Biology 457 Research Methods

1. Biology 457Research Methods Deng Pan dpan@keene.edu 603-358-2725

2. Agenda • Develop your research topic • Develop search strategies • Choose appropriate databases • Examples of using databases

3. Defining a Topic • Choose a topic that interests you • In this class, the topic is an invasive plant – Purple Loosestrife • Preliminary search by browsing sources, talking to your professors, your group members, etc.

4. Map Your idea • Create a concept map for your research topic • Virtually displays the concepts and relationships among ideas • A concept map helps you to further organize your ideas and define your topic

5. Develop a Concept Map Impact on species diversity Competition with Goldenrod Nutrient concentration Purple loosestrife Ecosystem functions Herbivory And other issues…

6. Develop Research Questions • What’s the effect of purple loosestrife on species diversity? • What’s the effect of other invasive plants on species diversity? • Are there any quantity relationships between native plants and exotic plants? Impact on species diversity

7. Agenda • Develop your research topic • Develop search strategies • Choose appropriate databases • Examples of using databases

8. Identify Search Terms What’s the effect of purple loosestrife on plant diversity? Purple loosestrife Effect Plant diversity Impact Lythrum salicaria Species diversity Plant populations Relation Invasive plants

9. Boolean Operators Term A Term B AND • Searches for materials containing both of the search terms • Narrows the search OR • Searches for material containing either of the search terms • Broadens the search NOT • Searches for material which contains term A but does not contain term B • Narrows the search • Use it carefully Term A Term B Term B Term A

10. Truncation/Wildcard • Allow you to retrieve variations of a specific word • Expressed by an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?)

11. Nesting • Nesting keeps concepts that are alike together and tells a search engine to search the terms in the parentheses first. Question: what’s the effect of purple loosestrife on plant diversity? (Effect* OR impact) AND (“Purple loosestrife”OR “invasive plant*”) AND (“Plant divers*”OR“plant population”)

12. If you get too many hits, NARROW your search: Search with more specific terms. Consider adding additional search terms by using “AND” Limit your search by discipline, date, language, or type If you get too few hits, BROADEN your search: Search with less specific terms. Consider using “OR” to add synonyms. Consider using truncation or wildcard to retrieve more variations Consider removing a term(s) from your search strategy. Review and Refine Your Search

13. Agenda • Develop your research topic • Develop search strategies • Choose appropriate databases • Examples of using databases

14. What They Cover? • Content scope and time scope • General databases • Academic Search Premier • Subject-specific databases • GEOBASE • AGRICOLA • Back file database • JSTOR

15. Agenda • Develop your research topic • Develop search strategies • Choose appropriate databases • Examples of using databases

16. Examples of Using Databases • www.keene.edu/library>Find an esource>Biology>Articles and databases