HOW TO FIND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH Researching the “CSI Effect” Robert R. Myers Jr. The Judge Ben C. Green Law Library Case School of Law Case Western Reserve University INTRODUCTION The focus of this portion of the presentation is on how to find empirical research in the social sciences. Sample searches will focus specifically on finding empirical studies of the “CSI Effect.” Other databases not discussed here are better suited for locating empirical studies in the hard sciences, business/economics, medicine, etc. WHAT IS EMPIRICAL RESEARCH? Empirical research uses data derived from actual observation or experiment. The conclusions drawn are verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment and can be reproduced or duplicated. Empirical research questions can arise from practical, policy, and applied issues, or from theory WHAT IS EMPIRICAL RESEARCH? Empirical research articles summarize original research and experiments. Empirical Research is original research—not review or survey articles of others’ research, nor articles that are purely theoretical, hypothetical, or anecdotal in nature. Often empirical research articles will contain the following sections which relate to the different steps of the scientific research paradigm: Abstract - A summary of the research. Introduction - Reviews related research and sets forth the hypotheses to be tested. Methodology - Describes how the research was conducted, who the subjects were and how they were selected, what the subjects did, and the measures used in the study. Results - Describes the outcomes of the measures of the study. Discussion - Interprets the results and their implications. References - Lists information about the articles, books, and other sources cited in the report. WHERE DOES ONE FIND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH? academic journals Books Dissertations Research reports Government reports Proceedings Other scholarly publications Most likely source: Peer-reviewed journals WHAT TOOLS ARE USED TO LOCATE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH STUDIES? Print indexes and abstracts- largely archaic at this point. Databases- Either full text or abstracts & indexes. WorldCat- For locating monographic research reports that can be requested via interlibrary loan (also library consortiums such as OhioLink). General internet searches- You should be somewhat skeptical of studies found on the web as they are not usually peer-reviewed. You will need to verify their authenticity—usually by looking at the authors’ background and the source of publication. Google Scholar helps ensure legitimacy. Government search engines and portals. Through references to empirical research found in the footnotes and bibliographies to survey and theoretical articles, newspaper articles, television broadcasts, etc. (i.e., following a hot lead). WHERE DOES ONE OBTAIN ACCESS TO DATABASES AND FULL-TEXT OF STUDIES? Where to Access Databases: University library websites (CWRU Research Databases) Large public library websites (usually require a library card to access) Where to Find Full-text Articles and Books: Many databases provide direct full-text access or link to full-text for downloading University library electronic journal centers (CWRU Electronic Journal List) Most university library catalogs link to online journals Obtain through your library’s ILL Department or reference librarian Westlaw, Lexis, HeinOnline for Law Review articles HOW DOES ONE LOCATE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH? 1. Select a search tool: database, internet search engine, or government portal. 2. Select the Advance Search mode as this provides the most options and can guide you through the process of formulating a search. (Note, however, that most searches that can be performed in the Advance Search mode can be performed using the standard search box.) 3. Using the “All text,” “All fields” or “Keyword” search field, type in a search. Use meaningful words or phrases. Avoid terms that are too broad. Example: "CSI" pulls up all types of articles concerning anything that can be abbreviated CSI not just Crime Scene Investigation. “CSI effect” generally limits the results to articles discussing the predilection of juries to want a high level of forensic evidence in order to render a guilty verdict (but even “CSI effect” will result in some false hits). Including the words jury, juror, or juries, or the phrase “forensic evidence” insures that the search yields only articles concerning the CSI effect in the context of jury trials. 4. Consider using words that can be substituted for legal terms of art since researchers in the social sciences might not be familiar with the legal terms and use some other wording instead. For instance, instead of “CSI effect,” you may want to use “television drama” AND “forensic evidence” AND jury OR juries OR juror AND empirical OR… (However, in this particular instance “CSI effect” works best.) 5. Automatic adjacency- Quotation marks around phrases are usually not necessary as most databases automatically search adjacent words as phrases. 6. Most databases and internet search engines allow you to limit your search if you are in the Advance Search mode. Common limiters include: Date Language Publication type: journal articles, document, book chapters, encyclopedia, dissertations, reports, etc. Content type: Empirical study, case study, clinical research, etc. (This limiter is extremely helpful but few databases provide it.) Peer-reviewed or not Audience or Education level: Pre-school, elementary, secondary, university 7. Use additional search boxes to type in additional keywords separated by “OR” to limit the search results to empirical studies. Possible terms include: empirical OR study OR studies OR measure OR measurement OR data OR survey OR research OR statistic OR statistical OR methodology OR experiment OR experimental OR quantitative OR participants. These terms can be cut and pasted into a keyword search box. (Note that “subject” and “subjects” are not good search terms as they often are used as field descriptors in bibliographic records). 