2.

1 GETTING STARTED

Simply getting started is often a problem for researchers The research process often appears to be a mysterious,
exotic ritual, and the presence of quantities of previously published research can seem overwhelming Every year,
however, thou- sands of people begin the research process for the first time. Following are a few suggestions that
should help make your start a little easier

PICK A TOPIC IN WHICH YOU ARE INTERESTED

Developing and conducting a research study involves work and definitely takes time. Working in an area of interest
to you will help you stay motivated, avoid burnout, and greatly increase your chances of seeing the research project
through to the end.

There are several different ways to define an interest area. Here are a few possibilities

A particular population or group of individuals, for example, pre-school children, cats, single-parent families,
grandmothers, police officers

A particular behavior, such as language development, adolescent dating math anxiety, honesty, overeating, color
preferences A general topic such as job stress, child abuse, aging, personality, learning. motivation.

The key is really wanting to learn more about the topic you select. Preparing, planning, and conducting research will
provide you with a lot of information and answers. If the task is important to you personally, gathering and using this
information will be fun and exciting. If not, your enthusiasm will fade quickly

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Many people think of research as collecting data in a laboratory, but this is only a small part of the total process.
Long before actual data collection begins, most of your research time probably will be devoted to preparation. Once
have you identified a research topic, collecting background information is the next essential step. Typically, this
involves reading books and journal articles to make your- self more familiar with the topic, what is already known,
what research has been done, and what questions remain unanswered. No matter what topic you select, it will soon
become clear that there are hundreds of books and probably thousands of journal articles containing relevant
background information. Don't panic, although the amount of printed material may appear overwhelming, keep
these two points in mind:

You do not need to know everything about a topic, and you certainly do not need to read everything about a topic
before you begin research you should read enough to gain a solid, basic understanding of the current knowledge in
an area, and this is fairly easy to attain. Later in this chapter (Section 2.4), we provide some suggestions for doing
library research

2. An equally important goal of your background reading is to home in on single, sharply focused research idea. For
example, in reading a developmental psychology, one chapter on social development may capture your attention.
Within that chapter, you become interested in the section on aggressive behavior, and in that section you find a
fascinating paragraph on the relation between aggressive behavior and television violence. Notice that you have
substantially narrowed your interest area from the broad topic of human development to the much more focused
topic of aggression and TV violence. You have also greatly reduced the amount of relevant back- ground reading
book con de-

KEEP AN OPEN MIND

The best strategy for finding a research idea is to begin with a general topic area and then let your background
reading lead you to a specific idea. As you read or skim through material, look for items that capture your attention;
then follow those leads. You needn't start with a specific research idea in mind. In fact, be- ginning with a specific,
preconceived research idea can be a mistake, you may find that your specific question has already been answered,
or you may have difficulty finding information that is relevant to your preconceived notion. You may find that you
don't have the necessary equipment, time, or subjects to test your idea. So your best bet is to be flexible and keep
an open mind. The existing knowledge in any topic area is filled with unanswered questions, untested predictions,
and countless hints and suggestions for future research. Also, be critical, ask questions as you read: Why did they do
that? Is this result consistent with what I see in my own life? How would this prediction apply to a different
situation? Do I really believe this explanation? These questions, expanding or challenging current knowledge, can
lead to good research ideas

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

Developing a single, specific research idea is largely a weeding-out process. You probably will find that I hour of
reading leads you to a dozen legitimate re- search ideas. It is unlikely that you can answer a dozen questions with
one re- search study, so you will have to throw out most of your ideas (at least temporarily). Your goal is to develop
one research question and to find the back- ground information that is directly relevant to that question. Other ideas
and other background material may be appropriate for other research but at this stage will only complicate the
study you are planning. Discard irrelevant items, and focus on one question at a time.

TAKE ONE STEP AT A TIME

Like any major project, planning and conducting research can be a long and difficult process. At the beginning,
contemplating the very end of a research project may lead you to feel that the task is impossibly large. Remember
that you don't need to do the whole thing at once, just take it one step at a time.

As you move through the project, maintain a degree of flexibility, You may discover a new journal article or get a
suggestion from a friend that causes you to revise or refine your original plan. Making adjustments is a normal part
of the research process and usually improves the end result

2.2 SOURCES OF IDEAS

FINDING A GENERAL TOPIC AREA

All research begins with an idea Ideas for research can come from many different sources Unfortunately, beginning
students often believe that getting an idea is very difficult, when, in fact starting points for research are all around us
All that is really necessary is that you see the world around you from an actively curious perspective. Ask yourself
why things happen the way they do or what f things were different. Keep your eyes open! Any source can generate
legitimate research ideas

COMMON SOURCES OF IDEAS

Personal Interests and Curiosities

Feel free to generate ideas for research based on your own interests and concerns. What are you interested in?
What are you curious about? One way to find out is to think about the psychology courses you have taken. What
courses were your favorites? Within courses, what were your favorite units or classes? Think about the people and
behaviors that interest you. Think about the issues that concern you. A research project can be about anything, so
choose a topic you would like to learn more about.

