Library Guides: Beginning a Thesis or Dissertation: Research Tools

Choosing a Reseach Methodology

A methodology describes how a study was completed so that the study can be replicated.

Below are some general books for learning about methodologies as well as a few examples of subject specific methodology resources.

Books on methodology

Encyclopedia of Research Design by Neil J. Salkind (Editor)
Publication Date: 2010
Research design, with its statistical underpinnings, can be especially daunting for students and novice researchers. At its heart, research design might be described simply as a formalized approach toward problem solving, thinking, and acquiring knowledge,
Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods by Paul J. Lavrakas (Editor)
Publication Date: 2008
To the uninformed, surveys appear to be an easy type of research to design and conduct, but when students and professionals delve deeper, they encounter the vast complexities that the range and practice of survey methods present.
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods by Lisa M. Given (Editor)
Publication Date: 2008
Qualitative methods are central to research conducted in Education, Nursing, Sociology, Anthropology, and other disciplines in the humanities, social sciences and health sciences.

Locating Subject Guides

Subject Librarians

Contact your subject librarian for assistance locating resources for your research
Create an appointment using MU Connect

Subject Guides

MU Libraries have compiled subject specific guides to aid in research: A-Z List of Subject Guides

Creating Alerts

Create alerts to stay up-to-date with certain publishers, journals, or topics

Browse through alert types to learn more about setting up a variety of alerts.

Database search alerts

Database alerts let you run a search and be notified when new content is added to the database that fits your search.
Use FindIt@MU to access the full-text for alert results.

Citing Sources

Use a citation manager to store and organize results.

A citation manager is a computer program that provides a storage space for citations (references to works you use in your writing) and formats them in any of hundreds of citation formats as you write your paper, article, annotated bibliography, dissertation or book. Also stores the article pdf's

The libraries support the following three citation managers:

Mendeley
Zotero
Free tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.
Endnote

Mining Data

The University Libraries license many databases that can be helpful for retrieving and studying:

numerical/statistical data
demographics and population data
text
image and video collections

Review Data mining access to library resources for conditions and restrictions.