Welcome! This session will provide an overview of the research resources and strategies that can be used when conducting business research. Many of these research tips will also be applicable to courses that you take outside the Faculty of Business. 1
This session will cover many of the topics needed to complete your coursework. By the end of this session, you will be able to identify different types of secondary sources frequently used in business research find articles, reports & other secondary sources in research databases to construct a search get more help 2
There are two main types of sources - primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources are materials containing first-hand information, created by someone with direct experience. Primary sources do not analyze or interpret other materials. In a business context, primary source examples include interviews, surveys, focus groups, or observational research conducted by you. Secondary sources are materials containing second-hand information, taken from someone or something else. Secondary sources describe, summarize, analyze or evaluate primary source materials. In a business context, secondary source examples include articles, books, reports and videos created by others. In this course, you are only expected to use secondary sources for your research. In other words, if you didn t witness or create the information yourself, consider it a secondary source. 3
There are a variety of secondary sources that can be used for research. Listed on this slide are examples of some of the most common types of secondary sources used in business research. Included are articles from periodicals such as magazines, newspapers and journals company reports such as those written by analysts in banks and investment organizations and annual reports issued by the company itself Other examples include directories, industry reports, statistics, web pages and more For this course, you are expected to use more than one type of secondary source for your research. Each of the items on this slide would be considered a different type of secondary source. In other words, a scholarly journal article is one type of secondary source. A popular magazine article is another type of secondary source. A book would be another type and so on. 4
This slide illustrates some of the secondary sources commonly used in business. If you re fortunate, the source type will be clearly identified on the material itself as in many of these examples. The words annual report, company profile and industry report appear on the cover pages of these sources so identification is fairly straightforward. In other cases, the appearance, format or context of the information will help you deduce the secondary source type. For instance, a lengthy document issued by a commercial publisher is probably a book; numbers, tables and charts are typically statistics; moving pictures with audio usually suggest a video; and content found on the web could be a web page, but it could also be something else like an article from a periodical 5
Pictured are some periodicals that are comprised of articles. Periodicals are publications that are published in regular intervals and produced on an ongoing basis. Publications that typically fall in this category are popular (or general interest) magazines such as Fortune and Fast Company trade (or industry) magazines such as CPA magazine and Harvard Business Review newspapers such as the Globe & Mail and Financial Times scholarly or academic journals such as the Journal of Marketing Management and Journal of Business Ethics When seen in their physical format, it may be easier to distinguish which of these periodicals is a magazine and which is a newspaper. When viewed online, these publications can look identical, so it s important to know what characterizes each type of periodical so that the secondary source type can be correctly identified. 6
Each periodical type has specific characteristics or features, some of which are outlined in the chart on the next two slides. When presented with a periodical, review the nature of its content and the background of its authors and publishers. 7
In addition, check the periodical s frequency, its use of abstracts or summaries, the length of its articles, the complexity of its language or writing, its review process, its use of bibliographies, and its volume of advertisements. 8
For example, here s an article from The Wall Street Journal. It s a short article written on a topic that would probably be of interest to a mainstream audience. It is written by two authors associated with the Wall Street Journal, a publication published by Dow Jones & Company Although a date is provided, the frequency of the periodical is unclear from the article itself. Abstracts, references, photos and ads are absent. Based on this information, is the Wall Street Journal a newspaper, popular magazine, trade magazine or scholarly journal? Although the word journal appears in its title, the Wall Street Journal is a newspaper. In this instance, journal is used to mean chronicle or diary rather than scholarly journal. The characteristics noted also suggest that this is an article from a newspaper. 9
If you were still unsure of the periodical type, you could try exploring the publication for clues and answers. You could also search for the publication title in Ulrichsweb, a global serials directory available via the Library s website. Look up the name of the publication and if an entry exists, review the Basic Description. The Serial Type section will identify the type of periodical. In this case, Ulrichs confirms that the Wall Street Journal is indeed a newspaper. 10
With some understanding of different secondary source types, we can now turn our attention to finding articles, reports and other secondary sources. What resources can be used? Free search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo can be great tools for finding secondary sources and should be used in business research, especially when searching for current trends and events. The latest news about a company, executive, product or service will almost always appear on the web and in social media before it appears anywhere else. The sources found with free search engines can be useful, but it can be challenging to filter the results and find the most reliable and reputable ones. As such, you should also use the research databases that are made available through the Library. 11
What are research databases and what makes them so useful? Databases are are searchable collections of information that have a well defined scope. Databases will indicate which sources, geographies and dates are covered. Databases can be subject specific or multi-disciplinary. The Library subscribes to over 400 databases, some covering all disciplines, some covering very specific ones such as finance or psychology Databases can contain one or more source types. The Library has some databases that only retrieve company financials, others that only contain industry reports, while others may include articles, books, and reports together. 12
Databases also support very precise and systematic searching. They have numerous filtering and sorting options that can be utilized to refine results. The content in databases is selected and organized by people (rather than robots). This vetting process helps ensure that information is coming from authoritative sources. Lastly, most of the content in databases is not freely available on the open web. If you rely exclusively on free search engines, you would be missing out on a lot of valuable content. The libraries spend over $12 million dollars a year on collections, so it s worth taking advantage of these databases while you re a student at McMaster. Overall, using databases can accelerate and improve the quality of your research. 13
All of the Library s databases should be accessed through the Library s home page at library.mcmaster.ca Using this path will ensure that you are able to access the databases both on and offcampus with your MAC ID credentials. There are many ways to access the databases from the home page, but the most straightforward method is to select the Databases tab. To find a specific database, such as Business Premium Collection, go to the first box, type in the database name, and click the Search button. To find a database by browsing, go to the second box and select a broad subject area from the drop-down menu. There are approximately 50 subjects listed, 5 of which are related to business and displayed on the slide. The Library subscribes to over 100 databases useful for business research. If the Databases tab generates a list that is too overwhelming to sift through, you can consult the Top Business Databases guide which includes about 25 of our most popular databases. 14
