CNX 211: The Future of Public Education

The scientific method

Scientific method: a method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century,
consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.
--From the Mac OS Dictionary, Version 2.1.3

Some words found in publications that likely indicate an author took a scientific/scholarly approach to their work:

Discovering & Accessing: Scholarly Articles

Education Full Text
Provides indexing to domestic and international English-language periodical publications covering key areas of education and related fields of study. NOTE: access Education Week by searching this database. Covers 1984 to the present.
ERIC/Education Resources Information Center
The ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) database is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to educational-related literature to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making, and research in the U.S. Covers 1966 to the present.
Sociological Abstracts
Abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences, including topics related to the sociology of education. Covers 1952 to the present.
Social Sciences Citation Index (Web of Science)
Index to articles from the core journals in all areas of the social sciences. Citation history of an item is available: learn what sources the authors of an item cited AND what additional scholars later cited the original item. Covers 1900 to the present.

Search Statement Examples

Here are some strategies for search statement language for searching in library databases:

Use "quotation marks" to have multiple words searched together as a phrase:
- "high school"
- "public school"
- "test scores"
- "mental health"
- "emotional growth"

Use the word AND (in capital letters) to combine different topics/concepts:
- "mental health" AND "elementary school"
- "public school" AND covid

How to Read Scholarly Articles

Librarians at the City Colleges of Chicago Harold Washington Library created a fabulous guide on How to Read Scholarly Articles. Read the first three pages only-- the fourth page is specific to their library!