenpeace or the National Rifle Association, that might present only one side of an issue?
- Are alternative views presented and addressed? How fairly does the author treat opposing views?
- Does the author’s language show signs of bias?
- What is the author’s central claim or thesis?
- How does the author support this claim—with relevant and sufficient evidence or with just a few anecdotes or emotional examples?
- Are statistics consistent with those you encounter in other sources? Have they been used fairly? Does the author explain where the statistics come from? (It is possible to “lie” with statistics by using them selectively or by omitting mathematical details.)
- Are any of the author’s assumptions questionable?
- Does the author consider opposing arguments and refute them persuasively?
- Does the author fall prey to any logical fallacies?
Tips for Evaluating Sources
Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age, Fifth Edition, by Diana Hacker and Barbara Fister.
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/tips-for-evaluating-sources.htm
Education related databases
These databases are specific to various aspects related to education.
- ERIC (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowThis database contains information on published and unpublished sources on thousands of educational topics. Updated monthly.
- Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson) (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowEducation database (including administration, teaching methods, and curriculum)
- Education Source This link opens in a new windowAs the complete source of education scholarship, this resource covers all levels of education—from early childhood to higher education—as well as all educational specialties such as multilingual education, health education, and testing.
- Educational Administration Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides indexing and abstracting for articles in more than 100 journals related to the administration of primary, secondary and post-secondary educational facilities and programs.
- Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)Social Sciences Full Text™ provides access to a wide assortment of the most important English-language journals published in the social sciences. This resource provides detailed indexing for over 625 periodicals dating back as far as 1983—nearly 400 of which are peer-reviewed.
Business Related Databases
The following resources are related to different aspects of business
- EBSCOhost Business Abstracts with Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowBusiness Abstracts with Full Text offers a multitude of business magazines and scholarly journals.
- ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new windowBusiness information, including journals, newspapers, magazines, trade publications, dissertations, conference proceedings, and market reports. Covers 1971-present. Includes US and international information.
Technology
- Forrester This link opens in a new windowTechnology and market research from Forrester Research, Inc. focusing on the business implications of technology change.
- Applied Science & Technology Source This link opens in a new windowApplied Science & Technology Source offers extensive coverage of research and development within the applied sciences and computing disciplines.
- EBSCOhost Business Abstracts with Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowBusiness Abstracts with Full Text offers a multitude of business magazines and scholarly journals.
- ProQuest Telecommunications Database This link opens in a new windowProQuest Telecommunications is a essential resource for anyone researching the industry or its technology.
- Insider Intelligence (formerly known as eMarketer) This link opens in a new windowProvides analysis, market data, and statistics on the Internet, e-commerce, online marketing, social media, and emerging digital technologies around the world.
- Mintel This link opens in a new windowMintel Reports and Mintel Trends provide comprehensive, in-depth consumer and market analysis and trends. Mintel Global New Product Database includes detailed product data on new products in the food, drink, beauty and personal care, health and hygiene, home care and pet markets..
General Databases
Here are a few databases to begin your research:
- ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new windowProQuest Research Library is a multi-disciplinary index suitable for both undergraduates and graduate students.
- Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new windowOpposing Viewpoints In Context is an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, the solution features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.
- Gender WatchGenderWatch is a full text database of publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. Subjects covered include: business, education, literature and the arts, health sciences, history, political science, public policy, sociology, gender and women's studies and more.
- Alternative Press IndexThe API is a bibliographic database (with links to full-text) of more than 368,000 journal, newspaper, and magazine articles from over 300 international alternative, radical, and left periodicals.
- ProCon.org This link opens in a new windowThe website's mission is to promote critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format.
- Black Studies CenterThe Black Studies Center provides access to several resources at once: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP), 10 historical African American newspapers, Black Literature Index, 100 oral history videos in History Makers, and Black Abolitionist Papers (1830-186
- Environment Index This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive database to journal articles covering all aspects of environmental policy and politics.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowAbstract database of sociology and social and behavioral sciences literature from 1952 to present. Includes journal articles, conference papers, books, and dissertations.
- SPORTDiscus This link opens in a new windowComprehensive database for sports & sports medicine literature. Includes international literature, conference proceedings, audiovisuals and more. Coverage dates back to 1985.
- Urban Studies Abstracts This link opens in a new windowThe database contains 40,000 records gathered from legislative groups, research institutions, public research agencies, universities, and scholars from around the world covering essential areas related to urban studies, including urban affairs, community development, urban history, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. Coverage is from 1973 to the present.
- Alt HealthWatch This link opens in a new windowIncludes academic journal and magazine articles, reports, association and consumer proceedings, and book excerpts covering alternative and complementary therapies, including homeopathy, herbalism, nutrition, and traditional Chinese medicine from 1990 to the present.
- ProQuest Criminal Justice Database This link opens in a new windowProQuest Criminal Justice is a comprehensive database supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. In addition to scholarly journals, it includes correctional and law enforcement trade publications, crime reports, and other material relevant for researchers or those preparing for careers in criminal justice.
- Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text This link opens in a new windowFilm & Television Literature Index with Full Text is the definitive online tool for film and television research.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatista is one of the first statistic portals in the world to integrate data on over 80.000 topics from over 18.000 sources onto a single professional platform and providing companies, business customers, research institutions, and the academic community with direct access to quantitative data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas of interest or markets.