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Research projects (e.g. Hons)

Explore...research methods and methodology

SAGE research methods

SAGE research methods is a comprehensive online collection of resources which you can access through the Library. You can explore methodological concepts to help you design your research project, understand a particular research method or identify a new method, and write up your research.

 Video Length: 2 min 7 sec

Research methodologies example search

Literature review: overview

Key steps

Video length: 2 min 13 sec. 

This short (approx 2 mins) video from the Steely Library at Northern Kentucky University provides a quick introduction to literature reviews.

For help completing your literature review please see the following links:

Other review types

The Library's Systematic Review guide provides an overview of the scoping, narrative and systematic review types.

Record your search strategy so that you (and others) can replicate the process - this is essential for systematic reviews, but is generally advised to ensure transparency and replicability. Document search tools used, date searches conducted, search terms, any limits (e.g. year, language), and number of hits

Sign up for accounts with key database providers (e.g. Ovid and ProQuest) so that you can save articles, search strategies, alerts and more for later use

Set up alerts so that you keep up to date with material as it is published on your topic

To conduct a comprehensive search, go beyond the major indexed databases to locate grey literature

Manage and organise your search results using bibliographic management software such as EndNote

Systematic review methodology was developed for medicine and healthcare, and aspects of the approach prescribed in the discipline may be inappropriate for certain social sciences research questions. Alternatives such as that developed by the UK Social Care Institute for Excellence may be more appropriate

'Successfully retrieving relevant information begins with a clearly defined, well-structured question.'

Davies, KS 2011, 'Formulating the evidence based practice question: a review of the frameworks', Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 75.

Developing a Research Question (Academic Skills, University of Melbourne)

A range of standardised frameworks have been developed to assist in developing focused, answerable questions which can be easily broken down into searchable components for more relevant results.

Examples of framing the question are available on the UniSA Systematic Review Guide.

Find theses

Why?

Why look for existing theses?

  • Ensure that your topic has not been, or is not being, investigated by another researcher
  • Gain knowledge of other related research in your area of study
  • Discover the research that has preceded your topic
  • Explore methodologies and layouts used by other researchers in your field

Where?

Our Theses guide will help you to search databases to find theses, exemplars and share your thesis through the Research Outputs Repository.

Grey literature

Watch this video: Finding grey literature: definition and key sources   (5 min 13 sec) 
AACODS checklist - Jess Tyndall, Flinders University, 2010. Guidance on how

to evaluate and critically appraise grey literature.

For further information read the Grey Literature Guide. 

Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research

'Each of these Handbooks survey the field in a critical manner, evaluating theoretical models in light of the best available empirical evidence. Distinctively sociological approaches are highlighted by means of explicit comparison to perspectives characterizing related disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, and anthropology. These seminal works seek to record where the field has been, to identify its current location and to plot its course for the future' - Publisher description.

Browse all 24 volumes

Handbook of religion and social institutions

Handbook of religion and social institutions

by Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh

Publication date: 2006
Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities Handbook of the Sociology of Sexualities

by John DeLamater (Editor); Rebecca F. Plante (Editor)

Publication Date: 2015
Handbook of the Life Course Handbook of the Life Course

by Michael J. Shanahan et al. (eds)

Publication Date: 2015

Interested in sharing your findings?

Publish with impact

Watch the following presentation: Publishing with impact - video  (28 min 29 sec)

Professor Jill Dorrian of the University of South Australia (UniSA) gives tips and advice on getting your research published, such as how to choose the right journal for your research, how to increase your chances of getting published, and how to publish strategically to maximise the impact of your research.

This presentation was filmed during Publishing with impact: where and how, a workshop presented by the UniSA Library, in 2014.

For further information: the UniSA Library Publishing guide.

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