COMM COR 2020 - Introduction to Research Methods - Harken

Finding Quantitative Research with CMMC
(Communication and Mass Media Complete)

Plan A

In the first line search for quantitative research as a Subject
In the second line search for your topic e.g. social media

Plan B

In the first line search for content analysis as a Subject
In the second line search for your topic e.g. news websites
* Note - content analysis may utilize either quantitative or qualitative methods - be sure to look at the methodology and results.

Plan C   (Searching for all types of research - inspecting results for quantitative research)

This method is used to find any type of research including both quantitative and qualitative research.
It attempts to tease out research by searching for common parts of a research article: the Methods or Methodology section, the Results section, and the Discussion section.

In the first line search for Method* AND Results AND Discussion as a TX All Text.
Separate each word in the first search blank with the command AND
In the second line search for your topic e.g. politic*

The asterisk * is used to find either Methods or Methodology and all forms of the word politic, politics, political, politician, politicians

The TX All Text command searches the entire contents of an article (in the case for Methods or Methodology, Results, Discussion)

Important *** Because this technique finds ALL types of research you will need to select quantitative research articles from among the results.

Finding Quantitative Research with APA PsycInfo
(APA PsycInfo)

There are four steps to take before searching when you want to find quantitative research articles using APA PsycInfo.

First Step -scroll down the search until you find the option Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals (check this box) 
Second Step - scroll farther down to the bottom of the search page where you'll find the box Methodology.
Third Step - scroll through the options in the Methodology box and highlight the QUANTITATIVE STUDY option.
Fourth Step - check the box labeled Exclude Dissertations (found directly under the Methodology box).

Now you are ready to search - but remember, PsycInfo is not a "Communication Studies" database - so it might need some help.

For instance in the first line search you might type communication as a Subject [SU Subjects]
In the second line search for your topic e.g. health care