Social Ecology 195 - Garde                                          Julia Gelfand

Field Study                                                                   Science Library 228

Winter 2007                                                                 jgelfand@uci.edu ; (949) 824-4971

 

In order to complete the research and writing project for this class, I have pulled together a basic strategy that seems to work in which the final product links the field work experience with a theoretical foundation and some critical thinking skills and your ideas in an intersection that blends the entire experience and allows for a reflection and sense of completion.

 

You have several assignments to stage and complete by the end of the spring quarter.  You should read the course syllabus carefully because it states the expectations and offers hints and outlines for the different assignments.

 

This handout will introduce you to some resources and tools that will allow you to determine the background of your ideas, substantiate your hypotheses and suggest ways of treating the work you have just observed or engaged in.  Since many of you are working in a variety of environments engaged in a range of activities, the outline is suggested to meet the majority of needs in the social and behavioral sciences, legal and criminal justice and environmental and medical research settings.

 

Proposed OUTLINE in preparing for the Interview of your supervisor and the final paper:

  1. Introduction / Background - you should try and make sure the reader of your paper and attendee of your presentation understands these issues and gets answers to these questions:

1.      where did you conduct your field work

2.      under whose supervision did you work

3.      describe the mission and goals of that organization or institution

4.      what is the location of where you worked

5.      what was your role

6.      what kind of people work there

7.      what kind of services are rendered and for or to whom

8.      is it a profit/non-profit; governmental; private enterprise - describe this rather fully

9.      when was the organization founded or how long has it been operational as it currently practices

 

  1. Academic Links

1.      what disciplines informed the background of the professional staff at this field placement

2.      what disciplines inform the primary activity of service - counseling, legal, education, social services, etc.

3.      in order to describe an experience or project that you were involved in, dissect the different component parts

 

  1. Research Component - you should find some articles or information to substantiate your ideas, reinforce the theoretical framework of social ecology and use appropriate sources and cite the information appropriately

1.      Reference Sources - print collection at the Langson Library 1st floor and at the Science Library 2nd floor - use ANTPAC for exact call number

2.      use the Subject Guides for Social Ecology - broken down by departmental emphasis

3.       International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2001 - Langson Ref H41 .I58 2001

4.      Westlaw Campus - a legal database of case law & legal resources

5.      Using ANTPAC - to find books and sources by author, editor, title of book or collection; or by title of Journal in which an article is found

6.      Finding Journal Articles via the "E-Resources Locator" - a roster of the most frequently used article databases by Social Ecology undergraduates are noted below and on the Subject Pages - Remember that you need to cite at least 10 references from peer-reviewed journals or books that you will note in your paper - or by entering the title in Antpac:

a.       Expanded Academic Index

b.      PsycINFO*

c.       Child Development and Adolescent Studies Abstracts

d.      PubMed

e.       BIOSIS

f.        Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management

g.       PAIS* (Public Affairs - also an Archive for earlier content)

h.       ERIC* (Education - full lifespan coverage)

i.         Sociological Abstracts*

j.        Social Services Abstracts*

k.      Criminal Justice Abstracts*

l.         National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)

m.     LegalTrac

n.       LexisNexis - News section for fulltext news; Legal section for law reviews, cases, etc.

o.      Business Source Premier

 

Remember you will want to utilize the UC eLinks to connect to the fulltext content when possible.  Otherwise, check the ANTPAC or MELVYL holdings for print access.

 

  1. Proper Citation Methods - be consistent in your practices - APA (you may want to consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed., 2001 found at all Reference Desks at REF BF 76.7 P83 2001) or Legal citation methods are the most common - formats can be verified at http://www.lib.uci.edu/online/reference/citation.html.  You may also want to learn how to use RefWorks, a new tool that collects references and organizes them and is particularly well suited for content from the CSA Illumina Databases (*)- for more additional information see http://www.lib.uci.edu/libraries/new/refworks.html and there will be sessions for how to learn RefWorks during the quarter

 

  1. Reflections - organize your paper so that there is a context, developmental, social, environmental, legal, historical and that the organization of your paper is logical

 

  1. Conclusions - insights gained; did it provide you with a sense of professional opportunities; can you imagine continuing this work; how valuable was the experience; lessons learned; next steps, if any?

 

  1. Presentation - you may want to consider preparing a Powerpoint presentation that can capture your ideas with some visual elements including images, graphs, photographs, etc.  For some background in creating an appropriate presentation, consider the needs of your audience and play to that group.  You may find the following resources and tutorials helpful:

 

Mastering Powerpoint 2000 - Science Library Bar  T385 .M8863 1999 

 

And tutorials at:

http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/library/HHCL_New_Web/Teach_Learn_tutor_ppoint.htm

 

http://www.cew.wisc.edu/accessibility/tutorials/pptscratch-text.htm

 

For additional information, please contact me, go to the Reference Desks or use the Ask-a-Librarian service for reference questions or to schedule a Research Consultation Appointment.