Assignment #3 tasks you to find two empirical articles that support your chosen topic or research question that you are exploring by analyzing the articles.  This handout offers some hints in how to successfully complete the assignment.

 

Hints:

1. Read the assignment carefully
2. Choose your research question - state it several ways - identify the subject of who is being studied (age or population) and different synonyms that describe the focus of study
3. Make sure that you understand what empirical means - consult appropriate dictionary - Dictionary of Psychology or Dictionary of the Social Sciences
4. Go to PsycINFO Database or PsycARTICLES (indexes the 57 journals published or distributed by the American Psychological Association (APA)) and conduct your search - both databases can be searched concurrently but not recommended because you lose the ability to refine search to empirical content in PsycINFO, however the PsycARTICLES ensures online access

·       Search by keyword

·       Limit your search to the appropriate time period in the date range - 2003-2007

·       Limit to Journal Articles

·       Refine your search by scrolling down and considering:

            Publication Type

            Language

            Population

            Age

            Methodology - select empirical here or enter as a keyword in your search strategy in order that you restrict search to relevant output

5.   Depending on your topic there may be other databases that cover that subject better - consult Databases to Get You Started under "Find Online Resources" or any of the Subject Guides for Social Ecology

 

Reviewing Output

·       Last in to the database by publication date is first out - most recent cited first

·       View Record - retrieves full abstract

·       Elements of the record - parts of your citation

·       UC eLinks - this icon will demonstrate what access or holdings UCI readers have - fulltext online; print only - you may have to consult ANTPAC to determine in what formats we have the journal in which the article you seek is published - sometimes dependent upon the date of publication - increasingly for very current articles we only have the online version

·       Even though you need to find 2 articles, it is recommended that you read 5-6 articles to ascertain that you can answer the 10 questions and write two pages on each article

·       Copy the first page of the article with the citation and abstract (from the fulltext)

·       Remember the citation must be consistently stated in APA style format of:

      An example may be:

      Author (last name, first name, MI), (year of publication), Title of article, Source of article - Title of Journal, volume #, (issue #),  pages.  Most references are to the print version, however if you use a "born digital" format, you need to use the new APA format for Electronic Resources found at http://apastyle.apa.org/elecmedia.html - it is also easy to format your citations using RefWorks and selecting APA as format of choice. 

             For additional information consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5^th ed., 2001 at any Library Reference Desk - BF 76.7 P83 2001 or an online tutorial

·       For the "overview" do not copy or summarize the abstract - make sure it is in your own words

 

Support for Extra Credit Assignment Option 2 - Critical Analyses of Media Reports

            This assignment allows you to track the news reported in newspapers and news magazines such as Time, Newsweek, US News, Fortune, etc.  The Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register and the New York Times all have weekly sections devoted to Health, Science, Transportation (Highway), etc.  Current issues of newspapers are found at the Langson Library Current Periodicals Room on the main floor; or online using the Subject Guide for News & Newspapers and being directed to one of the newspaper databases such as Lexis Nexis Academic Universe News or Newsbank or to a specific newspaper.  It should not be necessary to have to pay for any article.  Citations to newspaper articles usually are measured by the number of words and include the following elements, which you should confirm in the APA Style Manual for Newspaper articles:

            Byline - author

            Title of Article

            Source - Newspaper

            Date, Section, Column

 

Additional hints and logistics:

1. Remote Access - consult the Connect from Off-Campus directions and make sure that you have turned on the WebVPN so that you can get in to the licensed databases and read the licensed articles
2. If you need to copy or print out the abstract at the Libraries, you will need to purchase a Library Copy Card
3. Consider learning RefWorks - the next workshop is Nov 14 if you are serious about learning it
4. If you need additional information, you can contact Liaison Librarian or use the Ask a Librarian services for reference assistance, a research consultation, etc
5. Submit your two essays with the attached abstracts and citations at the beginning of class on November 20.