(HDFS 300h)Empirical Reseach in Psychology

Resources for Empirical Research in Psychology
Dawn Amsberry
dua4@psu.edu

What is empirical research?

Empirical research is based on observed and measured phenomena and derives knowledge from actual experience rather than from theory or belief.

How do I find empirical research on my psychology topic?
Empirical research is published in books and scholarly, peer-reviewed journals. The Libraries have several databases you can use to locate peer-reviewed articles on psychology topics from scholarly journals. These databases are accessible from the Psychology database list.

PsycINFO

Access to 1800 psychology journals from 50 countries
Search by keyword: maternal depression and childhood behavior
Limit your search by date of publication, for example:



Limit your search to peer-reviewed journals under Publication type
Limit to empirical study under Methodology
Read the abstract of the article for a description of the methodology



Each item in a results list will have a  link. Clicking on this will:
find the article in our other full-text sources (when available)
link to the CAT to see if Penn State owns the publication in print
link to ILLiad (the Interlibrary Loan System) to request the article from another library if not available through Penn State



For more help searching PsycINFO, try the Using Cambridge Scienctific Abstracts Databases Guide.

PsycArticles

Only includes publications of the American Psychological Association
All articles in this database include the entire text

ProQuest Psychology Journals

Limit to scholarly journals
Includes the full text of 300 psychology journals

PubMed (Medline)

Acess 3600 journals in medicine and related fields

How can I be sure that it is empirical research?
Key characteristics to look for:

Statement about the methodology being used
Research questions to be answered
Definition of the group or phenomena being studied
Process used to study this group or phenomena, including any controls or instruments such as tests or surveys
Ask yourself: Could I recreate this study and test these results?

Using APA Citation Style
Research papers in psychology use the citation style of the American Psychological Association (APA) for the works cited list. Try these resources for help using APA style:

APA Quick Citation Guide
Examples of many common citation formats.

Research and Documentation Online
Use the Social Sciences/APA link for detailed information on finding and documenting sources.

Adapted from Find Empirical Research from the Penn State Education and Behavioral Sciences Library and Empirical Research Tutorial from Mississippi State Unviersity.