Psychology: Psychology 489: Undergraduate Research

Welcome to the research guide for PSYC489: Undergraduate Research. If you have any questions or comments you can contact me directly from this guide.

Since no library can carry everything, Interlibrary Loan allows you access to materials held throughout the state, country, and world - for FREE!  You should see an Interlibrary Loan option in our Discovery or WorldCat systems when you pull up items our library does not have. Additionally, you may see ILL options in online databases like Google Scholar (if you follow these one-time set-up instructions) and PubMed. To set up an account or manually fill out a request, visit our Interlibrary Loan page.

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What is a review of the literature?

The literature review, whether embedded in an introduction or standing as an independent section, is often one of the most difficult sections to compose in academic writing. A literature review requires the writer to perform extensive research on published work in one’s field in order to explain how one’s own work fits into the larger conversation regarding a particular topic. This task requires the writer to spend time reading, managing, and conveying information; the complexity of literature reviews can make this section one of the most challenging parts of writing about one’s research.

Because literature reviews convey so much information in a condensed space, it is crucial to organize your review in a way that helps readers make sense of the studies you are reporting on. Two common approaches to literature reviews are chronological—ordering studies from oldest to most recent—and topical—grouping studies by subject or theme. 

1. Is the literature review organized in a way to help the reader understand your logic?
2. Are you drawing clear connections to the reviewed literature and your topic?
3. Do you cover the most important areas of research related to your topic?
4. Are you pointing out areas that have not yet been researched or have been researched insufficiently?
5. Do you use transitions and summaries to move from one study to the next?
6. By the end of the literature review, is it clear why your research is necessary?
    

Borrowed and edited from Purdue OWL

Finding tests can take time--it is important that you begin looking early. While there is not one single method to locate measures, there are a number of strategies that can help you be successful in locating  the measures that fit you needs.

• In PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES; sometimes the measures are available as an appendix. If the measure is only mentioned, you can do a google search with the name.

• APA has a guide to searching tests and measures.
• Mental Measurements Yearbook: Search by subject to find a specific test. Then try to locate in a database.
• ETS Test Link: A searchable index of 25,000 tests compiled by the Educational Testing Service.
• Search Google Scholar to find open access versions of tests

"Citations 2" by fixedandfrailing (CC BY-SA 2.0)

One of the basic rules of library research is that you must cite the sources you draw on for information!  Citation styles vary, depending on the field you are working in.  Carmichael Library has developed a handy research guide to help you cite your sources, and we are happy to help you with citation questions.  Please make use of our Citation Guide, and when in doubt, feel free to ask a librarian!