Psychology Research Guide

Finding background information on your topic is always the recommended starting point, especially if you are unfamiliar with the topic or not sure what angle or perspective you are going to take.

Doing background research is your chance to become more familiar with key concepts, important events, people, dates, as well as learning more of the jargon and terminology associated with your topic.

Some of the information that you might want to try to find as part of a background search includes:

• Broad overview of the topic, including important dates and events 
• Identifying and defining technical terms and discipline-specific jargon. NOTE: these terms that can then be used as search terms!
• Introduction to current key issues/debates, as well as their historical context
• Names of people who are authorities/experts/leaders in a given field or research area
• Bibliographies and citation lists that could lead to additional research resources

The goal of conducting background research is to understand the historical, cultural, and disciplinary context of your topic. 

There are a variety of resources that can provide background information, including reference materials, such as subject-specific encyclopedias and dictionaries. Books are also a great place to gain a broad overview of a topic, as well as historical context.

Reference sources are resources such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, atlases, and handbooks. These sources can provide quick answers to specific questions, such as facts, definitions, statistics, and technical instructions.

Reference sources, especially encyclopedias can provide concise and often easier to understand overviews of a particular topic, making them a great place to start background research.

Print Books

Print reference books are located in the back of the Library's first floor. Go past the Research Help Desk to the low book cases. 

Ebooks