Language is incredibly important when searching the library's databases. You will need to determine your keywords and avoid overly long, complicated phrases. An example of a search would be the following:
Physical abuse is encased in closed quotations to make it an exact phrase; this will allow for more precise searching in any database. The asterisk next to child is an example of the truncation method, meaning the database will search for variations of the root word (in this case: children).
The AND inserted between the keywords is an example of what is known as a Boolean Operator, and there are two others: OR and NOT. These are utilized in library databases to retrieve specific results.
AND: When using this operator, you will see more narrow, precise results because the database in question is searching for resources that contain the exact keywords. Some databases will automatically insert AND between your keywords but it's still a good habit to develop for yourself.
OR: This allows for synonyms or word variations. Often times, there are other terms that mean the same as your keyword. When you add OR in your search, you will see more results because this operator indicates either word must appear in the resource.
NOT: This operator removes unwanted terms from your results.
You can experiment with your search to include keywords that describe empirical research. Consider the following:
Here are some keywords you can include in your search to locate qualitative research:
You can search for articles through WorldCat Discovery on the library's homepage. This search was modified to include longitudinal studies, as indicated by the following screenshot:
After entering the above keywords and selecting the search button, we are brought to the results page. You can modify what you see on the results page by selecting different filters on the left side of the screen, such as format, content type, publication year, a customized date range, and more. Under format is an option to show only articles, and directly below that is content type which allows you to see only peer-reviewed sources.
Clicking on the title of the resource will bring you to its record in WorldCat Discovery. The following screenshot is for this research article: Early Physical Abuse and Later Violent Delinquency: A Prospective Longitudinal Study.
Here, you can see a general summary of the article in question, along with its assigned subject terms. Subject terms are controlled vocabulary assigned by a database that describe its overall subject or theme; these terms can be seen as the main ideas of the research article, which can be very useful going forward when you need to expand or narrow the scope of your research topic.
For a more focused search to locate empirical research articles, there is the Literature Search function. This will allow you to search a myriad of databases in psychology, social sciences, counseling, and more. This search feature can be found on the library's homepage.
Selecting the EBSCO Advanced Search button in the lower-right hand corner will bring you to the advanced search page.
Much like WorldCat Discovery, the literature search feature allows you to enter keywords into the search boxes and a drop-down menu to specify how you would like to construct the search in the field option (author, title, subject terms, etc.). Boolean operators are on display, allowing you to enter a mix of operators for more complex searching. A significant feature is the option to choose a database by subject to allow for a more in-depth approach to research, as indicated by the hyperlink in the upper-left corner.
The above screenshot is an example of a general search query in literature search. Like in the WorldCat Discovery example, longitudinal study is enclosed in a set of quotations to make it an exact phrase; this allows for more precise searching. The Select a Field option can remain unchanged. After entering the search terms select the green Search button.
The results page is generated with "hits" based on the keywords entered in the search box. Scrolling through the results page, you will see that each hit--or citation--will contain the keywords that were entered in the search box, though sometimes these keywords will not appear unless you view its full-text option.
If you wanted to refine what you see in the results page, take a look at the highlighted filters located at the top of the results page. These filters allow you to locate peer-reviewed articles, full text, subject terms, publication date, and more.
As you sift through the results, you will see each citation will have different options in terms of access. Some will have different links that will provide access to the full .PDF or HTML document; others might only have an abstract.
Select the Access Options box to open a drop-down menu to see your options for accessing any of the articles located in EBSCOhost. In the event of having only access to the abstract, you can select the Request through interlibrary loan (ILL) link to have the library locate a full-text version of the article through another institution.
To learn more about its services, please see the interlibrary loan guide.
This page has been adapted from Bentley University's Find Empirical Research Articles guide.