This guide will walk you through the steps for conducting
a literature review, finding information sources, submitting
your thesis to the library
and using the APA style for writing your thesis.
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
Circuit and Other
Catalogs
Having trouble finding books in the CSUSM Library
catalog? Try searching the
Circuit
or other
catalogs. You can use the same search strategy
listed above for "Books at Cal State San Marcos".
Remember, you can get almost any book you need from other
libraries using
Inter-Library Loan.
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*
ED =
Documents: find full text in the library by looking for the ED
number in the microfiche cabinets.
Academic Search Premier* This
EbscoHost database offers scholarly information in nearly every area of
academic study including: education, computer sciences, engineering,
physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature,
medical sciences, ethnic studies, and many more.
PsychInfo*
Available via EbscoHost: A comprehensive international database
of psychology, covering the academic, research, and practice
literature in psychology from over 45 countries in more than 30
languages.
* If HTML
or PDF documents not available, find
full-text by clicking on If the library doesn't have it you can order it through
Interlibrary Loan ( 5-10 days delivery).
ERIC Tutorials
Watch this
video
on how to find articles. The example database
looks exactly like ERIC.
After you have focused your topic by writing your thesis
statement you want to develop a good search strategy. Select
the mainconcepts in your statement, find synonyms or
alternative terms, use Booleans (and/or/not)
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
Useful Subject Terms
Can't think
of terms to describe your topic? USE THE THESAURUS. Find it in
the Search Tools tab in ERIC or look at the Subject Terms in the
EbscoHost databases. These will give you a large set
of terms or phrases useful in finding information on your
specific topic.
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!
Literature Reviews
"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
synthesizeresults into a summary of what
is and isn't known
identifycontroversy when it appears in
the literature
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/rgsip/irb/index.htm
Note: APA has added updated information on
citing electronic resources. Download the
PDF
format here or come to the CSUSM Library to view a print
version of this addition for free:
PN171.F56 A63 2007 Binder
California State University San Marcos Library
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