Choose a Topic
Watch a short video on how to select a research topic. You can also utilize the following databases to help develop a topic:
- CQ Researcher - This weekly publication gives background information on current and controversial issues. Includes pro and con arguments, references for further reading, contacts, and future outlooks.
- Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center - Provides an excellent first-step in researching any current social issue. Includes pro-con articles, opinion pieces, newspaper pieces, scholarly articles and information from many other types of sources, all full text.
- Check out news reports to gauge current public opinion on the issue.
Search For Articles
The following short videos offer tips on searching the core Elementary Education databases: Education Research Complete, Psych Info, and ERIC via Ebsco. The videos are about how to search Academic Search Premier (ASP). However, ASP has nearly the same interface as the others. The main difference is that these databases contain many more ways to limit your search (i.e. methodology, exclude dissertations, etc.) See the Articles & Databases tab to connect to these databases.
- Do a Basic Keyword Search
- Narrow your search results, save them, cite them, and find more articles fast
- Use Boolean Operators to Refine Your Search - an excellent YouTube video by the University of Aukland Library on how to use AND, OR & NOT
- Scholarly vs Popular Articles: What's the Difference? - an excellent YouTube video by Cook Library at Towson.
Write Your Paper
- Writing for the Social Sciences - by Purdue Online Writing Lab
- APA 6 Help
- All You Need to Know About Plagiarism - an interactive tutorial by Vaughan Memorial Library