Casual Observation

Watching the behavior of people or animals you encounter daily can be an excellent source of ideas if you simply
watch, you will see people getting angry, laughing at jokes, lying, insulting each other, forming friendships and
relation- ships, eating, sleeping, learning and forgetting. Any behavior that attracts your attention and arouses your
curiosity can become a good research topic. In addition, you can monitor your own behavior, attitudes, and
emotions. Although casual observation probably will not lead to a precise research question, you can certainly
identify a general topic for study, and you may develop your own hypotheses or ideas about why people act the way
they do.

Practical Problems or Questions

Occasionally ideas for research will arise from practical problems or questions you encounter in your daily life, such
as issues from your job, your family relationships, your schoolwork, or elsewhere in the world around you. For
example, you may want to develop a more efficient set of study habits. Should you concentrate your study time in
the morning, in the afternoon, or at night? Should you spend a 2-hour block of study time working exclusively on one
subject, or should you on one distribute your time so that each of five different courses gets some attention? Or
suppose that you want to reduce pilot error in airplanes. What is the best placement of dials and levers on the
dashboard of a cockpit to minimize the chances of pilot error? Any of these problems could be developed into a
research study

Vague and Fleeting Thoughts

Occasionally ideas for research begin with flashes of inspiration. Your initial ideas may emerge at odd times and in a
fleeting way. You may get a flash of creative thought while you are in the bathroom, in the midst of a conversation
with a friend, crossing the street, or dreaming for some people, research ideas just spontaneously "pop" into their
minds. The history of science is filled with stories of famous researchers whose ideas first appeared as flashes of
insight. For example, Archimedes (287-212 B.CE) is said to have discovered the law of hydrostatics (buoyancy) while
stepping into his bath. The story also claims that he then ran down the street shouting "Eureka!" (Greek for "I have
found it") still dressed for the bath. According to legend, Isaac Newton (1642-1727) first conceived of universal
gravitation when he saw an apple fall to the ground. We do not suggest that you wait for something like this to
happen to you. However, we do suggest that you actively use one of the other potential sources for ideas, keeping
your mind open to the possibility that, along the way, this could happen to you.

We don't want to leave you with the impression that research ideas are al- ways found in such unsystematic,
creative, haphazard ways. Most research ideas are generated in a highly systematic fashion by using the research of
others and theories

Reading Reports of Others' Observations

The written reports of observations made by other people are another good source of research ideas. These can
include informal sources such as newspaper and magazine reports and television programs. Nor must research ideas
come exclusively from "factual" reports. Gossip columns, personal ads, comics, political cartoons, and advertising can
stimulate research questions. Keep in mind the fact that published information, especially in non-science sources, is
not necessarily true and does not always tell the whole story Remember, you are looking for ideas so read critically
and ask questions

Although informal sources can stimulate research questions, you are more likely to find good ideas in the formal
research reports published in books and professional journals In this same category is material you have
encountered in previous academic courses or textbooks. These scholarly sources are definitely the best ones for
identifying questions that researchers are asking and the techniques they use to find answers. As always, read
critically and ask questions: Why did the study examine only 4-year-old boys? What would happen if the task were
made more difficult? Would the scores have been higher if the participants had been motivated to try harder?
Questions like these can lead to a modification or extension of an existing study, which is one pathway to creating
new research.

Behavioral Theories

Watch for theories that offer explanations for behavior or try to explain why different environmental factors lead to
different behaviors. In addition to ex- plaining previous research results, a good theory usually predicts behavior in
new situations. Can you think of a way to test the explanations or evaluate the predictions from a theory? Look
closely at the different variables that are part of the theory (the factors that cause behavior to change), and ask
yourself what might happen if one or more of those variables were manipulated or isolated from the others. Testing
the predictions that are part of a theory can be a good source of research ideas. Occasionally, you will encounter two
different theories that attempt to explain the same behavior. When two opposing theories make different
predictions, you have found a good opportunity for research.

Describe the m common sources of ideas identified in the text

COMMON MISTAKES IN CHOOSING A RESEARCH TOPIC

Over the years, we have seen beginning students make many mistakes in trying to find a research topic. We mention
these mistakes in the hope that you will either avoid them altogether or recognize when you are making one and
quickly shift gears

Topic Doesn't Interest the Student

One very common mistake is choosing a topic that is not of interest to you. This seems like an easy enough mistake
to avoid, so how do you think it could hap pen? Through procrastination! This mistake is often the result of putting
off thinking about a choice of topic until the latest possible date. When pressed for time to select a topic, students
often pick a topic that is only of marginal interest. Because interesting topics don't just pop into one's mind, allow
yourself plenty of time to discover a topic. As noted earlier, developing and conducting a research study involves
work and time. Unless you are somewhat interested in the topic you pick, you will find this task extremely laborious
As a result, you are likely to lose motivation, and your research project will no doubt reflect this Start looking for
ideas now!

