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Welcome
This guide is intended to be used by students in PSY 2004 who need to conduct research in the field. Review the assignment specifications carefully. What topic area is required? How many - and what type of - resources do you need? How long is the paper? Must all articles come from scholarly journals? If you have any questions, ask your professor or a librarian for help.
Choosing a Topic
To find a topic of interest to you, you may want to consult:
- Course materials (Syllabus, textbook, handouts)
- Instructor and/or peers
- Personal interests
- Library Reference Databases
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window Credo Reference is a general knowledge database providing articles, images, charts, maps and other materials on thousands of topics. With 750+ searchable, full-text titles, Credo Reference places particular emphasis on subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and reference handbooks. Also included are more than 1,100 short reference videos, more than 475,000 high-resolution art images, photographs, and maps across all subject areas.
Search Tips
Before searching, identify keywords. These are the main ideas or concepts of your topic question. You will also want to come up with related terms in order to expand your searching.
Example:
What is the effect of peer pressure on body image?
| Keywords | peer pressure | body image |
| Related terms |
peer influence peer relations cliques peer attitudes social influence sociocultural factors |
physical appearance self-concept self-esteem self-image |
When searching, string your keywords together with "and" rather than entering the entire research question. Mix and match terms depending on results.