Education Research
Check out this guide for tips on doing education research, including tips on using the online catalog to find books and reference materials. In addition, the PowerPoint presentation used in our library session can be found here.
Finding Education Articles and Journals
The library provides you with access to several databases specific to the field of education. General databases such as Academic Search Elite may also prove useful. Each database uses its own subject terms so the keywords that create a successful search in one database may not work in another. Be ready with synonyms and use the database thesaurus to check your terms for the most accurate, successful searches. TIPS: For all databases, if you cannot limit to a publication or methodology, throw in words like "results" and/or "methodology."
Education Research Complete: We just subscribed to a new EBSCO database that is the world's largest and most complete collection of full-text education journals. The database covers areas of curriculum instruction as well as administration, policy, funding, and related social issues, provides indexing and abstracts for more than 1,730 journals and contains full text for nearly 830 journals.
- Education Full-Text: Education Full Text brings you comprehensive coverage of an international range of English-language periodicals, monographs and yearbooks. Full text of articles cover to cover, from hundreds of journals, make this a great source for research.
- PsycInfo: Includes information about the psychological aspects of education.
TIPS: Use the thesaurus to find an exact descriptor. You can limit your search to "Quantitative Study" in the advanced search screen under "Methodology."- ERIC (EBSCO): ERIC contains indexes and abstracts from education and education-related journals and from professional papers, reports, and documents. Journal articles have an “EJ number” and documents have an "ED number.”
- Academic Search Elite: Academic Search Elite, an EBSCO database, is a general academic index that indexes almost 3,000 magazines and journals from every academic discipline and provides the full-text of more than 1,200.This is also an EBSCO product, so looks very similar to ERIC, but it searches different journals and uses different subject headings. These subject heading can be explored in the thesaurus, which works the same as in ERIC.
Quantitative Research in Special Education
Books
Use Voyager to find books that will link you to information about and containing primary and quantitative research in special education. Following are some subject headings that can get you started. You will find that thereare several subject headings that can be used research and methodology in education. Note that these are for SUBJECT searchs (which is more accurate and specific in many cases), not KEYWORD, so make sure you change the drop down next to the search box to "Subject."
Children with disabilities--Research--United States--Methodology
Developmental disabilities --Research --Methodology
Education--Research
Education--Research--Methodology
Education--Research--Periodicals
Educational evaluation--United States
Educational surveys--Methodology
Special education--Research--United States--Methodology
Websites
- American Educational Research Association
Lots of great information but check out the Research Points section that "connects research to education policy."- National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
The primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education.- National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME)
- U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
The mission of IES is to provide rigorous evidence on which to ground education practice and policy.- ETS: Educational Assessment, Measurement and Policy Research
"Educational research and analysis, innovative educational assessment and product development and informative policy studies to advance both quality and equity in education for all people worldwide."- American Psychological Association Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education
- Arc of the United States
"The world’s largest grassroots organization of and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With over 140,000 members affiliated through more than 850 state and local chapters across the nation, The Arc is devoted to promoting and improving supports and services for all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. " - Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
"The largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted." - Disabilities Studies for Teachers
"This website contains lesson plans and materials designed to help teachers integrate disability studies into social studies, history, literature, and related subjects in grades 6-12. The plans and materials also can be adapted for use in postsecondary education." - Disability Social History Project
A community history project that provides an opportunity "for disabled people to reclaim our history and determine how we want to define ourselves and our struggles. People with disabilities have an exciting and rich history that should be shared with the world." - Family Village
"A global community of disability-related resources." - National Rehabilitation Information Center
"An online gateway to an abundance of disability- and rehabilitation-oriented information organized in a variety of formats designed to make it easy for users to find and use." - National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD)
"Provides essential information to parents, professionals and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research and programs to foster effective learning and advocates for policies to protect and strengthen educational rights and opportunities." - National Dissemination
Center for Children
with Disabilities (NICHCY)
Provides information on specific disabilities, early intervention, special education, research, resources and connections throughout the country, parent materials, disability and professional organizations, laws and much more.
- National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET)
"The only national membership organization dedicated solely to meeting the needs of special education teachers and those preparing for the field of special education teaching." - Special Education News
Provices "in-depth, timely news related to educating students with disabilities." Includes "research and practical teaching and discipline methods, school funding from the state and local school district perspectives, and new technology and their applications in the classroom and the special education professional's office."