Topic Is Too Safe or Too Easy

Another mistake is to pick a topic that is too safe or too easy. Often students choose a topic with which they are
quite familiar. Hoping to save time and effort, a student may pull out a paper written for another class and try to
change it into an idea for a research project. However, the purpose of planning and conducting research is not only
to teach you about the research process. We also hope that, in your reading, you will learn something about a topic
that is of interest to you

Topic Is Too Difficult

The opposite of selecting a too-easy topic is choosing one that is too hard. When you begin your library research,
you may find that all the articles on your topic are written in complex scientific jargon that you don't understand. If
this happens, it is time to be flexible. When most of the literature in your chosen area is over your head, consider
changing topics. The task you are taking on is challenging enough; don't bite off more than you can chew!

Topic Is Too Broad

Choosing a research topic that is too broad is not a mistake if you are still in the early stages of searching for an idea.
As we discussed in Section 2.1, the best strategy for finding a research idea is to begin with a general topic area.
How- ever, as you skim material, you quickly need to home in on a single, very specific research idea. You can't
answer every question about a topic area with one research project. Your ultimate goal in choosing a topic is to let
the background reading lead you to a very specific idea for a research hypothesis that can be tested in a research
study.

Sticking with the First Idea That Comes to Mind

Another mistake that beginning research students often make is sticking with the first idea that comes to mind. If
you like your first idea for research, that's great. However, don't commit yet, when you read information on your
topic, different and more interesting research ideas may come to light. Be open to this possibility. Second and third,
sometimes fourth and fifth, research ideas are usually more refined, simpler, and more manageable than first ones.
Although you don't want to switch topic areas the day before you begin conducting your study, don't commit too
quickly, either; give your ideas time to evolve.

Inadequate Literature on the Topic

What if, when you try to read for background in a topic area, you find nothing to read. This can occur for several
reasons. First, some of the potentially most interesting topics in psychology appear to have been little investigated.
You may have stumbled on an area that no one has thought to investigate. On the one hand, you can be proud of
yourself for this discovery; on the other, it will be impossible to develop a research project. Second, the topic may
not lend itself to scientific investigation. For example, questions such as, "Is there a God?" "Do angels exist?" and "Is
there an afterlife?" are very intriguing topic areas. However, as discussed in Section 1.6, some of life's most
interesting questions are unsuitable for scientific research because no testable and refutable hypotheses can be
developed about them. Third, it may only appear that there is no material on your topic, because you are not using
the correct terms (key words) to search for information. In Section 2.4 we discuss in detail how to conduct a
literature search using key words. And fourth, it could appear that there is no material on your topic, because the
database that you are using does not include an abundance of psychological material.

2.3 FINDING AND USING BACKGROUND LITERATURE

Once you have settled on a general idea for a research study, the next step is to go to the library to gather
background information on the topic you have identified In addition to gaining general knowledge about your topic
area, your goals are to determine the current state of knowledge and to become familiar with current research-in
particular, to find a specific research question. Notice that we said "find" a question rather than "make up" or
"create" one. Once you are familiar with what is currently known and what is currently being done in a research
area, your task is simply to extend the current research one more step Sometimes this requires a bit of logic, in
which you combine two or more established facts to reach a new conclusion or prediction. Often the authors of a
research report literally will give you ideas for new research. It is very common for researchers to conclude a
discussion of their results with suggestions for future research. You are welcome to turn one of these suggestions
into a research question. In Section 2.5 we provide additional hints for finding research ideas. For now, do not try to
impose your own preconceived idea onto the literature Instead, let the literature lead you to a new idea

In most college or university libraries, the books devoted to psychology will occupy at least 100 feet of shelves. The
psychology journals probably will fill even more space. When add related publications in the fields of education, you
sociology, criminal justice, social work, and so on, you are facing a vast amount of printed material. This mass of
published information is referred to as "the literature." Your job is to search the literature to find a handful of items
that are directly relevant to your research idea. This may at first appear to be an over- whelming task, fortunately,
however, the literature is filled with useful aids to guide your search. Specifically, all the individual publications are
interconnected by cross-referencing, and there are many summary guides providing overviews that can send you
directly to specific topic areas By following the guides and tracing the interconnections, it is possible to conduct a
successful literature search without undue pain and suffering

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES

Before we discuss the actual process of a literature search, there are a few terms you should know. Individual items
in the literature can be classified into two broad categories: primary sources and secondary sources. A primary
source is a first-hand report in which the authors describe their own observations typically, a primary source is a
research report, published in a scientific journal or periodical, in which the authors describe their own research
study, including why the research was done, how the study was conducted, what results were found, and how those
results were interpreted. In contrast, a secondary source is a secondhand report in which the authors discuss
someone else's observations Some examples of secondary sources include: (1) books and textbooks in which the
author describes and summarizes past research; (2) the introductory section of research reports, in which previous
research is presented as a foundation for the current study, and (3) newspaper and magazine articles that report on
previous research.

