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PSYC 395: F08: Hamill: Course Research Guide

The first project in this course requires a content analysis of Facebook and/or Myspace pages.

The section Background Information lists some sources that may be of use in this project.

The section Finding journal articles provides links and guidance to databases beyond PsycINFO that will be essential to completing the literature review necessary for the all projects students will be completing over the semester.

If you have any questions at any time, don't hesitate to contact Yvonne Nalani Meulemans, Human Services and Psychology Librarian.

Background information:
content analysis project
 
Finding journal articles
 
APA Style
 
 

 

Background information: content analysis project
 The items listed here may provide some background information on the topics selected for the first research project.


Facebook: the missing manual (e-book)

Managing online forums : everything you need to know to create and run successful community discussion boards
 HM851 .O547 2008   4th Floor Stacks

Profiting from social networking

Designing for the social web

MySpace unraveled: a parent's guide to teen social networking from the directors of BlogSafety.com

Me, MySpace, and I : parenting the net generation
HQ799.2.I5 R66 2007  4th Floor Stacks

Useful titles available by request in CIRCUIT

Youth, identity, and digital media

Millennial makeover : MySpace, YouTube, and the future of American politics

The Oxford handbook of Internet psychology

MySpace to sacred space : God for a new generation
 

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Finding journal articles

Particularly with the content analysis project, using databases beyond PsycINFO will be essential to identifying quality research in the primary literature. The databases listed below all provide access to research literature in fields of study that may yield information relevant to your topic.

In the 9.2 class session on searching the literature, we'll compare databases to determine which ones would be useful (or not). This information can expedite your search.


 

Suggested Databases
 
PsycINFO
Available via EbscoHost: A comprehensive international database of psychology, covering the academic, research, and practice literature in psychology.
 
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Provides abstracts and full text for more than 200 communication journals.
 
Sociological Abstracts
Provides access to the latest international findings in theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and political science.
 
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)
Provides abstracts of articles from about 2,000 journals (published worldwide), coverage of recent books, book review citations and dissertation listings.
 

 

Differences between
empirical studies & literature reviews
 
Empirical studies:
  • are reports on an experiment, survey, observation, etc.

     
  • have a methods section because it reports on an experiment.

     
  • have data that has been collected. 


     
  • try to measure something: a behavior, reaction, treatment, etc.
 Literature reviews:
  • Connects all the previous empirical studies and discusses what is known on a particular topic.
     
  • do not have the usual parts of an APA report, since it does not report on a single experiment.
     
  • briefly summarize and critique each study and discuss how the findings relate to other studies.
     
  • are useful when learning about the current research on a topic.