COM 120: Intro to Interpersonal Communication

Sample Search Terms:

1. "looking glass self"
2. "development of self" and "family relationships"
3. "self-disclosure"
4. "interpersonal communication" and "looking glass self"

Search Strategies:

• Use Boolean Operators to connect search terms or keywords: AND, OR, NOT
• Use quotation marks for exact phrases
• Use database limiters to refine searches: full-text, peer-reviewed journals, published date, publication type, etc.

The research requirements for "The Creation of Self (Looking Glass Paper)" are to use at least three, credible outside sources.

Where do you start? 

An excellent source for magazines, journals and newspapers, including peer-reviewed and scholarly works is the ProQuest Central Database in NCLIVE (see link below). This is a multi-disciplinary database that covers over 175 subjects. 

To use the ProQuest Central search box effectively, it is important to use keywords and to use the search strategies (see keyword sample and search strategies in the column to the left).  

It's also important to note the "peer reviewed" limiter under the search box. If you check this box, you will limit your searches to only those from peer reviewed (or scholarly) sources. Peer reviewed journals are publications that include only those articles that have been written by experts in the field and reviewed by other experts in the same field. The ultimate purpose of these journals is to maintain the integrity of science by filtering out invalid or poor quality articles. These types of articles tend to be more credible than other non-scholarly sources, such as newspapers and magazines. Please note that peer reviewed journals may also contain items that are not peer reviewed, such as letters to the editor, opinion pieces, and book reviews. Even if you check the peer review limiter, you still need to examine the items carefully to be sure they are articles.

Let's use the sample keyword search "looking glass self" as an example. Without using the "peer reviewed" limiter, you will receive a variety of source types (scholarly journals, dissertations, newspapers, magazines, etc.). If you use the "peer reviewed" limiter, you will receive just sources from scholarly journals. You can see your source types on the left-hand side of the page. Under the source type, you can also limit your search by publication date. 

Now it's your turn to go through the search results to find the best sources for your research paper. Be sure to collect the APA citations for our sources in the tools section in NCLIVE (see NCLIVE Tools video to the left).

For additional information on how to cite in APA, use the research guides under the "APA Citation Help" box. Also, for more information on our to evaluate information sources (credibility), use the videos and PowerPoint presentation in the box at the bottom of this page.