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
Good for: Selecting from a list of EBSCO databases to use for researching various subjects Contains: Database descriptions and links

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. Most databases contain full text articles from academic journals. Choose a single database to search or select multiple databases and search them simultaneously.
PAIS International
Good for: Finding information on public policy, social policy, and the social sciences.
Contains: Index to literature.
Dates covered: 1972-present.

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. Use it to locate journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, and web content.
SocINDEX with Full Text
Good for: Researching sociology and related disciplines.
Contains: Index to literature.
Dates covered: 1895-present.

Includes selected journals, monographs, and conference papers. 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
Good for: Finding professional journal articles about social work
Contains: Journal articles.
Dates covered: 1977-present.

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
Good for: Conducting academic research on all subjects.
Contains: Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.
AgeLine
Good for: Researching social gerontology, health care, public policy, employment, and consumer issues.
Contains: Abstracts.
Dates covered: 1978-present.
LGBTQ+ Source
Good for: Researching lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities.
Contains: Index to literature, plus journals, magazines, regional newspapers, and 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
Good for: Saving, organizing and formatting citations in your personal database.
Contains: Bibliography manager.

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. Learn more on the RefWorks Basics page.

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.

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