HDF 630 - The University Libraries

HDF 630- Research Methods in HDFS

Library Spaces: Information about places in the library for individuals or groups to study or prepare for presentations

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Specialized books such as the following titles provide background information on your topic and help define unfamiliar terms

In the Reference Room you will find several similar volumes. Check these call numbers: HQ (family studies), HM (sociology), BF (psychology), L (education), etc.

Bibliographies at the end of encyclopedia articles will refer you to other useful sources

International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family
James J. Ponzetti, Jr., editor-in-chief

Topics: marriage and family issues worldwide, adolescent parenthood, family planning, cohabitation, widowhood, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, codependency, and commuter marriages

Also available in print: ref. HQ 9 .E52 2003

Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society
Paula S. Fass, ed., 2004
Also available in print: ref. HQ767.84 .E53

Parenthood in America: an Encyclopedia
Lawrence Balter, ed. 2000
Also available in print: ref HQ755.8 .P3783 2 vol.

Encyclopedia of Human Development

Neil Salkind, ed., 2006, 3 vol.

Also in print. Location: ref. HM626 .E53

Child Development
Neil J. Salkind, ed.
Also available in print: ref. HQ772 .C436 2002

Dictionary of Statistics
Graham Upton and Ian Cook, 2002

Finding Magazine, Journal, and Newspaper Articles Using Databases

The databases below are subject guides to magazines, journals, newspapers, and other materials. For additional choices, go to the University Libraries home page, click on Databases, then the starting letter of the database or department name.

Tips:

Use the most specific terms you can think of in your search strategy. Use synonyms for the same concept such as adolescents, adolescence, teenagers, youth. If that doesn't work try moving to gradually broader terms.

Broad subject headings work well for books e.g. families, children, population, social conditions

Narrow subject headings may work better for journal articles because they tend to focus on a specific issue e.g. single parent family rather than families, adolescents rather than children, birth control rather than population, and poverty rather than social conditions.

Most scholarly books and journal articles have a list of further readings. Use these as an easy way of identifying other sources relevant to your topic.

Note the names of authors writing extensively on the subject, then try the databases to look for journal articles they may have written.

Click here for tips on using the Search connectors AND, OR, and NOT in your search strategy.

REMEMBER: To find the full text of the journal article you must go through the Library's web pages. We have paid for access to the journals. Do not go to the publisher's page to get an article. Use Journal Finder if you have the name of the journal.

PsycINFO (EBSCO)

Some full text for over a thousand journals plus book chapters, books, technical reports, and dissertations

Covers psychology and related disciplines such as human development, child psychology, sociology, social work, gerontology, medicine, nursing, and psychiatry

Sample topics: behavioral assessment, children of divorce, work with special populations, stress, work-family balance and conflict

Large number of foreign language titles, many not easily accessible

Dates of coverage: 1872 +

Indexes materials relating to the growth and development of children through the age of 21

Dates of coverage: 1927 +

Family and Society Studies Worldwide (EBSCO)(access ends 1/31/2010)

Thousands of records from scholarly journals as well as books, popular literature, conference papers, and government reports

Includes research, policy and practice literature in the fields of family science, human ecology and human development

Considerable Australian material not easily obtained at UNCG

Dates of Coverage: 1970 +

Most widely used education database

Some full text for hundreds of education and education-related journals (identified by EJ numbers)

Almost a million full-text research and technical reports, school system reports, conference papers,etc. (identified by ED numbers)

Sample topics: parent-school relationships, special education, child discipline, early childhood education, etc.

Dates of coverage: 1960s +

Use this link to simultaneously search any of the 20+ EBSCO databases

NB: in most cases the thesaurus and some of the limiters will not be available

Web of Science (corresponds to Social Sciences Citation Index and Science Citation Index)

Indexes thousands of peer-reviewed science and social science journals cover-to-cover

Each record shows the publications cited by the article's author, i.e. the footnotes

Cited reference search: search for articles that have cited a previously published work

Dates of coverage: 1956

Extensive full text for thousands of popular and scholarly journals covering topics across the disciplines including education, sociology and psychology

Full text articles from thousands of journals, magazines, transcripts, newspapers, editorials, newsletters, and numerous international news sources

Particularly strong for news, business, law, medicine, and government topics

Especially good for current issues and news stories for a specific geographic area

Dates of coverage: varies by publication

Covers articles from over a few thousand journals, some full text and most available at UNCG

Key subjects: sociology, social psychology, ethnic and gender studies, marriage and family, social development, family conflict, etc.

Sample topics: work-life balance, dual career couples, work-family conflict, division of labor

Dates of coverage: varies but some as far back as 1895

Abstracts for a couple thousand journals, plus books, conference papers, and other materials

International in scope. Many foreign language titles

Comprehensive but many items will require using interlibrary loan

Dates of coverage: 1963 +

Indexes dissertations accepted at accredited U.S. institutions since 1861

Includes abstracts since July 1980

Selectively covers dissertations from Canada, the United Kingdom, and a few other countries

Also indexes masters theses, with abstracts for theses since 1988

For dissertations and theses not available in this database or the one below, use Interlibrary Loan

Full text of UNCG dissertations published from 1997 to the present and theses from 2005 to the present

Looking for the full text of the article? Go to Journal Finder and enter the name of the journal.

Tests and Measurements

Mental Measurements Yearbook

Information about and reviews of commercially available, English-language standardized measurements

Major subject categories: educational skills, personality, vocational aptitude, intelligence, achievement, neuropsychological

No copies of the actual tests

Dates of coverage:1972 +

Also in print. Location Ref BF 431 .M430

Descriptions of 10,000+ tests and research instruments included in the Educational Testing Service's (ETS) Tests in Microfiche, ERIC, or described in journals or book chapters

Provides descriptions of tests, citations to scholarly reviews of tests, and publisher contact information

Tests listed not available from ERIC; however, if the contact information indicates the test is archived in the Tests in Microfiche collection, that test usually is available in Jackson Library on microfiche LB1131 .T550 under the ETS tracking number

Dates of coverage: 1989 +

Directory of Unpublished Mental Measures. Bert A. Goldman and others.

Lists unpublished test instruments as they have been mentioned and used in the research articles of 37 professional psychology and education journals

Test information provided: test name, purpose, number or items, format, reliability, validity, author, article examined, journal in which the article appeared, related research

Dates of coverage: 1974 +

Location: Ref BF431.G625

Annual volumes contain ~100 critical reviews of commercial tests most frequently used in psychological assessment, business, and education

Review essays include a description of the development and applications of the test, technical data, a critique, and a list of references

Dates of coverage: 1984 +

Location: Ref BF176 .T419

APA Style

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th edn. Copies at the Reference Desk and Reserve Desk BF76.7 .P83 2010

Text of an electronic journal article retrieved via a DOI number:

Smith, W.C. (1993). Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(4), 443-449.

doi:10.1037/002-9432.76.4.482

Text of an electronic article without a DOI number, use the URL:

Painter, J. (2008). Cartographic anxiety and the search for regionality. Environment and Planning A, 40, 342-361. Retrieved from

http://www.envplan.com/epa/fulltext/a40/a38255.pdf

Article from a print or microfilm journal:

VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology

undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5(2), 117-123.

APA, MLA, Turabian Citation Style Information

Useful Websites

Primary vs. Secondary Sources (Univ. of California at Berkeley website with definitions, examples). Watch this flash tutorial for help identifying primary sources

Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network

Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers & Families

National Network for Family Resiliency

National Parent Information Network

Kids Count Databook
A national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the U.S. It provides policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being.

Author Info: Nancy Ryckman