ISR 2531RESEARCH FOR EMPIRICAL STUDIES

Traci Welch MoritzPublic Services Librarian/Assistant ProfessorHM

L

Librarians and support staff

http://www-new.onu.edu/academics/heterick_memorial_library/staff

Professor Baril

Professor Donley

Ms Kobiela

Professor Moritz

Research Guide

Topic to Research

Empirical Article -- Components

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).

Primary

Secondary Secondary Sources analyze or interpret

an historical event or artistic work. Secondary sources often base their theories and arguments on the direct evidence found in primary sources. A secondary work for a subject is one that discusses the subject but is written after the time contemporary with it.

In the humanities, a primary source could be defined as something that was created either during the time period being studied or afterward by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the events of that time.

Primary v. Secondary

Primary Sources: Definitions. Lafayette College Libraries & Academic Information Resources. <

http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~library/guides/primarysources/definitions.html> Accessed August 8, 2007.

Secondary Sources defined. Ellen George. University of British Columbia Library http://toby.library.ubc.ca/webpage/webpage.cfm?id=579#footnotes1>.Access August 8, 2007

Scholarly vs Popular

Evaluate resources

SEARCH

What is included? POLAR Article-level searching for all EBSCO

databases Article-level searching for a variety of

other databases: JSTOR, Hoover’s, AccessPharmacy, etc.

Title-level searching for most other databases: IEEE, CIAO, Proquest Nursing & Allied Health

OhioLink central catalog

Results: Full Text, Polar

Results: OhioLink

Results: Find It @ ONU

Results: ILL

Facets: Limit Your Results

Things to Remember Facets are your Friend: After

you search, limit your results to what you really want

A tool not a solution: This is not the solution to everything

Ask the librarians for help There will still be some small

changes coming

Managing resources found Heterick Memorial Library and Ohio Northern

University provide access to RefWorks, a citation management and formatting software package.

For information onsigning up or usingsee the “RefWorks”tab at the ResearchGuide.

Tools and ResourcesCatalogs – Usually for locating books

Databases – Locating journal articles

Social Sciences Databases

On Heterick Periodicals Page see:

Sociology Criminal Justice Gender Topics Law (Lexis/Nexis

Academic) Multidisciplinary

EbscoHost databasesAcademic Search CompleteSociological Collection

SocIndex with Full text

Social Sciences Citation Index (IS1)

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

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

Databases

Boolean Searching

AND

OR

NOT

General Database

Scholarly journals, peer reviewed articles

General Database

Citation Database/Index

Citation Database/Index

Hints and Tips1. 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

A. American Sociological ReviewB. American Journal of SociologyC. American Political Science ReviewD. American Journal of Criminal JusticeE. Psychological Bulletin

Searching by Title

A. American Sociological Review

Searching specific titles

B. American Journal of Sociology

Searching specific titles

C. American Political Science Review

Searching specific titles

D. American Journal of Criminal Justice

Searching specific titles

D. American Journal of Criminal Justice

Searching specific titles

E. Psychological Bulletin

Searching specific titles

What’s next? Citing your resourcesALAThe Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association describes the rules used to write papers following APA style. This style is used in psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, social work, and criminology. MLAModern Language Association documentation guidelines are often used in the humanities fields, including English, comparative literature, literary criticism, and foreign-languages. 

Turabian/ChicagoChicago style is a documentation style used in history and other humanities fields and uses footnotes or endnotes.

Plagiarism: don’t do it

Use when you need a book or article that is not available online, not owned by ONU or available via OhioLINK

No charge/ limit on requests Most requests take 5-7 days to

fill Use ILL form on

library web pages.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

1-2-1 Personal Research Consultations

Need a little extra help with your research?Finding plenty of resources, but not exactly what you

are looking for?Has it been suggested by instructor to meet with a

librarian?

An in-depth research consultation with the librarian of your choice is available by appointment. Sessions may run for 30-60 minutes and are designed to assist students with finding and evaluating resourcesSchedule an appointment by visiting

http://libguides.onu.edu/aecontent.php?pid=199190&sid=2118629