A primary source is a firsthand report of observations or research results that is written by the individual(s) who
actually conducted the research and made the observations.

A secondary source is a description or summary of another person's work. A secondary source is written by someone
who did not participate in the research or observations being discussed.
Notice that the principal distinction between a primary source and a secondary one is firsthand versus secondhand
reporting of research results Stu- dents often confuse this distinction with the notion that anything published in a
journal or periodical is automatically a primary source and that all other kinds of publications are secondary sources.
This assumption is incorrect on several levels. The following are also possible

 The journal article is not a primary source. Instead, the article may be a re- view of other work, a theoretical
article that attempts to explain or establish relationships between several previous studies, or a historical
summary of the research in a specific area. None of these is a primary source, because none is a firsthand
report of research results.
 A book or book chapter is a primary source. Occasionally an individual or a group of researchers will publish
an edited volume that presents a series of interrelated research studies. Each chapter is written by the
individual(s) who actually conducted the research and is therefore a primary source.
 A journal article is a firsthand report of research results, yet sections of the article are actually secondary
sources. Specifically, most research reports begin with an introductory section that reviews current research
in the area and forms the foundation of the study that is being reported. This review of current research is
secondary because the authors describe research con- ducted by others. Remember, to qualify as a primary
source, the authors mast describe their own research studies and results.

Both primary and secondary sources play important roles in the literature search process Secondary sources can
provide concise summaries of past re- search. A textbook, for example, will often summarize 10 years of research,
citing several important studies, in a few paragraphs. Individual research reports that fill 10 to 15 pages in journals
are often summarized in one or two sentences. Thus, secondary sources can save you hours of library research.
However, you should be constantly aware that secondary sources are always incomplete and can be biased or simply
inaccurate. In a secondary source, the author has selected only bits and pieces of the original study, the selected
parts may have been taken out of content and reshaped to fit a theme quite different from what the original authors
intended. In general, secondary sources tell only part of the truth and may, in fact, distort the truth. To obtain
complete and accurate information, it is essential to consult primary sources. Reading primary sources, how- ever,
can be a tedious process, as primary sources are typically long, detailed reports focusing on a narrowly defined topic.
Therefore, plan to use secondary sources to gain an overview and identify a few specific primary sources for more
detailed reading Secondary sources provide a good starting point for a literature search, but you must depend on
primary sources for the final answers

Describe how primary and secondary sources differ

THE PURPOSE OF A LITERATURE SEARCH

Research does not exist in isolation. Each research study is part of an existing body of knowledge, building on the
foundation of past research and expanding that foundation for future research. Box 21 and Figure 2.1 explain how
current knowledge grows, with each new piece of information growing out of an existing body of previous
knowledge. As you read the literature and develop an idea for a research study, keep in mind that your study should
be a logical extension of past research

Ultimately, your goal in conducting a literature search is to find a set of published research reports that define the
current state of knowledge in an area and to identify a gap in that knowledge base that your study will attempt to
fill. Eventually, you will complete your research study and write your own research

The Growth of Research

Throughout this chapter we repeat the notion that each research study builds on previous knowledge and attempts
to expand that knowledge base. With this thought in mind, it is possible to represent the existing knowledge base
(the literature) as a tree-like structure that is continuously growing over time. Figure 2.1 is a graphic representation
of this concept, with each point in the figure representing a single research study and the branches representing the
growth and development of the "knowledge tree." When you begin a literature search, you will enter this tree and
find your way along the branches. Your goal in conducting the search is twofold. First, you must work your way to
the very tips of the highest branches and find a cluster of the most recent research studies. Your study will form a
new branch coming out of this cluster. Second, you must search backward, down the tree, to identify the historically
significant foundations of your work. You probably will find that most of the cur- rent research studies in an area will
cite the same "classic" studies as their foundations. These classics usually will provide a broader perspective for your
work and will help you understand and ex- plain the significance of your study as it relates to the more general tree
of knowledge

The tree metaphor is only a conceptual guide to help you visualize the process and the goals of a literature search
the concept of a tree greatly oversimplifies the process. For example many good research studies involve
establishing a connection between two previously unrelated branches of research. Nonetheless, the tree metaphor
should help direct your literature search activities. You may, for example, find yourself with a cluster of recent
articles that seem to be a dead end, offering no prospect for developing new research. If this happens, you can
simply work back down the tree to an earlier branching point and branch off in a new direction without completely
abandoning your original research topic report. The research report begins with an introduction that summarizes
past research (from your literature search) and provides a logical justification for your study. Although we discuss the
task of writing a research report later (in Chapter 15); the topic is introduced now as a means of focusing your
literature search. Figure 2.2 presents the first paragraph of a journal article (Schwartz, Dodge, & Coie, 1993) as an
example of the use of a literature review to intro- duce a topic area and provide a logical justification for a new
study. The para- graph can be condensed into a simple, logical argument:

1. A small minority of children consistently seem to be victimized or bullied by their peers.

2. Although other research has looked at the characteristics of the victim children, little has been done to examine
their social behaviors prior to becoming victims. (Are these kids doing something that actually helps them to become
victims?)

