Vince Graziano English Librarian

Agenda What is research? Research process 1. Choosing a topic 2. Learning more with background information 3. Finding books 4. Finding journal articles 5. Creating a bibliography

Research Process Step 1: Choose a research topic, identify key concepts Step 2: Find encyclopedias for a starting point Step 3: Find books for detailed information Step 4: Find journal articles for research Step 5: Put together your bibliography

Step 1: Choose A Research Topic Narrow your research topic Write your research question Identify your key concepts Create your search words

Who/What/Where/When/How Start by thinking of a broad topic

Who/What/Where/When/How Broad topic? I know that I’m interested in thinking, researching and writing about: → climate change

Who/What/Where/When/How Broad topic: climate change Who? think of a group of people that would be related to, or involved with your broad topic: → people/humans (psychology)

Who/What/Where/When/How Broad topic: climate change Who: people/humans (psychology) What(s)? think of more specific aspects of your broad topic or of topics related to your broad topic think of issues/things on which your broad topic may depend, what it might cause, or influence  Denial

Who/What/Where/When/How Broad topic: climate change Who: people/humans (psychology) What(s): denial Where? perhaps you can limit your broad topic to a specific geographic location or context? → United States or Canada

Who/What/Where/When/How Broad topic: climate change Who: people/humans (psychology) What(s): denial Where: United States / Canada When? perhaps you can limit your broad topic to a specific time period? → the present

Who/What/Where/When/How Broad topic: climate change Who: people/humans (psychology) What(s): denial Where: United States / Canada When: the present How? think of possible relationships/effects between your answers → people denying the existence of climate change

Broad topic: climate change Who: people/humans (psychology) What(s): denial Where: United States/Canada When: the present How: people’s psychology making them deny the existence of climate change You can certainly make a research question from this! Who/What/Where/When/How

Broad topic: climate change Who: people/humans (psychology) What(s): denial Where: United States/Canada When: the present How: humans denying the existence of climate change Who/What/Where/When/How Focused Research Question: Despite strong evidence, what are the psychological reasons for denying that climate change exists?

Identifying Key Concepts What are key concepts? Main ideas of your research topic One word or short phrase Why identify key concepts? Search words for finding books, articles, and other information sources Why identify synonyms? Different articles / databases use different words to describe the same thing

What are the psychological reasons for denying that climate change exists? Key Concepts: Climate change, denial, psychology Synonyms: global warming, unacceptance, personality Search statement (“climate change” OR “global warming”) AND (psych* OR personalit* OR culture) AND (deny* OR denial* OR unaccept*) AND limits your search OR broadens your search (OR gives you mORe!)

Using “AND” Use “and” to combine your concepts in a search strategy “climate change” and psychology and denial denial Climate change psychology

Using “OR” Use “or” to combine your synonyms or similar terms Climate change or global warming Climate changeGlobal warming

Step 2: Use Encyclopedias General and Subject Available print and online

Finding Encyclopedias CLUES Search: CLUES Search [broader subject of research topic] and encyclopedia* CLUES Title Search: CLUES Title Search [ title of your known encyclopedia ] in search field Online Reference Gale Virtual Reference Library (good starting point) (Canadian, free)

Research Process Step 1: Choose a research topic Step 2: Find encyclopedias for a starting point Step 3: Find books for detailed information Step 4: Find journal articles for your research project Step 5: Put together your bibliography

Step 3: Use Books Find books using the CLUES Library Catalogue

What you can find in CLUES Books – encyclopedias, fiction, children’s books, anthologies, dictionaries, etc., both in print and online Audio Visual Media - CDs, DVDs, etc. Newspapers, magazines, journals and conference proceedings Building and engineering standards Maps And more...

Books Not all books in Concordia Libraries are appropriate for you to use Children’s Books (Located in the Curriculum Collection) Fiction Scholarly Research

CLUES Search Tips “ ” searches for the exact phrase i.e. “climate change” * searches for all words that start with the word stem i.e. psych* = psychology, psychological and searches for both of the words (key concepts) LIMITS i.e. psych* AND “climate change” AND “deny* OR denial*” or searches for either of the words (synonyms) BROADENS ( ) groups key concepts and their accompanying synonyms together i.e. (“social media” OR “climate change”)

Step 4: Use Journal Articles Find articles using databases Popular magazines VERSUS Scholarly journals 

Identifying a Journal Authors (Identified? Credentials?) References – Are there any? Peer-Review Graphics / Advertisements Language Level / Audience Structure Title (Descriptive? Catchy?) Length (of Article?)

Authors Journal articles: The authors of journal articles are always identified, and their credentials are also usually listed somewhere, either at the beginning or end of the journal article or somewhere around the beginning or end of the journal itself. The authors of journal articles are expert researchers in the field. Magazine/Newspaper articles: On the other hand, magazine and newspaper article authors are not always identified and, even if they are, they tend to be journalists, not expert researchers in the field about which they’re writing.

References Journal articles: Journal articles always have references within the article itself and also in a list at the end of the article. This means that you always know where they’re getting their information from and how to track it down and read it for yourself. Magazine/Newspaper articles: Magazines and newspapers rarely let you know where their information came from or give you enough information to track it down.

Peer Review Journal articles: Journal articles are reviewed by an editor and experts in the field, who are editing from a content standpoint. Magazine/Newspaper articles: Magazine and newspaper articles are only reviewed by an editor, who is probably not an expert in the field and just editing from a stylistic standpoint.

Language Journal articles: Journal articles use scholarly language and jargon, i.e. “big words,” because they expect their reader to have the background knowledge/expertise necessary to understand the jargon used in the field Magazine/Newspaper articles: Magazine/Newspaper articles use non-scholarly language because they are geared towards a general audience who don’t have background knowledge/expertise

Structure Journal articles: tend to follow the same rigid structure, varying slightly between the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences: Introduction (why they’re doing this research), Methodology, Results (stats, tables, graphs), Discussion of Results, Conclusions (why the research was important, further research), list of references Magazines/Newspaper articles: not a lot of structure, mainly paragraphs, magazine articles will sometimes have headings as well.

Evaluation When deciding whether or not to use a book, article or website for a research paper, you should consider: Authority Objectivity Currency Accuracy Coverage

Database Searching What is a Database? Database Journal Article

Database Searching Academic Search Complete Journal of Computer Assisted Learning “Is it a tool suitable for learning? A critical review of the literature on Facebook as a technology-enhanced learning environment. ” Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Volume 29, No. 6 Pages:

Database Search Tips “ ” searches for the exact phrase i.e. “climate change” * searches for all words that start with the word stem i.e. psych* = psychology, psychological and searches for both of the words (key concepts) LIMITS i.e. psych* AND “climate change” AND (deny* OR denial*) or searches for either of the words (synonyms) BROADENS ( ) groups key concepts and their accompanying synonyms together i.e. (“global warming” OR “climate change”)

Database Search Tips Use Database Finder Use the Advanced Search option One key concept per search box Combine synonyms within search boxes Limit your searches to peer-reviewed/scholarly articles Try using SUBJECT HEADINGS Find your journal article using

Concluding Remarks Use the Library Website: Try different strategies Ask for help at the Reference Desk, or on Chat