Many times we have an idea of what we want to study but not a clear focused topic. Before beginning a literature search you want to write a search statement and identify the keywords. I recommend you use this handy page to write a thesis statement: http://www.ozline.com/electraguide/thesis.html

Books

Books at Cal State San Marcos

Find books by searching the Library Catalog. Can't think of terms to describe your topic?  Catalogs use specific subject headings to group related books together.  A good strategy is to:

• enter a keyword or two
• scan the list for one good item of interest
• click on the subject headings for that item
• scan the list of subject headings for ones that are of interest
• click on another subject heading to search for more items
   

Books at other libraries

	Circuit	1-2 day delivery *
	Melvyl	5-10 day delivery **
	WorldCat	5-10 day delivery **

 
* Books will be delivered to Library for pickup.

** Find a book in this databases, and fill-out an Interlibrary Loan delivery request. Book will be delivered to Library for pickup.

Journal Articles

Journals include some of the latest research in the field.  To find articles, you need to start with research databases. They allow you to search hundreds or even thousands of journals at once.

ERIC* 
A national information system funded by the U.S. Department of Education provides access to both journal articles and documents such as reports, lesson plans and other information on education-related issues.  ERIC has 2 types of information:

• EJ = Articles: find full text by clicking on    If the library doesn't have it you can order it through Interlibrary Loan ( 5-10 days delivery).
   

• ED = Documents: find full text in the library by looking for the ED number in the microfiche cabinets.  

* a free version of ERIC is available at http://www.eric.ed.gov/

After you have focused your topic by writing your thesis statement you want to develop a good search strategy. Select the main concepts in your statement, find synonyms or alternative terms, and use Booleans to connect them appropriately.

EXAMPLE:

THESIS	Even though language can be a barrier, parents of ESL students should be active in PTA to show their child that they care, and to help shape the school environment.
MAIN CONCEPTS	Parent participation, ESL Students, school environment
Alternative TERMS	family involvement, limited English speaking,classroom environment or educational environment (school environment is not used)
SEARCHES	#1 parent participation OR family involvement #2 limited English speaking OR ESL #3 classroom environment OR Educational environment

Can't think of terms to describe your topic?  USE THE THESAURUS. Find it in the Search Tools tab. This will give you a large set of terms or phrases useful in finding information on your specific topic.  A minute spent with the Thesaurus will save you hours of frustration! 

Modify your search (if needed)

If too many records have been retrieved (more than 50)...

Review the options for limiting your search. You can limit by date, by language, or by adding key terms or descriptors.  Limit your search by adding terms to your search statement using "AND'.

• Example: To narrow a search on bulimia combine bulimia AND college students.

If too few records have been retrieved...

Check your spelling. The database only retrieves exact matches.  Eliminate the least important concept.

• Example: Learning disabilities AND college-students AND alcohol abuse. In this search, college-students is the least important concept, so you would enter a new statement: learning-disabilities and (alcoholism or alcohol abuse).

Expand your search by adding terms to your original search statement using "OR"

• Example: Anorexia-nervosa OR bulimia.

 

Marking records to print, download or email.

As you browse, mark records for later by clicking on the little box that appears next to the title.

Then click on Save, Print, Email.

 CAUTION: This will email ONLY the information the screen, no more and no less!

 

HINT: When you find a great article on your topic - check the bibliography for other related articles!

 

 

Statistical Sources

Statistical Sources on the Internet and through our Library research databases: 

National
	The US Census 2000 briefs are a great resource. Here are a few related to ethnic subpopulations ():   The Hispanic Population   The White Population   The Black Population   The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population   The American Indian and Alaska Native Population   The Asian Population   The Arab Population   The Foreign-Born Population (immigrants)   There are briefs related to some topics in this class:   Housing Costs of Homeowners   Educational Attainment   Language Use and English-Speaking Ability Also check out the Census report Mapping Census 2000:The Geography of U.S. Diversity. FedStats GPO: U.S. Government Printing Office National Center for Health Statistics   Office of Minority Health from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) National Center for Education Statistics Bureau of Labor Statistics including Occupation Employment Statistics
State
	State of California California Department of Education Try CDE's Ed-Data to "select your own data" and make your own charts. California Department of Health Services RAND California
Local
	San Diego's Regional Planning Agency (SANDAG) Try Data Warehouse to create your own charts with specific demographic information; or the Fast Facts page for quick access to statistics. Impacts of Tribal Economic Development Projects in San Diego County (April 2003) City of San Diego San Diego Chamber of Commerce Quality of Life: San Diego Region

Sample Dissertations?

You can use the Library Catalog for find sample dissertations by typing "csusm thesis" and select "Genre/Form" from the drop-down box.

For more information see the graduate studies page: http://www.csusm.edu/graduate_studies/thesis_project.htm

Finding other dissertations.

"A literature review is NOT just a summary, but a conceptually organized synthesis of the results of your search. It must:

• organize information and relate it to the thesis or research question you are developing
• synthesize results into a summary of what is and isn't known
• identify controversy when it appears in the literature
• develop questions for further research"

More help from the University of Toronto: http://www.utoronto.ca/hswriting/lit-review.htm
Examples of literature reviews can be found by searching for "literature review" in ERIC.

 

Getting IRB approval

If you are doing research that includes supervising or conducting any activity involving human subjects, regardless of whether the research is funded, and regardless of whether the subjects are members of the University community, you must receive IRB approval for the research. For the policy, answers to your questions and forms see: http://www.csusm.edu/research/IRB/IRB.htm

 

Citing Your Sources

As you write your paper, you'll need to cite passages and ideas from the sources you've found.  In order to cite your resources properly, you need to follow the style guide used by educators.

When you search ERIC use the Bibliography Generator found on the Save, Print, Email page and then email yourself the list of articles already in APA style!

For more complex questions see the listing below.

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, 2001. Library Copies (BF76.7 .P83 2001)

Below are some web sites that provide examples. APAstyle.org: Produced by the APA, this site contains a wealth of information about APA citation style. It is not a replacement for owning the Publication Manual, though. A Guide for Writing Research Papers, APA Style: A question-and-answer style web site about using APA style created by a faculty member from Capital Community College; an easy to navigate, informative, and accurate web site. The APA Style Crib Sheet:  Based on the 4th edition, not the most current 5th edition. Produced by Russ Dewey, who also created PsychWWW. CSUSM Library's APA Citation Style Guide: This can be downloaded in PDF format.