Some of our top business databases are identified on this slide. For this course, the most relevant ones, will likely be: Business Source Premier Business Premium Collection Factiva When you select one of these databases from this guide or from the Databases tab, you will be taken to a description of that database outlining its scope and coverage. 15
In this example, a description of Business Premium Collection is displayed. The highlighted sections indicate that this database covers all business topics and includes articles from all periodical types, as well books, industry reports and other secondary sources. It includes both current and historical content dating back as far as the 1800 s. Reading these descriptions are especially useful when you are new to a database and need to assess whether it will satisfy your research criteria. Once you ve settled on a database, click the database name or Connect button in the description. You may be prompted to key in your MAC ID, depending on whether you are on or offcampus. Once you ve input your credentials, you should be able to access the database and search its contents. If you experience any connection difficulties, please contact the Library for assistance. 16
Before searching one of the Library s research databases, it s important to take the time to plan and construct your search carefully and correctly. Rather than searching your topic as presented, identify the main concepts of your topic; develop a list of keywords that describe your concepts; then combine the keywords using Boolean operators and modifiers. The next few slides will demonstrate these steps with examples. 17
If my research topic involves assessing human resources management at the Amazon corporation, I could break the topic down into 3 main concepts or ideas. human resources management and amazon 18
Now that I have my main concepts, I can list other words that express the same or similar idea. By doing so, the comprehensiveness of my search will improve. In this example, I ve picked HR, personnel, employee, staff and talent as synonyms for human resources. For management, the terms administration, development and planning were selected as related words. And common variations of the Amazon company name have also been noted. If you have trouble developing a list of keywords, you may want to consult a thesaurus or do some preliminary searching in a search engine or database to see which words are frequently used to describe your concepts. 19
When you have your concepts and keywords established, you can combine them into a search string using Boolean operators and modifiers. The AND operator will find ALL the words specified. The OR operator will find ANY of the words specified. The NOT operator will remove unwanted words. When the AND and NOT operators are used, your results will decrease in number. When OR is used, your results will increase in number. If a mix of Boolean operators are used in a single search string, words are automatically processed from left to right. The AND operator will be processed before the OR operator, and the NOT operator will be processed last. Parentheses should be placed around words using the OR operator so that anything enclosed within parentheses is processed first 20
Because databases support precise searching, they can be less forgiving than a free search engine when it comes to typos, spelling and word variations. Most databases search for words exactly as they have been entered. If a word is misspelled, helpful suggestions may not be offered. If you want singular and plural versions of a word retrieved, it may not happen automatically. Zero results will often be the outcome, with no explanation. As such, it is important to familiarize yourself with the modifiers and symbols that will let you capture and control word variations in databases. To automatically search for variant spellings and word endings, you can use a wildcard symbol, such as an asterisk, in the middle or end of your search words. To search for phrases, place quotes around your words to find them in the exact order specified. 21
Once you ve planned out your research, you can piece together your search string using the search strategies discussed. This search string incorporates the keywords, operators and modifiers presented on the preceding slides. Once a search string is formulated, it can be executed by almost any research database or search engine. 22
The search interfaces of databases may vary, but the same basic search conventions apply. Here s the free-text search screen in the database Factiva. It contains the search string developed for our sample research topic. Factiva also has features that let you modify your search by date, source, region and other criteria. 23
Here s the Advanced Search screen in the database Business Premium Collection. It has a more guided approach to searching by offering drop-down menus for Boolean operators. Our search statement could be submitted in a single text box, or it could be divided into several text boxes as illustrated. Limits by date, field and other criteria are also available. 24
Many databases will often let you filter your search results by date, subject, language, publication name and source type a particularly handy filter when you re trying to find different secondary sources for your coursework. 25
Any sources used in your papers or presentations should be cited. For this course, you are expected to use the latest version of the Citation Guide for Business which is based on the Chicago Manual of Style, 17 th edition. The Citation Guide for Business, available on the Library s website and elsewhere, includes numerous examples of how to cite different secondary sources in a variety of formats. As you do your research, it is very beneficial to track and save the bibliographic details of your sources for citation purposes. These details include elements such as author, title, publication name and date. If your source information is incomplete, it can be tedious and time consuming to find again, so it s best to be thorough about these details right from the start. Share the sources you find with your group and review the formatting of citations in your Notes and Bibliography to ensure that they follow the rules outlined in the Citation Guide for Business. 26
Keep in mind that different secondary sources are cited differently. For instance, journal article citations require an author, article title, journal title, volume number, issue number, publication date and pages. If the article is online, an access date and URL are also needed. Book citations require a different set of citation elements including author, book title, place of publication, publisher and publication date. Citation requirements and examples for many types of secondary sources are included in the Citation Guide for Business. Make sure you know what secondary source type you have so it can be cited correctly. 27
Also, when it comes to citing a source, you need to cite the format consulted. If you used the print version of an article, that is the format that should be cited. This slide shows the same article cited three different ways according to the citation requirements for that format. The citing differences are noted in red. Remember the secondary source is always the same regardless of the format. The format of the item doesn t alter the secondary source type. A newspaper article, whether it s online or in print, is still a newspaper article. 28
If you re feeling overwhelmed, know that research help is nearby. The library has put together several course specific and general research guides for business. They are available through the Library s home page. Go to library.mcmaster.ca and select the Research Guides tab. Choose All Guides and then Business to consult the list of available guides. 29
If you d like to consult with someone, please visit us in person at the Innis Library or get in touch with us by email, phone or live chat. Good luck with your research and we hope to see you in the library! 30