3. Therefore, we need to examine children's behaviors before they are identified as victims. The goal is to determine
whether some children are des- tined to become victims because they exhibit behaviors that may cause their peers
to view them as easy targets for bullying.

Although we have not described the research study, you should be able to predict the purpose of the study and
should have some idea of what was done. No- tice that the background literature is used to construct a logical
argument that leads the reader directly into the proposed study. The purpose of your literature review is to provide
the elements needed for an introduction to your own re- search study. Specifically, you need to find a set of research
articles that can be organized into a logical argument supporting and justifying the research you propose to do.

2.4 CONDUCTING A LITERATURE SEARCH

STARTING POINTS

Let's assume that you are starting your literature search with only a general idea for a research topic. Your purpose,
therefore, is to narrow down your general idea to a specific research question and to find all the published
information necessary to document and support that question. As you will see, there are many different ways to
begin a search of the literature. In this section we identify several different starting points and provide some
suggestions to help you find one.

One of the best places to start is with a recently published secondary source-for example, a textbook in a content
area appropriate for your idea (perhaps a developmental psychology or social psychology textbook). Use the chapter
headings and subheadings in the text to help focus your search on a more narrowly defined area. In addition, make
notes of the following items, each of which can serve as an excellent starting point when you begin to search for
primary sources (journal articles) relevant to your topic:

Key Words: Make a list of the correct terms or key words used to identify and describe the variables in the study and
the characteristics of the subjects. Researchers often develop a specific set of terms to describe a topic area. It is
much easier to locate related research articles if you use the correct terms. For example, you may have trouble
finding articles on "duration of memory" unless you use the accepted term, retention interval. Author Names
Commonly a small group of individual researchers is responsible for much of the work being done in a specific area.
If you repeatedly encounter the same names, make a note of these individuals as the current leading researchers in
the area

As you develop your list of key word terms and author names, keep in mind that any single secondary source is
necessarily incomplete and probably selective. Thus, it is wise to repeat the list-making process with two or three
different sources, then combine your lists. When you finish, you should have an excellent set of leads to help you
move into the primary source literature.

USING ONLINE DATABASES

Although there are thousands of research articles in psychology published every year, many tools are available to
help you search through the publications to find the few that are directly relevant to your research topic. In the
recent past, the primary tool was a publication called Psychological Abstracts, which consisted of bound volumes
containing

A brief summary of every psychology article, chapter, or book published during the year and information about
where to find the original publication. These summaries are the actual abstracts.

 A subject index that cross-referenced every publication according to the key words or subjects relevant to
the publication.

 An author index that cross-referenced every publication according to author.

Thus, one could use Psychological Abstracts to look up everything that was published on a particular topic and/or
everything that was published by a particular author in any year. The same principle of cross-referencing
publications by subject and by author is still used today, but now most of the cross-referencing tools exist as
computer databases. There are many different databases, with each one focusing on an individual topic area (like
psychology, chemistry, or criminal jus- tice). Table 2.1 shows the basic characteristics of three databases that are
commonly available through most college or university libraries. The two databases that provide the best coverage
of psychology literature are PsycINFO and PsycLIT (see Box 2.2). The databases provide the same basic information
that was available in the bound volumes of Psychological Abstracts, but the computer provides much faster and
easier access to the information.

Learning Check

What is Psychological Abstracts?

We warn that the process of searching the literature using a database like PsycINFO is very different from conducting
a Search on the Web. Each month the people at PsycINFO look through more than 1,000 periodicals in the field of
psychology, as well as a wide range of books end book chapters, to identify references to add to their database. All
the references are selected from rep- utable scientific publications, and most have been edited and reviewed by pro-
fessional psychologists to ensure that they are legitimate and accurate contributions. This kind of professional
screening does not exist on the World

BOX 2 2 Full-Text Databases

For searching through psychology research articles, we recommend using PsycINFO and PsycLIT because each of
these databases reviews items published in more than 1,000 periodicals, as well as other books and book chapters in
the field of psychology. If something is published in the field of psychology, it is almost guaranteed to be included in
PsycINFO and PsycLIT. Note, however, that these databases provide only brief summaries of the items they
reference. To read the entire item, you must locate the original journal or book.

There are other databases that provide full text references; that is, they contain the complete item, word for word,
as it appeared in the original publication. However, these full- text databases typically do not cover all the
publications in any specific topic area: Thus, a full-text database probably covers only a handful of periodicals in
psychology. If you use a full-text database to search for psychology publications, you probably will not find many
relevant publications, because they are not included in the database.

Before using any database, quickly check the sources it reviews to be sure it provides good coverage of the area you
would like to explore.

Information on Three Databases Available for Conducting Literature Searches Wide Web. Thus, for example, if you
enter the key word amnesia in PsycINFO, you will get a set of reputable scientific references. If you use the same key
word for a WWW search, you could obtain anybody's site with absolutely no guarantees about the quality or validity
of the information.

