Authoritative and useful descriptions of research methods can be hard to find. SAGE has a deep shelf of social science publications that they draw upon for this new and easy-to-browse tool. SRMO integrates content from over 500 of their book titles, including the entire QASS (aka Little Green Book) series, plus several of their dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Sage Research Methods Online visual tree navigation screenshot
SRMO features an innovative navigational feature they call the “Methods Map” for visualization of relationships between methods. Use it to discover new methods and content related to them. Underpinning the Methods Map is a taxonomy of social science research methods, developed by SAGE, and containing over 1,400 unique terms.
We had to trial this a few times before we reached the right audience for it. But happily, it seems to be making inroads with the PhD student community and the instructors who teach “Research Methods” courses in the various social sciences disciplines.
Because this resource is built upon the contents of hundreds of stand-alone volumes of social science research methods literature, we are also taking steps so each individual book will have its own record in the library catalog as another way users can discover this great info – I will post an update when this has been accomplished.
(updated 4/16/2012)
The Provost’s Office has purchased a subscription to several dozen of the most recent faculty development videos available from Magna Publications. High quality presenters cover topics in the areas of: Academic Affairs, Campus Legal, Distance Education, Enrollment Management, Faculty Development, Student Affairs, Teaching Online. Intended solely for faculty use, these videos are available in DVD format from the Hagerty Library Reserve Desk, or in streaming format over the web.
To view the DVD records for the entire Magna collection, use the Library Catalog to search Author = Magna
There is a link in each DVD record to the Reserve record for the course “Faculty Development”
Faculty may log in with their current Drexel ID/PW. Then a course-specific PW will be requested. Faculty may contact the Hagerty Reserve Desk by phone (215-895-2756) or email (reserve@drexel.edu) to receive this PW.
In addition the individual DVD’s will also show up as results of keyword searches in the catalog, such as this example.
Enjoy!
Tim Siftar
This database is a revised version of the 1997 State Postsecondary Structures Sourcebook that was converted into an interactive database with information about the postsecondary governance structures in each state. Generate profiles of individual state postsecondary governance structures, comparisons between them, or check out a few of their predetermined reports. Published by the Education Commission of the States (www.ecs.org). It’s a good start on that MSHE510 assignment.
As a second step, find the website for your state’s agency. (The directory on the SHEEO website has handy links to all states.) Study your agency’s website carefully. What does the “About Us” link reveal? For example, on the page for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Ed , it lists their mission statement and summary of powers.
If there is no helpful “About Us” section on your state system’s site, I recommend using the Google Advanced Search feature “Search within a site or domain” and paste in the homepage of your target state system, then use keywords such as “governance” or “powers” to come up with your answers.
As an afterthought, I noticed at the bottom of the mass.edu pages they have a “related link” to an informative section of the Massachusetts General Law that was enacted by state legislators to create their system. Wading through the legal language can help clarify any details that are not revealed on your agency’s website. If your agency doesn’t include a link to the legal statute that created them, it is possible to find via Drexel’s subscription to Lexis Nexis as I have detailed in the Higher Education Research Guide.
Lastly, I understand that you need statistics on the high school graduation rate for your chosen state. Whenever you hear “education and statistics” in the same sentence, you should think of the Federal National Center for Education Statistics website. While there are certainly other places to find this data, their report entitled “High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the US: 2007” is the definitive source that all the others will cite. Table #12 entitled: “—Averaged freshman graduation rate of public high school students, by state: School year 2005–06″ seems right.
I’ll update this blog with a posting about your upcoming historical assignment next week.
