Political Science Librarian
Jeannette Moss
Contact:
University Library
2 North (Core) Rm. 2303
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
2 North (Core) Rm. 2303
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
847-491-2169
Gather background, reviews, overviews. Find definitions, bibliographies
Somewhere in between your initial idea and settling on a research question, you'll need to do background research on how scholars in a particular subject area have discussed your topic. You may find background research in your textbook or class readings, academic books in the library's collection, or reference sources.
- Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowOnline version of many Oxford University Press reference works, ranging from specialized dictionaries and companions to major reference works such as the Encyclopedia of Human Rights, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, among many others.
- Annual Review of Political Science This link opens in a new windowAnnual edited volume that covers significant developments in the field of political science including political theory and philosophy, international relations, political economy, political behavior, American and comparative politics, public administration and policy, and methodology. Covers 1998-present.
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowScholarly reviews of research in 15 subject fields including: Archaeology, Business/Management, Classical Studies, Economics/Finance, History, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion.
Only purchased content available, primarily:
Archaeology = 2014-2018
Business and Management = 2012-2019
Classical Studies = 2014-2019
Economics and Finance = 2014-2019
History = 2012-2019
Linguistics = 2014-2019
Literature = 2012-2019
Philosophy = 2014-2019
Political Science = 2012-2019
Psychology = 2013-present
Religion = 2014-2018 - CQ Researcher Plus Archive This link opens in a new windowThe CQ Researcher is a collection of reports covering political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy.
Use NU Search to browse for books, reference entries, and periodicals to build background information.
After you have an initial project idea and gathered some background and definitions, you can think deeper about the idea.
- What do you want to know about this topic?
- Which specific subset of the topic you can focus on? Specific demographic groups, people, places, times
- Are there interventions or variables you want to explore?
- Is there something about this topic that is not already addressed in scholarship?
- Is there a relationship you can explore:
- cause/effect
- compare/contrast
- current/historical
- group/individual
- opinion/reason
- problem/solution
How do you move from a research question to searching in a database? You first have to pick out keywords from your research question.