We also warn that the quality of the information you obtain, even on a reputable database like PsycLIT or PsycINFO,
depends on the quality of the key word(s) you use. Generally, it is advisable to try several different but related key
words and see what results each produces. For example, you could try a series of key words such as

eaing disorder

anorexia

bulimia

body image

You may find that one of these (or some combination) produces references that fit your interests better than the
others. Usually you can find hints for new key words within a database when you are offered options to refine or to
limit your search. Also, watch for potential new key words that appear in the titles of the references you find. In
general, we encourage you to explore the different search options available with a database to be sure you get the
best possible results for your own research interests. In the next section we lead you through an exam- ple of a
literature search using the PsycINFO database.

USING PSYCINFO

PsycINFO and Psycl.IT differ in how they are accessed (either online or on CD), how often they are updated (monthly
or quarterly), and how far back they go (in years of the abstracts). Check with your reference librarian to find out
which system your library subscribes to, how to access the system, and how far back the database goes. The precise
procedures for doing a search in the PsycINFO database vary from system to system and also depend on how your
library has arranged to obtain access to the database. The basic procedure is to identify a list of key words (or search
terms), enter them, and let the computer find publications focusing on issues related to those terms

When conducting a literature search using PsycINFO, it is common to insert a key word or key words into a Keyword,
Search, or Find field. Figure 2.3 illustrates an initial screen in PsycINFO (this figure is an example; your screen will
look slightly different). Suppose you are interested in the topic of bulimia. You would enter the term bulimia in the
Search For box PsycINFO then searches the tides, abstracts, and descriptor lists (lists of descriptor words found at
the end of each PsycINFO entry) for instances of your key word.
When the search is complete you will be notified of the number of records (publications) found. Depending on that
number, you may want to (1) use a different key word if no records are found; (2) broaden your search with a
broader key word if few records are found; or (3) narrow your search if too many records are found. Figure 2.4
shows a screen indicating how many records have been found from your key word search. In this example 5,326
records have been identified. You probably don't want to read through this large number of abstracts.

There are many ways to narrow down the list. As shown in Figure 2.4, for example, you may want to limit the list to
items published by a certain author or within a given time period, say, in the past 10 years. Usually the best way to
limit the list is to further restrict the topic. This can be done in a number of ways. Again displayed in Figure 2.4, you
can select from a list of subject headings to limit your results. Another way to limit your list is to go back to the
search screen and add an additional key word to your search using the word and to join the key words. So for
example, if you are interested in bulimia but only in adolescence, you might enter bulimia and adolescence in the
Search For field.

Once you have narrowed or expanded the search to yield a list of an appropriate size, you can display a list of the
records. Figure 2.5 shows a list of the records, which includes for each publication the title (of the journal article,
book chapter, or book) author (or authors' names) source (name of the journal or book in which the publication
appears) document type (what type of publication it is)

Reviewing the titles is the first level of screening journal articles. Most articles are discarded at this stage. By reading
the titles, you can select those that still appear of interest to you by clicking on the title to see the detailed record,
which includes the abstract of the publication.

Figure 2.6 shows a detailed record. A record contains all of the information about a publication. Within each record
are a number of fields, each containing specific information about the publication (author, title, source, and
abstract). The full name of each field is included in Figure 2.6, but many systems include abbreviations. For example,
in most systems author is abbreviated AU, title TI, source SO, and abstract AB. By reading the abstract, you may find
additional key words to use for your search. By reading the abstract you can also get a much better idea of what the
article is about and can decide whether you are still interested in reading the whole article. This is the second level of
reviewing journal articles. If you are still interested in the article, print out this record, and then lo- cate that journal
article, chapter, or book in your library. If your library does not have an item you need, request an interlibrary loan.
The procedure for an inter-library loan is very simple. Often it simply involves clicking some additional keys for an
online request, or it may library will get involve completing a form. In either case, your that item for you usually
within days and often for free.

THE PROCESS OF CONDUCTING A LITERATURE SEARCH

In this section we discuss using the library research tools we have described to search the literature for the small
number of journal articles that are directly relevant to your research study. The literature search process is likely to
un- cover hundreds of journal articles. And, although each of these articles is related to your topic, most of them
probably are not directly related to the research you hope to do. Therefore, as you work through the literature
search process, one of your main concerns is to weed out irrelevant material. There are no absolute criteria for
determining whether an article is relevant or should be discarded; you must make your own decisions. However,
here are some suggestions to help make the selection/weeding process more efficient:

