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CLDDV 103 - Child Growth & Development - Brennan

A Research Guide for students in Jessica Brenna's Child Development 103 class.

Key Search Words

Useful Terms for Searching

Use the words below to search for useful information in books (including eBooks) and articles at the MJC Library.

  • behaviorism (psychology)
  • child development
  • child psychology
  • child development encyclopedias English 
  • cognition and culture
  • cognition in children
  • developmental psychology encyclopedias
  • early childhood education, philosophy
  • early childhood education, United States
  • Erikson, Erik H. (Erik Homburger), 1902-1994

Using & Finding Books

Why Use Books:

Use books to read broad overviews and detailed discussions of your topic. You can also use books to find primary sources, which are often published together in collections.
 

Where Do I Find Books?

You'll use the library catalog to search for books, ebooks, articles, and more.

What if MJC Doesn't Have What I Need?

If you need materials (books, articles, recordings, videos, etc.) that you cannot find in the library catalog, use our interlibrary loan service.

Understanding How Sources Work for Your Paper

Scaffolding Your Research for Deeper Understanding

Level one: Web sites and other familiar, easy-to-understand starting places

  • Generate research questions, refine your topic, identify search terms
  • Caution: Websites vary wildly in quality and must be valuated thoroughly before including on bibliography

Level two: Specialized encyclopedias and other substantive topic overviews

  • Credible sources to answer basic research questions and generate additional questions
  • Caution: Topic overviews lack adequate detail...you'll need more

Level three: Newspapers and selected magazines

  • Aimed at an educated, non-expert audience, these are great sources for current issues and events
  • Caution: all magazines are appropriate for academic work and some assignments require scholarly sources

Level four: Scholarly journals

  • Studies, experiments, and systematic reviews produced by scholars for an expert audience.
  • Caution: Journal articles are highly specific, specialized, & often challenging for the non-expert.

Using Databases

Why Use Databases?

The MJC Library subscribes to many databases filled with authoritative articles, book chapters, research reports, statistics, and more from thousands of respected publications.

Using the Library's article databases ensures that you're using the academically-appropriate sources your instructors expect you to use. Also, you won't have to cull through millions of unrelated Web pages that will waste your time and energy.

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Top Picks:

All of these resources are free for MJC students, faculty, and staff.

If you're working from off campus, you'll be prompted to log in using your MJC student log-in information.

Search Google Scholar

Search scholarly materials on the Web.

Google Scholar Search

Evaluate Sources

Evaluate Your Sources Using the CRAAP Test C is for Currency: When was the source published? Has it been updated? Is information recent enough for your topic? For your specific research question? R is for Relevancy: Does the source directly address your topic? Does it answer one or more of your research questions? Is it information you already have? The first A is for Authority: Who is the author/publisher? What are their qualifications? Education? Professional experience? What can you learn about them elsewhere? The second A is for Accuracy: Has the source been reviewed? By whom? Are claims evidence-based? Is this evidence cited? Can it be verified in other sources? P is for Purpose (and Point of View): Is the information objective or biased? Is the author relaying facts or trying to convince you of something? Do they have an agenda? How can you tell?

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Tags: child, child_development, children, early_childhood_education
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and CC BY-NC 4.0 Licenses.