PSY 353: Welcome
library research resources
Start Your Research with These Four Steps
- Acknowledge assumptions and biases.
- Gather preliminary information to help you get more acquainted with your topic (background information).
- Consider what ideas you want to explore more deeply.
- Formulate an open ended research question that leaves you lots of room for discovery.
Excerpted from Framing a Problem by Credo Reference
Researching Conflict Resolution
Because Conflict Resolution is a field that overlaps with many other disciplines, there is no one database that covers all of its literature. The best way to pursue your research a topic is to consider which field concerns itself with your research question. Does it relate to educational settings, business mediation, interpersonal conflict, international conflict, or another area? Consider which fields would have researchers writing about your topic and then explore the databases and other research tools that relate to those fields.
Here are some examples:
| Research or project topic | Fields where researchers might be exploring this topic |
| Bullying prevention in middle schools | Education |
| How people in a group or non-profit communicate | Psychology, Sociology, Business, Communications |
| Conflict resolution in marriages | Psychology |
| Restorative justice |
Political science, Criminal Justice, Sociology |
| Hawai'i or Native Hawaiian Topics |
Cultural Studies, History (Humanities fields) |