1. Use the title of the article as your first basis for screening. You can find a title either in PsycINFO or at the
beginning of the article itself. Based only on the titles, you probably can discard about 90% of the articles as
not directly relevant.
2. 2. Use the abstract of the article as your second screening device. If the title- sounds interesting, then read
the abstract to determine whether the article itself is really relevant. Many of the articles that seemed
interesting (from the title) get thrown out at this stage. You can find an abstract either in PsycINFO or at the
beginning of the article itself.
3. 3. If you are still interested after looking at the title and the abstract, go to the appropriate journal to find
the article, or request an interlibrary loan if your library does not have that journal. (Incidentally, when you
 retrieve a journal to look up a specific article, it is often useful to review the contents of the rest of the
journal. Occasionally a journal devotes an entire issue to a single topic, and several other relevant works
surround your article.
4. If it still looks relevant, then read the article carefully and/or make a copy for your personal use. When
reading a research article, bear in mind that it is customary for an article to be arranged into standard.
Distinct sections. We discuss in detail how to write these sections in Chapter 15. For now, here is what you
can expect to see in each section of a research article and how each section may be of use to you:

Introduction: Following the title, authors' names and affiliations, and abstract is the first major section of the
article, the introduction. In the introduction is a statement of the problem under investigation in the study,
where the idea for the research came from (based on previous literature), and fat was expected (the
hypothesis). The introduction can help you determine whether this article will be useful in the development of
your research idea. In addition, the literature review presented will give you possible additional resources.
Incidentally, the introduction section is not labeled "Introduction Instead, the text simply begins after the
abstract and continues until the next section, which is entitled, "Method."

Method: The second major section of a research article i the method sec- tion. This section tells you in detail
how the study was done, in- cluding who participated in the study, what materials were used, and the exact
procedures that were followed. You can use the method section of a research article later to help you develop
ideas for the methodology of your own study.

Results: The third major section of a research article is the results section. Here you are told what was found in
the study this section often includes the results of statistical analyses as well as figures and tables of the results.

Discusion: The final section of a journal article is the discussion section. Here you are told what the author thinks
the results mean. Among other things, in this section the author usually discusses ideas for additional research.
You may certainly get ideas for a research topic from these suggestions.

References: At the end of the article is a complete list of all the publications cited in the article. The list is
organized alphabetically by first author's last name and includes the authors, title, the date of publication, and
complete information about the journal or book in which the item was published. The reference section can be a
good source of new key words or new author names for your literature search.

5. Use the references from the articles that you have areas found to expand your literature search. Although
the list of references all contain "old" research studies published years earlier, some of them may be directly
relevant to your research idea. In this case, find the relevant articles and add them to your collection. In
addition, the titles may contain new terms that you can use for another key word search in PsycINFO. Finally,
the authors listed in the references constitute a set of people who are doing research in the same area
where you would like to work. You can enter these author names in PsycINFO and find the research reports
that they have published recently. If people conducted research in a specific area 5 years ago, there is a good
chance that they are continuing to do work in a related area today. In general, "old" references can be a
good source for "new" research studies theoretically, you should continue using the old references to track
down new material until you reach a point where you no longer find any new items. Realistically, however,
you must decide when to call off the search at some point you will realize that you are not uncovering new
leads and use you should proceed with the items you have found. Throughout the process, keep in mind that
a literature search has two basic goals: (1) Lo gain general familiarity with the current research in your
specific area of interest, and (2) to find a small set of research studies that will serve as the basis for your
own research idea. When you feel comfortable that you are knowledgeable about the topic area and have
found a few research studies that are particularly relevant to your own interests, then you have completed a
successful search. We are deliberately vague about how many articles form a good foundation for
developing a new research idea. You may find two or three interrelated articles that all converge on the
same idea, or you may find only one research study that appears to be directly relevant to your interests. In
any event, the key criterion is that the study (or studies) you find provide some justification for new
research. Even if you have only one study, remember that it cites other research studies that form a basis for
 the current research question. These same studies should be relevant to your research ideas, and you are
welcome to include them as part of the foundation for your own research.

Figure 27 summarizes the steps of a literature search as detailed in this section.

List the five sections typically found in a research article, and describe briefly which should contain

2.5 FINDING AN IDEA FOR A NEW RESEARCH STUDY

Once you have located a set of recent and relevant articles, the final step is to use these research reports as the
foundation for your research idea (see Chapter 1, Step 1 of the research process). Earlier we called this cast
"finding a research idea. Wien you are familiar with the current research in an area, the idea for the next study
involves simply extending the current research one more step However, discovering this next step may not be as
simple as we have implied, and so list here a few suggestions:

1. Start with a general idea of a topic area or a behavior (such as developmental psychology or anorexia).
2. Use recently published secondary sources such as textbooks to narrow your focus and obtain a list of key
words and author names.
3. Use key words and author names in an online database (such as PsycINFO) to locate primary-source
journal articles.
4. Weed out items that are not directly relevant. Most can be eliminated based on the title, of those
remaining, many can be eliminated based on the abstract. Skim the introduction and discussion sections
of the remaining articles to determine their relevance.
5. Once you have a handful of recent, relevant articles, use the references from the articles to look for new.
key words and author names
6. Use the new key words and author names in an online database search. Continue until you no longer
find new items

