GVPT 170: American Government
Web page created by Gerri Foudy, Social Sciences
Team, and Maggie Cunningham, User Education Services, UM Libraries
Instructor: Dr. Paul Herrnson
The University of Maryland Libraries has many resources that will help with research for this class. If you need additional information, please contact Gerri Foudy, the Government & Politics Librarian or speak with a Reference Librarian at McKeldin Library's Service Plus Information Desk.
Research is not a simple linear process; it is a complex and challenging set of tasks. It becomes easier if you break down the process into manageable steps.
RESEARCH OUTLINE
Get Organized!
Developing a Research Question
Research Resources: * Books
* Journal Articles * Government
Documents
Evaluate Findings
Cite Others' Work
Preparing an Annotated Bibliography
GET ORGANIZED!
-
PLAN AHEAD
* Researching and writing a good paper requires time, planning and creativity
* Start early to avoid stress
* You may be competing with hundreds of other researchers for the same materials
* Do not be surprised if your research takes unexpected twists and turns
Need help planning your time wisely? Try using the Assignment Calculator.
TAKE CLEAR NOTES
* From the start, keep accurate notes of where you find information
* When you find a relevant source, record the complete citation immediately;
* Later it will be difficult to retrace your steps to find these details
* Eventually you will need to accurately cite all sources in your bibliography
KNOW THE ASSIGNMENT
* Understand the requirements and goals of the assignment
* Unsure? Ask your instructor to clarify
* From time to time, review the assignment parameters to make sure you
are on track
return to top
DEVELOPING A RESEARCH QUESTION
PICK A RESEARCH QUESTION and IDENTIFY CONCEPTS:
My research question is:
Can citizen lobbying efforts impact Congressional voting behavior?
My concepts are:
citizens
lobbying
Congress voting behavior
impact
GENERATE or BRAINSTORM CONCEPTS, KEYWORDS, SYNONYMS:
* You can't count on finding articles about your exact topic, so think
creatively
* Deconstruct your topic into component parts
* Examine each part and think of related concepts, terms & keywords
* Are there similar situations/issues/cases that I can learn about in
order to help answer my research question?
*Identify perspectives (subject fields) that address your research question.
| My concepts are: | My alternative concepts/keywords/search terms: |
| Congress | legislators |
| Senate | |
| representatives | |
| politicians | |
| lobby* | campaign* |
| opinion | |
| citizens | voters |
| constituents | |
| impact | influence |
| voting behavior | position |
The goal is to end up with a list of terms to choose from when you begin searching
WHO IS THINKING & WRITING ABOUT YOUR TOPIC?
Who (person or organization) would care enough about your topic to produce informational materials?
Answer:
Who? Researchers and scholars (political scientists and historians)
Where? scholary journal articles and books
Who? Journalists
Where? Newspaper and magazine articles, television and radio news programs
and transcripts
Who? US government
Where? Legislative and executive documents, testimony, reports
Who? Non-government advocacy organizations and think tanks
Where? Organizational publications and web sites
return to top
Research Resources
* Need help distinguishing between various types of publications? Use this guide to scholarly journals.
* Need help knowing what is a primary & secondary source? Use this guide to primary sources.
UM Libraries'
online catalog
The Libraries' catalog provides information about the holdings of all
libraries in the University System of Maryland.
To search all of the UM System libraries, click on "multi-campus search."
Books owned by other libraries in the system can be ordered at the computer for delivery to College Park (or elsewhere); click on the yellow "Request" button on the record's availability screen.
Search the online catalog for books or documents on your topic. Start with a "words anywhere"
search.
Example: "citizen* and lobby*"
Once you have found some relevant records by using a keyword search,
you can use the subject headings in the records to find more materials.
Example: Pressure groups -- United States
You must also use the catalog to find out whether the Libraries subscribe
to a particular journal. Type in the journal title (not the article
title) under "Title beginning with" in the pull-down menu.
Example: American Journal of Political
Science
Call Numbers: Finding Library Items
When accessing subscription databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your last name and the 14-digit number on the back of your UM student id card.
- America: History & Life
Information on articles, books, book reviews, and dissertations on U.S. and Canadian history from prehistory to the present. - International
Political Science Abstracts
Indexes and abstracts from international periodicals, 1989 to the present. - Worldwide
Political Science Abstracts
Abstracts of journal articles and dissertations from over 1,000 sources. Combined database of the former "Political Science Abstracts" and "ABC PolSci." - PAIS
(Public Affairs Information Service) International
Indexes a wide variety of journal articles, research reports, and government documents in the social sciences and public affairs fields from 1935 to the present.
When accessing subscription databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your last name and the 14-digit number on the back of your UM student id card.
- (Lexis-Nexis) Congressional Universe
Comprehensive access to US legislative information including legislative histories and an index of congressional publications from 1970 to the present, congressional hearing testimonies, bill tracking, full-text versions of the Federal Register and CFR, as well as full-text access to the U.S. Congressional Serial Set from 1789-1969. - Avalon Project at Yale
Law School
Full text of documents on U.S. law, history, and diplomacy. Arranged by century, and can be searched by keyword, author, subject or title. List of major collections. - Digital National
Security Archive
Most comprehensive collection available of significant primary documents central to US foreign and military policy since 1945. Nearly 40,000 of the most important, declassified documents - totaling more than 250,000 pages - are included in the database. Many are published now for the first time.
The University of Maryland is a Federal Depository Library. We receive government publications distributed through the U.S. Federal Depository Library Program (Title 44, USC). Our collection of over 2 million documents contains materials available in various formats (paper, microfiche, microfilm, electronic).
return to top
Evaluate Findings
-
TAKE TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR REFERENCES:
* Thorough research = good bibliography = better grades
* Take time to critically evaluate the relevance and quality of your
findings
* Do not settle on the first few articles you find
* If you use a search engine to surf the Web evaluate the pages you
retrieve
* Review Evaluating
Web Sites and Checklist
for Evaluating Web Sites
return to top
Cite Others' Work
-
CITE WORK NOT ORIGINAL TO YOU:
* Style manuals give the rules for how books, articles, Web pages and other materials should be documented
* Researchers must cite the work of others, regardless of
the format (print or online)
and type of material (books, articles, interview,
Web pages, etc.)
* Guides to Citation Systems and Style Manuals, e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian)
WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?
* According to UM's Student Honor Council, plagiarism is:
Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or areas of another as one's own in academic exercise.
AVOID PLAGIARIZING BY:
* Taking clear and accurate notes about where you found ideas, paragraphs,
etc.
* Separating your own ideas, your summaries of others' work and others'
exact wording
* Recording the complete citation for each source you use
* Using quotation marks when using an author's exact words
* If you are unsure whether to cite ask a librarian or instructor for
help
* All members of the University share in the responsibility to uphold
the
Code
of Academic Integrity, and the Code
of Student Conduct
return to top
