Public Policy

Do Now

• • Get a Chromebook

  • Go to m.socrative.com

  • Enter room number KITSIS

  • Open a NEW window and go to the AHS Media Center website

  • Wait for something cool to happen

Key Research Concepts

This module is about FINDING and EVALUATING information. As your textbook says, "Information is like a car. If you cannot remember where you parked it and you do not know how to drive, you cannot use it."

• • Invisible web

  • Periodical literature

  • Peer review

• Research database, library catalog, federated search

  • Subject indexing

• Interlibrary loan

  • Advanced search

    • Domain search

    • Filtering

  • Truncation

• Evaluating sources

Module Two Resources

Tip: Since we are not able to print from the Chromebooks, you can take a screenshot to keep track of your information.

Exercise 2.1: Locating Quantitative Data

The recommended resource is the Proquest Statistical Insight database through the Syracuse University Libraries Website.

However, statistics may be found through many other resources, though often part of the "invisible web." Try these:

• • Bureau of Labor Statistics

  • Small Business Administration: Business Data & Statistics

    • National Center for Education Statistics

    • Pew Research Center: Data

  • National Center for Health Statistics

    • World Health Organization: Data

An advanced Google search may help you uncover additional sources. For example, click on this search:

education statistics site:gov

Exercise 2.2: Finding Periodical Articles

The recommended resource is the Proquest database suite through the Syracuse University Libraries Website. However, these AHS Media Center databases are also good resources for periodical articles:

• Academic OneFile

• General OneFile

Test your knowledge:

• How can you find an article that is current?

• How do you know if an article is peer reviewed or scholarly?

• What strategies can you use to find related articles?

• How is searching databases different from searching the open web?

Tip: If an article you want is not available through our databases, we can usually request it through interlibrary loan completely FREE of charge to you. This is true for all AHS students and teachers, not just this course.

We Need Your Help

Check out the new AHS Research Handbook and take the time to share your thoughts!

Source: Library of Congress. “Uncle Sam Needs You” painted by James Montgomery Flagg.

Citation & Note Taking Tools

Remember, the Public Policy course uses APA format exclusively.

Tip: The Bedford/St. Martin's Research and Documentation Online website has an excellent section on APA formatting for in-text citations and references.

The school's subscription to EasyBib also supports APA format, but you must be upgraded to the paid version for access. We encourage you to use this tool to create and manage your citations, notes, and outline. The paid version also supports collaboration with group members.

Go to EasyBib.com, click Register, and then Sign in Using Your Account with Google. Use your school Spyponders account for a single password and streamlined communication with your teachers and classmates.

Exercise 2.3: Locating Books

How is searching for books different from searching databases or the open web?

• AHS Media Center Catalog

• Robbins Library Catalog

• Syracuse University Libraries

Tip: Remember that databases provide citations at the bottom of each article that can be copied and pasted into EasyBib with only minor modifications. Just make sure that APA is an option, or edit them accordingly.

Search Tips and Strategies

Combine keywords to get articles that match each of your important concepts. For example, if you are researching the effects of education on social mobility, you would need to search for:

economic mobility AND education

Try different synonyms for key terms. For example, economic mobility, social mobility, and upward (or downward) mobility are often used interchangeably.

economic mobility OR social mobility

Use quotation marks to find complete phrases, especially proper names and titles. For example:

"birth lottery" or "stickiness at the ends"

Truncation uses a symbol, typically an asterisk, to tell the search engine to look for the root of the word with all possible suffixes. It's a great way to find all forms of a word, increasing your results. For example, searching for econom* will find economy, economics, economist, etc.

Check your spelling. If you aren't finding anything for your topic, sloppy spelling may be to blame!

Sample Boolean Search

Combine search terms using AND and OR to create a more powerful search:

Then you may choose to filter by documents with full text, sort by relevance, set a publication date range, or refine your subject headings to further narrow the field.