Figure 2.7: The Process of Conducting a Literature Search

 The easiest way to find new research ideas is to look for them as explicit statements in the journal
articles you already have. Ne the end of the discussion section of most research reports is a set of
suggestions for future re- search. In most cases, a research study actually generates more questions than
it answers. The authors who are reporting their research results usually point out the questions that
remain unanswered. You can certainly use these suggestions as ideas for your own research.
 Another relatively easy way to generate ideas for new research is to ask yourself how an existing study
might be modified or e-tended. Any study uses a specific set of instructions, stimuli, tests, and
participants. What might happen if any of these were changed? For example, would a result obtained for
8-year-old boys also be obtained for adolescents? Often this technique involves testing the limits of a
theory or a treatment. If one study demonstrates that a treatment is effective under specific
circumstances, it is perfectly legitimate to ask whether the treatment would still be effective if the
circumstances were changed. Please note that we are not suggesting that you can create good research
ideas by simply changing variables randomly There should be some reason, based on logic or other
research result, to expect that changing circumstances might change results In general, however,
modifying or extending an existing study is a sensible method for creating new research ideas
 Occasionally it is possible to find a new research idea by combining two (or mare) existing results. For
example, one study reports that people who experience stressful events tend to have more illness and
visit the doctor more often than people with relatively stress-free lives (Rahe & Arthur, 1978). Aher study
suggests that owning a pet can help people cope with stress (Broadhead et al., 1983). Given these two
results, can you generate a hypothesis for a new study? (See Siegel (1990) for one example.] Another
possibility is that two research results seem to contradict each other. In this case you could look for
factors that differentiate the neo studies and might responsible for the different results
In general, research is not static Instead, it is constantly developing and growing as new studies spring from past
results. New research ideas usually come from recognizing the direction in which an area of research is moving,
then going with the flow.

Describe the three ways identified in the text to find a new research idea CONVERTING AN IDEA INTO A
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Typically, a research ides involves a general statement about the relationship between two variables. For
example:

 If people use visual images while studying new material, it will improve their memory for the material.
(Memory is related to using images.)
 Although providing motivation to people generally improves their performance, too much motivation
may create stress and actually lower performance (Performance is related to motivation.)

To evaluate these ideas in an empirical research study, the idea must be trans- formed into a specific, concrete
research hypothesis that can be tested by direct observation (see Chapter 1, Step 2 of the research process). This
transformation usually involves specifying how each of the individual variables will be mea- sured and what
individuals will be needed to participate in the study (men, women, children, laboratory rats). Selecting
participants and measuring vari- ables are discussed in the following chapters, but for now we provide a brief ex-
ample of what we mean by a specific, concrete hypothesis.

The first of the two research ideas we have proposed states that memory is related to using visual images.
Although this idea could be examined with nearly any group of human beings, it is probably most convenient to
use college stu- dents as participants in the study. Similarly, the concept of memory can be de- fined in a variety
of different ways, but for this study we choose to measure the number of words correctly recalled from a list of
40 nouns that each participant studies for a period of exactly 2 minutes. Finally, we can define the idea of "using
imagery" as "forming a mental image of the object represented by a word." (For example, forming a mental
image of a horse when you see the word borse.) With these definitions in place, our research hypothesis become

College students who are instructed to form mental images while studying a list of 40 words for 2 minutes will
recall more words (on average) than college students who study the same words for 2 minutes but are not given
instructions to form mental images.

Notice that the research hypothesis provides a very specific procedure for testing the research idea. Also note
that the same research idea (that memory is related to using images) could produce a variety of different
research hypotheses. For example, we could have tested 10-year-old children instead of college students; we
could have used a set of 20 items (instead of 40), and we could have manipulated the visual image variable by
showing one group a series of words presented on a screen and another group a series of picture of the same
items The research hypothesis then becomes:

Ten-year-old children who view pictures of 20 items for example, a table, a horse, a tree) will recall more
items, on average than 10-year- old children who view a series of words representing the same 20 items (for
example, TABLE, HORSE, TREE).

In general, there are many different ways to convert research idea into a specific research hypothesis. The
method you select depends on a variety of factors, including the set of individuals you want to study and the
measurement techniques that are available. However, each of the many possible hypotheses should provide a
direct test of the basic research idea.

Explain the basic difference between a research idea and a specific research hypothesis
CHAPTER SUMMARY

Beginning the research process can seem intimidating, but keeping a few points in mind will make the task a
little easier. First, pick a topic in which you have some real personal interest to help yourself stay motivated
throughout the research process. Second, do your homework on your topic; collect and familiarize yourself with
the background information in your area. Third, keep an open mind in settling on a research idea; let your
background reading lead you to a specific idea. Fourth, after doing the background reading, focus very
specifically on one research question. Finally, break down the planning and conducting of your research in
manageable steps, and take them one at a time.

All research begins with an idea, and fortunately there are many places from which ideas c come Feel free to get
ideas for research from your own personal interests, your own casual observations, practical problems, flashes
of inspiration, a reports of others' observations and behavioral theories. However you obtain your initial
research ideas, be wary of making these common mistake choosing a topic that doesn't interest you; picking a
topic that is too easy or too difficult; picking.