Psychology 300: Psychological Methods and Analysis II

Background sources can give you a leg up by helping you to:

• Understand the constructs that relate to your research idea.
• Identify important terms and vocabulary that can be used in further searching.
• Identify key studies related to your research idea.

The Annual Review of Psychology will help you  find overview essays or literature reviews that will list all of the important articles and books on a topic. These essays are incredibly useful starting points.

Note: The articles in this source are examples of literature reviews (see Literature Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies). While these are much more in-depth than the literature review you will be doing as part of your introduction, pay attention to the writing style and organization.

When searching in this source, keep your search broad. Try just one of the constructs or variables related to your research idea.

Remember, the article might not be exactly on your topic but there is probably still useful information in it.

Pay attention to the Abstract, the section headings, and the list of Literature Cited. Make note of any relevant key words for future research.

Also try these encyclopedia and handbook databases