PSYC 3401Experimental Psychology

Prof Traci Welch Moritz

Public Services Librarian

Assistant Professor

Heterick Memorial Library

Goals for today

• Devise a research strategy• Begin background research• Select and access resources• Critically evaluating resources• Saving resources found using

Bibliographic Citation Software

How am I going to remember everything you are going to tell me?

Research Guides

What do I do first?Take a look at your topic and identify

key search terms, Ask a question.Most databases now use an implied

boolean logic search scheme so a keyword search will get you started.

Boolean logic is the use of AND, NOT, OR to narrow or expand your search

See Research Guide for PSYC 3401

DEFINING YOUR TOPIC

Most importantpart of research isat the beginning

Research Strategy

• Internet• Catalogs

–POLAR–OhioLINK

• Databases–General–Subject Specific

Research Tools

So what next?

• Start big doing background reading• Look for patterns• Look at reference sources, LC subject

heading list, subject headings in research tools

• Ask a librarian • Look at thesaurus in the research tools• Narrow your topic for a more focused

product

Google and Wikipedia aren’t intrinsically evil, just use them for the correct purpose in your research.

Internet Tools

Google ScholarONU buysFull-textdatabase

OhioLINKPermits

Google tolink to full-text

Google asksto link tocontent

ONU user sees licensed full-textarticles

Run Google ScholarSearch

Note: If working offcampus please see the “google scholar” tab at the Research Guide for PSYC 3401

Internet Tools

Critically analyzing web sources

• What? is the page/site about• Who? created and maintains this site• Where? Is the information coming from • Why? Is the information presented on the

web • When? Was the page created or last

updated• How? Accurate or credible is the page

From the University of Wisconsin Library, worksheet for evaluating web sites

What do I do next?

Use library resources to continue your background research.

DEFINING YOUR TOPIC

BACKGROUNDRESEARCH

If needed, you will want to get an overview of your topic.

Reference works can help as well as general books.

Research Strategy

Find a Book∞POLAR

• Looks in several locations (usually subject, article title, abstracts or contents)

• Does not require an exact match• Generates comparatively large number of hits (not precise)

• Good if you are not familiar with terminology

• Look for the same or similar words which keep appearing

Find a Book∞POLAR

• Looks in one place – subject• Usually requires an exact match between your term and a pre-set list of terms

• Precise• Can be used after keyword search has identified specific subjects

• Click on the “Find Similar Items” link found on each item record

Find a Book∞POLAR

Find a Book∞OhioLink

• Materials owned by all Ohio colleges, universities, several public libraries

• Ca. 10 million items• Link from POLAR permits you to submit

requests. Available from Heterick home page

• Most requests arrive in 2-3 working days• No charge • Limited to 100 items at a time• MAY RENEW UP TO 4 TIMES

What do I do next?Use databases to find articles based on

your search strategy

DEFINING YOUR TOPIC

BACKGROUNDRESEARCH

DETAILEDRESEARCH

With a basic understanding of your topic, it is time to getmore detail

Research Strategy

Research Tools∞Databases

• Often tools for locating journal and newspaper articles

• Most are subject-specific – some multi-disciplinary

• Many give access to full text of articles

• Heterick has over 250

Scholarly, Peer-reviewed Popular

• Periodical means the same as Magazine

Usually magazines are more “popular”

• JournalsScholarly or Professional

Peer reviewed See Research Guide for PSYC 340 for this and other Handouts

– MEDLINE with Full Text– Psychology and Behavioral

Science Collection– Gender Studies Database – PsycINFO 1967 – present– PubMed

(for off campus access, click on the “off-campus access” flag and log in using first and last name and all 11 digits ONU ID )

Databases -- Subject Specific

– REFWORKS

Tools -- Bibliographic Citation Software

• Medline Plus with full text

Databases -- Subject Specific

• Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection

Databases -- Subject Specific

• Gender Studies Database

Databases -- Subject Specific

• PsycINFO

Databases -- Subject Specific

• PubMed

Databases -- Subject Specific

• Social Sciences Citation Index

Databases -- Subject Specific

• “General” databases – searchable by subject, title, author, etc.

• Citation databases – as above but tells you who has cited a particular article - significance

Citation Databases

• Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)--1980-present

• Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)--1980-present

• Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI)--1980-present

• Combined into product, Web of Knowledge

Citation Databases (ISI)

General or Subject Citation Specific Database Database

Your Search Terms Your Search Terms

Keyword / subject

Author

Title

Etc

KW / subject

Author

Title

Etc.

Sources (citations)used byauthorsthemselves

• Gauge significance of individual articles & authors

• Uses expertise of experts in the field• Gives insight into research patterns

in different disciplines• Can save you time – especially

when doing more rigorous research

Advantages

Empirical Article -- summarizing original research

Components of… • Abstract – A report of an empirical study includes an abstract that provides

a very brief summary of the research. • Introduction – The introduction sets the research in a context, which

provides a review of related research and develops the hypotheses for the research.

• Method – The method section is a description of how the research was conducted, including who the participants were, the design of the study, what the participants did, and what measures were used.

• Results – The results section describes the outcomes of the measures of the study.

• Discussion – The discussion section contains the interpretations and implications of the study.

• General Discussion – There may be more than one study in the report; in this case, there are usually separate Method and Results sections for each study followed by a general discussion that ties all the research together.

• References – A references section contains information about the articles and books cited in the report.

Recognizing Empirical Research

• Language• measurement • psychological aspects • reports • research statistics • usage • Length of Article• Empirical research articles are usually

substantial (more than 1 or 2 pages) and include a bibliography or cited references section (usually at the end of the article).

Searching for empirical studies Hints and Tips

1. Always click on “peer reviewed” and/or “scholarly (peer reviewed) periodicals” link if available

2. Try a search that combines the keyword "empirical" with keywords that represent your topic. Example: social work and empirical.

3. Also try the keywords "research," "experiment," or "study"

4. Some databases will allow you to limit your search to a particular type of publication or content. Use this feature to limit your search to only empirical or research-based articles or case study

You can cut and paste from most any source, so just fill in all the lines you can. ISSN is the unique number every periodical is assigned so it’s great if you can include that in your request. Be sure to only use the print ISSN, not the on-line ISSN.

InterLibrary Loan

DEFINING YOUR TOPIC

BACKGROUNDRESEARCH

DETAILEDRESEARCH

FINAL PRODUCT

Detailed Research

• Ask at the Reference Desk• Phone the Reference Desk –

2185• Contact us by E-mail

reference@onu.edu • Use Chat Help feature or • IM feature

QUESTIONS?