LibGuides: SWK 736: Advanced Standing Integrated Seminar (Overcamp-Martini): Library Guides

What Is Empirical Research? (Utah State University)

Choosing & Narrowing Down Your Topic

Some suggestions on narrowing your topic:

For example, let's say you want to focus on the issues of foster care within social work. There are various aspects of foster care to write about. To narrow down this topic, ask the basic questions:

Who? - Race, ethnicity, age, gender, students, etc.
What? - Social issues, ethical considerations, medical concerns, discrimination, etc.
When? - Historical overview, current developments, future progress, etc.
Where? - Locally, regionally, nationally, urban cities, rural communities, etc.
How? - For example: How are policymakers addressing the needs of foster care children, social workers, foster parents?

By applying these questions, you can narrow down your topic.

UNLV Research Databases

EBSCO Databases This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
More than 30 databases indexing all subject areas with a heavy focus on business, education, film, health, psychology, sociology, and sports.
Lists more than 30 databases available through the EBSCOhost interface. The databases index all subject areas with solid coverage of business, education, film, health, psychology, sociology, and sports. For each database there is a description of the content and some link to a Title List of indexed journals. The databases contain full text articles and link to more articles. Choose a single database to search or select multiple databases and search them simultaneously
PAIS International This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1972-
Index to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general.
From the Public Affairs Information Service, this database provides access to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general. It includes records from journals, books, conference proceedings, research and government reports, and directories.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1895-
Indexes the literature of sociology and related disciplines.
Includes full text for selected journals, monographs, and conference papers and contains full text for over 325 journals dating back to 1895. Encompasses all subdisciplines of sociology, including abortion, anthropology, criminology, criminal justice, marriage & family, politics, religion, rural sociology, social psychology, social structure, social work, sociological theory, sociology of education, substance abuse, urban studies, and many others.
Social Work Abstracts This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1977-
Access limited to 4 simultaneous users
Journal articles about all areas of social work from professional journals.
Update frequency: semi-annually
From the National Association of Social Workers, this database provides access to professional journal articles about social work from all areas of the profession.
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Searchable articles from academic and professional journals and magazines covering every academic discipline.
Update frequency: Updated daily
This excellent one-stop resource lets you search citations and summaries by keyword and then instantly retrieve the full text of articles from journals online. The Get Text button helps you locate any article without linked full text in alternate online sources or in UNLV's print journal collection.
AgeLine This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
1978-
Abstracts on social gerontology. Also includes health care, public policy, employment, and consumer issues.
Produced by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), this database includes citations with abstracts drawn from the literature in social gerontology -- the study of aging in social, psychological, health-related, and economic contexts. Health care, public policy, employment and consumer issues are particularly well-covered.
LGBTQ+ Source This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides an index to the world's literature on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues, as well as full text for 55 of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as more than 100 full-text monographs/books.

UNLV Libraries Quick Search
Quick Search looks for books, journal articles and other material. You will get lots of results. Limit your searches by using "refine my results" on the left side of page - journal articles, peer-reviewed, omit newspapers, books, etc.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar Settings
If you want to use Google Scholar as one of your search tools, this linked document describes how to update the Google Scholar settings to tie it to the subscriptions you have access to through UNLV Libraries.

Using RefWorks

RefWorks This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Bibliography manager saves your citations and formats them into APA, MLA, or other styles.
This web-based bibliography manager lets you save citations to journal articles, books, web sites and more into your personal online database. You'll be able to quickly link to online articles, organize and share your references, and automatically create formatted bibliographies in all the major citation formats, including APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. Off-campus users, see the Using RefWorks at UNLV page for special instructions.

RefWorks is a web-based bibliographic software package that enables you to:

Organize your research
Create a bibliography in a variety of citation styles, including APA, MLA and Chicago
Import references from many data sources
Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)
Include citations while you write your paper

Literature Review Resources

Video: Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students.

Social Work-Related Government Information

Government information focusing on social work-related topics is abundant. You can also use Google to find government information. After you type in your keywords, then type in site:.gov after the keywords to limit to only government information.

Example: foster care site:.gov
Below are some general federal & state agency websites to get you started:

Setting Up Interlibrary Loan Account

Interlibrary Loan

The Interlibrary Loan department is here to help UNLV students, staff, and faculty access information that is not available from the UNLV Libraries. We are able to obtain most books, articles, conference papers, government publications, and dissertations through our network of lending libraries.

In order to register for and use our ILLiad Document Delivery system, you must have an active library account with no fines on it.

Log on (or create) an ILIAD account:

(If you do not have an account, click on "First Time Users Click Here" tab)

Need Help with APA?

APA Citation Help Guide
Please check out this helpful APA citation guide, created by Hospitality Librarian Lateka Grays.

SW736 Summer Semester 20243 Library Workshop PowerPoint

Summer 2024 SW736-PowerPoint

Urban Affairs Librarian

Susie Skarl, Urban Affairs Librarian

Email Me

Contact:

UNLV Libraries
Lied Library
4505 S. Maryland Parkway
Box 457014
Las Vegas, NV 89154-7014
susie.skarl@unlv.edu

702-895-2141

Subjects: Communication Studies, Couple & Family Therapy, Criminal Justice, Crisis & Emergency Management, Government Information, Journalism & Media Studies, Public Administration, Social Work, Urban Studies

SWK 736: Advanced Standing Integrated Seminar (Overcamp-Martini): Library Guides