Searching the Literature

PSC 202 / SOC 202 / CJS 202Inga H. Barnello (445-4326)

barnello@lemoyne.edu

What is a literature review?

Discussion of relevant journal articles … on a specific topic… within a particular field of study

identify important researchers, authors

Allows the reader to tap into the “conversation” that is occurring among scholars

Preparing to do a literature search

Divide topic into different facets: 2 (or 3) unrelated concepts that you wish to combine

Election campaignsInternet use

How are you going to type in the search in the database to make citations related to BOTH come out?

So many databases, so little time.

Go to the Political Science page of databases or the Sociology pagewww.library.edu/libraryChoose Subject List of databasesFind Social Sciences and click on

Political Science or Sociology

Sociology subject page

Boolean searching : ANDAND limits retrieval by requiring each term

Type into a search box: elections AND internet

Why does Boolean work?

Think mathIntersection of sets: A and B (only 25 out of all those that mention only one of the words mention both words.)

Internet 700 25 elections 1500

Which will be best?

Elections and InternetElections and Web

Elections and virtualCampaigns and Internet

Campaigns and WebCampaigns and virtual

Using “OR” ….

you can search them all at once in a single search box (Saves typing; saves time)

(elections or campaigns) and (Internet or web or virtual)Is equivalent to all these searches

Elections and InternetElections and Web

Elections and virtualCampaigns and Internet

Campaigns and WebCampaigns and virtual

The Boolean OR allows all terms into the results “union of sets”…. A U B OR increases retrieval

Church or religion or catholic*elections or campaignsHomeowners or taxpayersGender or women

Women gender

Notes about using parentheses

(women or gender) and (leadership or leaders)

In math, ( ) keep operation separate from anotherOnly use them when putting entire search strategy into one single search box such as…..

women or gender

(women or gender) and (leadership or leaders)

or using two of the boxes

And

Leadership or leaders

these two approaches are equivalent

Using one, single search box

Differences Among Databases

Proquest Research Social Sciences Proquest Research—the entire database of all subjects

Academic Search Elite (all disciplines)Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Interdisciplinary, has book chapters & government pubs. too

Business Source Elite Religion Index One Catholic Literature & Periodical database

Change field to subject if getting too much

Worldwide Political Science

Peer-Reviewed tab in Worldwide (and Proquest has too)

Scheme/structure of publishing in sociology

Where, then, do these publications go?How do you discover them?

Proquest Research

Other databases to use?

Catholic Literature & PeriodicalsHealth Reference Center Business Source Elite Public education : ERIC

If Harvard Business Review published a study on women in corporate leadership positions would you want to use it for your paper?

It is not a sociology journal is that okay?How would you find such studies about women in the business world? (what database?)

What Men Think They Know About Executive Women. By: Carlson, Dawn S.; Kacmar, K. Michele; Whitten, Dwayne. Harvard Business Review, Sep2006, Vol. 84 Issue 9, p28-28.

Abstract: The article reports on a survey of executives in public and private corporations in the United States concerning women in executive roles, which was conducted in 2005. The results are compared to a study made in 1965 by Garda W. Bowman, N. Beatrice Worthy, and Stephen A. Greyser and a follow-up study in 1985 by Charlotte Decker Sutton and Kris K. Moore. The current data shows that men are accepting the idea of women in senior management positions. The previous research projects on this subject were published in the August 1965 and the October 1985 issues.; (AN 21882924)

Database: Business Source Elite