Psy 600 - Dr. Olin

Welcome to the Psych 600 resource guide for Dr. Olin's course. 

If you need help using any of the resources listed here, I’m available to assist you. While some databases are intuitive, others can be more complex to navigate. Please don’t hesitate to reach out using any of the contact methods provided below.

1. Direct Email - isabel.morales2@pepperdine.edu 
2. Schedule a Zoom meeting (email me) 
3. Start a chat or submit a ticket using our Ask-A-Librarian platform 
4. Phone call 949-223-2543
5. In person visit -  Irvine Campus Library, Office #229 
6. In the event that I am out of office please contact my colleagues, 

• Erik Helton- erik.helton@pepperdine.edu
• Gabrielle Riter - gabrielle.riter@pepperdine.edu 

Please access all databases from the homepage or links listed on this guide, otherwise you may encounter paywalls or requests for subscription. Keep in mind that all Pepperdine database subscriptions are free of charge for students, staff and faculty.

• PsycArticles 

  From the American Psychological Association (APA), full text, peer-reviewed scholarly articles in psychology from 1894 to the present.

• PsycINFO 

  The American Psychological Association’s (APA) resource of peer-reviewed articles in psychology, behavioral science and mental health.

• PubMed 

  Access to biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books from the National Library of Medicine.

• Scopus 

  Abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed scientific journals, books and conference proceedings covering fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.

• Statista 

  Statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources, includes access to the Global Consumer Survey.

• Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print 

  Comprehensive guide to contemporary testing instruments in areas of psychology, education, business, and leadership.

• PsycTests

  PsycTests is an electronic database providing descriptive summaries, full text, and relevant citations on the development and assessment of tests and measures that can be used in research and teaching. Updated monthly, PsycTests includes a wide variety of test types: achievement and aptitude tests, intelligence tests, tests of cognitive functioning, occupational tests, personality tests, and more. These include previously unpublished measures, tests developed by psychologists for which no source document has been located, and information about published tests available from commercial publishers. [NOTE: To search only PsycTests, uncheck the box marked APA Books]

• Academic Search Complete 

  Provides full text coverage to peer-reviewed titles in the social sciences, humanities, general science, multi-cultural studies, education and more.

Tips to keep in mind when using the databases

1.  Have a clear goal or question in mind, take a few moments to break your question down into keywords and synonyms or phrases that will help the database retrieve related articles. 

 Similarly, if you are simply exploring the research, start by building a list of key terms or phrases related to your preliminary research phase. 

              Example. Effects of intergenerational trauma in women's mental health

              Your basic keyword list with other synonyms should look like this... 

1.  intergenerational trauma (transgenerational trauma, historical trauma, ancestral trauma)
2.  women (female, females)
3.  effects (consequences, impacts, implications, influences, results, outcomes)
4.  mental health (mental distress, behavioral effects, coping mechanisms, resilience, mental state, mental wellness, psychological health) 

2.   Now, that you have your list of keywords/phrases, you will need to consider the use of boolean operators to help you run an efficient search. 

Boolean Logic refers to the words " AND, OR, NOT" and their intended usage with manipulating databases to either add, include, or subtract populated information from a data set. The importance of using Boolean Logic when searching through databases is that it allows you to have control over what information the database will populate through your search in order to increase the efficiency and relevancy of your results. 

The use of parentheses, groups terms and controls the order in which the database will search for those terms. 

Quotation marks are used to find exact phrases or terms

The use of * asterisk will find variations of a term 

• Boolean Operator AND will narrow search results

             ex. Female AND intergenerational trauma AND

• Boolean Operator OR will broaden search results

            ex. effects OR consequences OR impacts OR implications OR influences OR results OR outcomes

• Boolean Operator NOT will exclude results using a specific term or phrase

            ex. effects NOT sexual assault 

•   Using parentheses or quotation marks

ex (women AND "intergenerational trauma")  this will prompt the database to group these terms together whilst searching for                   "intergenerational trauma" in that exact order. 

•  Using asterisk    

             ex. wom* =  woman, women     

Your search strategy would look like this when entered in a database such as PsycInfo...... 

This search strategy generated 30 search results with peer review filter applied. This is a manageable set of results.