Guides: Psychology: BEHL 2019: UO Introductory Research Methods

Assessment details

This page is designed to support completion of your APA style research report.

Refer to your course outline and course site for the full assessment details.

1. Identify concepts and terms

Step 1: Identify main concepts and think of any relevant synonyms (similar terms)

Tip: As you search you may find additional synonyms to include in your searches.

Example assignment question #1: Do non-traditional students display statistics anxiety?

Main concepts	Synonyms or similar terms
Non-traditional students	Adult students; Adult Learners; Nontraditional Learners; Mature-aged learners
Statistics	Statistics; Mathematics; Maths
Anxiety	Fear; Worry

Example assignment question #2: Do students who have low and high previous math experiences differ in their attitudes toward statistics and, if so, how?

Concepts	Synonyms or similar terms
Previous Math Experience	Previous experience; Prior experience
Statistics	Statistics; Mathematics; Maths
Attitude	Sentiments; Feelings; Perceptions

2. Connect terms

Step 2: Connect your words using AND and OR

Use the following operator words, which most search tools will have, to indicate how you want the tool to search for your keywords:

OR: Combines synonyms
AND: Combines different concepts
Double quotations “...” to find exact matches of phrases (eg "prior experiences")

Example assignment question #1: Do nontraditional students display statistics anxiety?

"nontraditional learners" OR "nontraditional students" OR "mature-aged learners" OR "mature-aged students"
AND
statistics OR mathematics OR math OR maths
AND
anxiety OR fear OR worry

Example assignment question #2: Do students who have low and high previous math experiences differ in attitude toward statistics, if so, how?

"previous experience" OR "prior experience"
AND
statistics OR maths OR mathematics
AND
attitudes OR sentiments OR feelings OR perceptions

Want to know more?

3. Add brackets (if necessary)

Step 3: Add brackets if necessary

The search strategies above assume that you have more than one entry box in which to enter your search. If you only have a single search box, add a bracket around each set of synonyms:

Example assignment question 1: ("nontraditional learners" OR "nontraditional students" OR "mature-aged students" OR "mature-aged learners") AND (statistics OR mathematics OR math OR maths) AND (anxiety OR fear OR worry)

Example assignment question 2: ("previous experience" OR "prior experience") AND (statistics OR mathematics OR math OR maths) AND (attitude OR sentiments OR feelings OR perceptions)

4. Choose where to search

Where should you search?

Watch the video (video length: 2 min 31 sec) below to learn the distinctions between different search tools so you can find the types of resources you need.

5. Conduct your search

Library Collection

Use the Library Collection to find eBooks, journal articles, reports, videos and more.

Example assignment question 1: ("nontraditional leaners" OR "nontraditional students" OR "mature-aged learners" OR "mature-aged students") AND (statistics OR mathematics OR math OR maths) AND (anxiety OR fear OR worry)

Tip: Use the filters under 'Refine my Results' to find exactly what you need.

Narrow by Format type: Book or Articles or Media
Find scholarly journal articles by selecting: Show Only > Peer-reviewed journals
Narrow your search by a Date range

Google Scholar

Google Scholar works just like Google, but searches only academic or scholarly sites. Search Google Scholar directly from the Library Collection to access full text of resources.

Example assignment question 2: ("previous experience" OR "prior experience") AND (statistics OR mathematics OR math OR maths) AND (attitude OR sentiments OR feelings OR perceptions)

Video length: 3 min 59 sec

6. Evaluate your resources

Evaluate your sources

It is important to evaluate the information you find. Watch this short video (3 min 17 sec) and, for more information, view the Evaluate page. Selecting relevant, current peer-reviewed articles are a good starting point.

What are peer reviewed/scholarly sources?

Scholarly or Academic is a term used for different kinds of authoritative and credible sources including articles from journals (including peer reviewed journals), academic books, government reports etc.

Peer reviewed (refereed) journals are of high quality. Each article has gone through an evaluation process with experts in the field before being published.