8. Truncation: Some databases allow the use of root expanders so that you do not need to type every variation of a word. Common root expanders are $, *, and !. 9. Review articles- Although we are trying to locate only empirical studies; it is worthwhile to look at review or survey articles as well. Often the bibliographies and footnotes contained in survey articles cite to empirical studies. 10. Search Tips- It is always helpful to click on the search tips section provided by most databases and internet search engines to see how best to formulate a search and which connectors to use. Some databases even offer canned tutorials. 11. Even the best formulated searches may pull up false hits. You may need to run several searches to hone your results. A search that works well in one database or search engine, may not work well in others. At some point, you will not be able to be any more precise and will simply need to review the results and separate out the false hits from the articles that are on point. HOW DOES ONE VERIFY THAT WHAT WAS FOUND IS EMPIRICAL RESEARCH? 1. Name/type of journal/publication- Peer-reviewed academic journals are likely sources for empirical studies. Popular magazines are unlikely sources. 2. Length of article- Empirical studies are usually lengthy, not 1 or 2 pages. 3. Empirical articles tend to follow the format of the scientific research methodology previously mentioned (though not necessarily). 4. The article contains citations or references to other studies--though this is not determinative in and of itself. 5. Finally, look at the article itself and see if it presents original data. If so, you have located an empirical research article. List of Databases for Locating Empirical Studies in the Behavioral Sciences LINK Behavioral Sciences Databases and their providers PsychArticles & PsycINFO (Independent – APA PsychNET) Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection (Vendor – EBSCO Host) SocIndex (Vendor – EBSCO Host) ISI Web of Knowledge (Vendor – Thomson/Gale) Sociological Collection (Vendor – EBSCO Host) Television News Archive (Independent – Vanderbilt) List of vendors providing site licenses for one or more APA databases American Psychological Association (Psychnet) DIALOG DIMDI EBSCO Elsevier/Science Direct Hogrefe Publishing Group OCLC Ovid Technologies Proquest PsycARTICLES & PsychINFO Link to Advanced Search PsychARTICLES & PsycINFO Search Results Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection Database Link to Advanced Search Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection Search Results Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection Search Results Full Text SocIndex Database Link to Advanced Search SocIndex Search Results: 9 Articles Narrowed SocIndex Search Results to 5 Articles by adding “empirical or study or measure or… ISI Web of Knowledge Database Link to Basic Search ISI Web of Knowledge Search Results ISI Web of Knowledge Help Screen Narrowed ISI Web of Knowledge Search Results to 2 articles by adding “empirical or study or measure or measurement or data or survey … Sociological Collection Search Results – One Article Television News Archive (Not empirical—but cool!) Link to TV News Database Television News Archive CSI Effect yields 4 results Television News Archive Abstract of NBC Broadcast from 4/19/2008 General Databases Academic Search Complete (EBSCO Host) Proquest’s Dissertations and Theses PapersFirst (OCLC) WorldCat (OCLC) Academic Search Complete Database Link to Advanced Search Academic Search Complete CSI Effect Yields 16 Results Academic Search Complete 49 Cited References contained in Article 3 Proquest’s Dissertations and Theses Database Link to CWRU Dissertation Databases Proquest’s Dissertations and Theses Database Yields Four Results Narrowed Proquest’s Dissertation Search Results to 3 articles by adding “empirical or study or measure or measurement or data or survey … OCLC’s PapersFirst Link to Advanced Search PapersFirst Search Results OCLC’s Worldcat Link to Advanced Search Worldcat Search Results Legal Databases We Will look at the following Independents: BePress Legal Repository (Berkeley) Empirical Legal Studies Bibliography (UCLA) SSRN Social Sciences Research Network (Consortium) Others not covered here (but helpful): Lexis (Commercial aggregator) Westlaw (Commercial Aggregator) HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library (Commercial Aggregator) BePress Legal Repository Link to Advanced Search BePress Legal Repository Search for CSI Effect BePress Legal Repository Search results UCLA’s Empirical Legal Studies Bibliography Link to ELS Bibliography SSRN Social Science Research Network Link to SSRN SSRN Search for “CSI Effect” yields six results SSRN Search for “CSI Effect” and “Empirical” yields three results INTERNET SEARCHING Google Scholar Governmental Information Portals: USA Search Google U.S. Government Search Google Scholar Link to Google Scholar Google Scholar search for “CSI Effect” jury OR juror OR juries empirical – 82 results USA Search USASearch.gov : The U.S. Government's Official Web Search USA Search Results Google U.S. Government Search Link to Google U.S. Government Search Google U.S. Government Search search results for "CSI Effect" AND empirical yields 12 results List of Empirical Studies located relating to the CSI Effect