three things to know about

doing research in


French 091


Pamela Harris
Head of Research & Instruction
Swarthmore College
09.09.14


What we'll talk about today:


1. How to find the scholarly conversation.


2. How to make databases give
you what you want.


3. How to manage your research.



part one:

how to find the scholarly conversation





Let's say that last May, you visited a friend in Denmark.


 She has been getting a university degree in religion for the last six years. You notice that she pays no tuition, receives a stipend for living expenses and can remain a student indefinitely - she has a cute apartment and vacation time. Meanwhile, this has not been your own experience in the US.


Where can you start to find the scholarly discussion about the differences between US higher education and Denmark?  






You might consider looking at the scholarly conversation on comparative education to give you a framework.

How do you find the areas of scholarly conversation?

  • Prior coursework and asking your advisors

  • Handbooks and companions

  • Review articles (different than book reviews)

  • Reference sources (e.g. encyclopedias)

  • Careful reading of journal articles, books, & book reviews

  • Using the bibliographies of dissertations

What do review articles tell you?


Questions debated by scholars in your discipline
(e.g. understanding rising wage and income inequality)

Overall trends and patterns in the scholarship
(look for words like "strand," "turn," and "school of thought")

Major scholars and works
(including influential books and articles)


(You might also find some discussion of how other disciplines have approached the topic.)

So how do you find review articles?


  • Review of Research in Education
  • Educational Research and Reviews

  • Review articles published in disciplinary specific journals
    • Find these through databases like Proquest and Web of Science, which we'll talk about later.

    What about reference sources, handbooks and companions?

    How do they help find the scholarly conversation?


    • Like review articles, sources like these (often) give you an overview of the scholarly conversation on a particular topic or a particular area of interest within the discipline.

    • Keep an eye out for suggested readings (in the bibliography at the end of the entry, sometimes also at the end of the book).



    How do you find reference sources for your topic?


    • Suggestions can be found on the Research Guides 

    • Search Tripod and limit to Swarthmore Reference




    Before moving on,

    let's review.

    To recap:


    The scholarly conversation might not focus on your specific topic (e.g. Denmark's university policies). 

    Look for the broader area of scholarly conversation that relates to your topic in an interesting way.
    (e.g. , as a way of exploring your specific topic of Denmark)

    Find areas of scholarly conversation by using 
    review articles, previous coursework, your advisors, and reference sources




    part two:

    how to make scholarly databases give you what you want


    There are three parts to finding the scholarly articles and books that you need:

    • information resources (e.g. JSTOR, Tripod)

    • terms (e.g. "comparative education" Denmark)

    • tools (filters, Boolean searching)

    1. Different resources let you find different kinds of information.

    Tripod, Worldcat, and Google Scholar
    books and articles from various academic disciplines

    JSTOR, Proquest, Web of Science (Soc. Sci.)
    journal articles from various disciplines

    AnthroSource and Anthropology Plus
    articles from anthropology journals (and some books)

    Sociological Abstracts
    articles from sociology journals (and some books)




    2. Use the right search terms.

    Questions for generating search terms:

    • What are synonyms for my topic?

    • Do scholars refer to my topic using particular language? What is that language? 

    • Do the terms referring to my topic change depending on the political or social beliefs of the speaker?
      • e.g. "pro-choice" vs. "anti-choice" vs. "pro-life"



    For example, let's say you start with the headscarf debate.

    You could also search for
    veils social aspects
    muslim women clothing
    hijab law and legisltation






    You could also connect this topic to larger discussions of:

    Clothing, dress and political aspects

    Secularism and gender identity

    Race relations


    Take a couple of minutes and brainstorm some possible search terms for exploring your tentative thesis topic.


    Then trade lists with the person next to you. Suggest other possible search terms they might consider using.




    (for reference while you're working)

    • What are synonyms for my topic?

    • Do scholars refer to my topic using particular language?

    • Do the terms referring to my topic change depending on the political or social beliefs of the speaker?

      • e.g. "pro-choice" vs. "anti-choice" vs. "pro-life"


    • Are there historical names for the place(s) you're studying?

    • What are the preferred terms used by the groups you're studying? Have these changed over time? 




    3. Use search tools.

    Advanced search strategies tell databases how to work with the search terms you've provided.





     Advanced search strategies? It's 2014.... 

    Phrase Searching

    (narrows your results)


    • If you search for race relations in ProQuest Research Library, you'll find articles that contain both words, in any order.

    • If you search for "race relations" (in double quotes) in ProQuest Research Library you'll find articles containing both words in that order.

    Words with varying endings


    • In many databases, if you search for development you'll receive articles containing that exact word.

    • But if you search for develop*, you'll find articles containing developing, developed, and development.

    Three side notes:
    - Google automatically does this.
    - Try Tripod searches w/ and without the *
    - Not all databases use the * character...sometimes you use a ? or a $

    Boolean Searching

    pulls it all together.


    Example 1:

    ("gender identity") AND (wom?n OR fem*)










    Example 2:
    ("transnational migration" OR "international migration") AND (parent* OR mother* OR father*)





    You would most likely get a larger number of less relevant search results if you search for ("transnational" OR "international") AND migration


    In short:

    Select the databases and other resources that will
    work best for your research.

    Come up with a list of search terms.

    Use advanced search tools and tricks to get better results.



    Even with a great Boolean search strategy, you'll probably still end up with a lot of search results to comb through.


    The last part of this session will focus on evaluating the potential sources you find.



    part three:

    how to sift through your 

    search results

    A citation or Tripod record gives you valuable clues about the article or book.


    Ask:

    - Who is the publisher?  
    Is this a scholarly press? 

    - Who is the author?  

    If the author is an academic, where do they teach?  In what department?  What journals have they published in?  What is the author's experience with the topic they're writing about?

    One quick way to evaluate an article or book and its place in the scholarly literature is to check how many times it has been cited.


    You can use Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) to search for the article or book.

    Use the Advanced Search if you're having difficulty finding the specific article or book. (This often happens with generic titles or authors who have common names.)



    Don't rely solely on your memory - annotate your sources as soon as you find them.


    For example: "This article deals with gender identity in professional contexts and I read something else by this author in FREN 015"



    There are tools available specifically to help keep track of books, journal articles, notes, and other research materials.





    Remember:

    When you're looking for articles or books, you're looking for entry points into a scholarly conversation.


    Usually, scholars will situate their question and argument within the broader scholarly debate.  You'll usually find evidence of this near the beginning of the article or book.



    To recap:

    Look for clues about the source, the author, and its publisher.

    Check how many times a particular work has been cited to get a sense for its level of influence.

    Annotate your sources as soon as you find them.


    What we talked about today:


    1. How to find the scholarly conversation

    Annual Reviews, handbooks, companions

    2. How to make databases give you 
    what you want

    ProQuest Research Library, Boolean


    3. How to sift through potential sources 

    Author, publisher, citation counts, annotate
     





    Feel free to make an appointment (via email -pharris1).

    Office hours at the McCabe Research & Info Desk:
    Tuesdays, 3-5 PM
    Wednesdays, 3-5 PM


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