Library Guides: IST and MIS at Penn State Harrisburg: HCDD 364W

Research Project

Research Methods

Primary and Secondary Research (Adapted from Purdue OWL)

Primary Research

Primary research is that which you conduct yourself, as opposed to reporting on/examining the research or data collected by others.

When should I conduct primary research?

When you are working on writing about a specific group of people or a specific person.
When you are working on a topic that is relatively new or original and few publications exist on the subject.
To confirm or dispute national results with local trends.

What types of primary research can I conduct?

Interviews. One-on-one or small group question and answer sessions.
Surveys. A form of questioning that is more rigid than interviews and that involve larger groups of people.
Observation. Taking organized notes about occurrences in the world.
Analysis. Collecting data and organizing it in some fashion based on criteria you develop.

Secondary Research

Secondary research may be referred to by many names, including literature review, preliminary research, historical research, background research, desk research, or library research. It involves finding, evaluating, and synthesizing existing research on a particular topic. Despite its name, secondary research is often conducted prior to primary research, because its results are used to justify or create parameters for a primary research project by identifying a need for new research or information. Conducting secondary research helps you develop your primary research topic.

Research Methods and Resources

SAGE Research Methods Core
This database provides a library of research method books and tutorials for both quantitative and qualitative research.

SAGE Research Methods is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. SAGE Research Methods links over 100,000 pages of SAGE's renowned book, journal and reference content with truly advanced search and discovery tools. Researchers can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more. SAGE Research Methods contains content from more than 640 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks, the entire Little Green Book, and Little Blue Book series, two Major Works collating a selection of journal articles, and newly commissioned videos. Our access is to: SRM Core Update 2020-2025; SRM Cases (includes updates through 2025); SRM Cases 2.

Technology Training

LinkedIn Learning
On-Demand, self-paced video tutorials for leading software and applications topics.

Lynda.com, Inc. offers over a thousand video tutorials on leading software topics like Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, SQL, Drupal, audio and video editing applications, ColdFusion, operating systems, and many more. These high-quality tutorials are taught by industry experts and available 24/7 for convenient, self-paced learning.

Scholarly Research

ACM Digital Library
Journals, conference proceedings, and eBooks from the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery).

Full text of every article ever published by ACM.
Business Source Premier
An essential article database for business research providing the full text for more than 2,000 periodicals, including about 1,000 scholarly journals. Covers virtually all disciplines in business and economics, including: accounting, economics, econometrics, finance, marketing, management, MIS, QMM and supply chain management.

An essential article database for business research providing the full text for more than 2,000 periodicals, including about 1,000 scholarly journals. Covers virtually all disciplines in business and economics, including: accounting, economics, econometrics, finance, marketing, management, MIS, QMM and supply chain management.
IEEE Xplore
Articles, conference publications, and eBooks from IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

IEEE Xplore contains the full text of all IEEE & IET conference papers, and standards published since 1988 and all IEEE journals since 1884 & IET journals since 1988. The material can be accessed through a searchable database or by browsing. 100 concurrent users. Inactive users timeout after 15 minutes. NOTE: We do not have access to the following IEEE content: IEEE Draft Standards, IEEE eLearning Library and IEEE English for Engineering. Additionally, we do not have access to various 3rd party content hosted by IEEE.
PsycINFO (via ProQuest)
Primary database for international literature in psychology and related disciplines. It is published by the American Psychological Association and provides coverage from 1840 to the present.

PsycINFO provides access to international literature in psychology and related disciplines. Unrivaled in its depth of psychological coverage and respected worldwide for its high quality, the database is enriched with literature from an array of disciplines related to psychology such as psychiatry, education, business, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, law, linguistics, and social work. Nearly all records contain nonevaluative summaries, and all records from 1967 to the present are indexed using the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms.
Scopus
Scopus is an abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, including scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, covering research topics across scientific and technical disciplines, ranging from medicine and social sciences to arts and humanities. It includes citation data and tools that track, analyze and visualize research productivity and metrics.

Scopus is an abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, including scientific journals, books and conference proceedings, covering research topics across scientific and technical disciplines, ranging from medicine and social sciences to arts and humanities. It includes citation data and tools that track, analyze and visualize research productivity and metrics.

Google Scholar
Search scholarly resources both inside and outside of the Penn State collection. Its citation analysis tools can help you determine an article's influence and find related articles.

Industry Research

SimplyAnalytics
Limited to 3 concurrent users. SimplyAnalytics create maps and reports using extensive demographic data (ie. census, consumer expenditure data) including estimates and projections, business data from D&B and the County Business Patterns Survey (CBP) and marketing data from EASI/MRI and Claritas PRIZM segments (Nielsen). Authorized PSU users must "Sign in as a guest" if they do not wish to register for a personal account. Personal accounts save your preferences, reports, and maps.

Limited to 3 concurrent users. SimplyAnalytics enables non-technical users to quickly create professional quality thematic maps and reports using extensive demographic data (ie. census, consumer expenditure data) including estimates and projections, business data from D&B and the County Business Patterns Survey (CBP) and marketing data from EASI/MRI and Claritas PRIZM segments. SimplyAnlytics turns complex data into valuable information that is easily accessed through an innovative and user-friendly interface. Data is available at the State, Congressional District, County, City, ZIP Code, Census Tract and Block Group level in addition to custom trade area and can be exported as images, shapefiles or in tabular formats. Authorized PSU users must "Sign in as a guest" if they do not wish to register for a personal account. Personal accounts save your preferences, reports, and maps.
Simmons Insights (Replaced Simmons OneView as of July 1, 2019.)
Simmons Insights contains data from the National Consumer Study (NCS), an annual survey of U.S. consumers' buying and media habits. Most recent data available is 3 years old. Users may create customized reports analyzing the demographic and psychographic characteristics of product users and their media behavior. Data comes from the Simmons NCS, which is sent out to samples of the U.S. population several times a year.

Simmons Insights contains data from the National Consumer Study (NCS), an annual survey of U.S. consumers' buying and media habits. Most recent data available is 3 years old. Users may create customized reports analyzing the demographic and psychographic characteristics of product users and their media behavior. Data comes from the Simmons NCS, which is sent out to samples of the U.S. population several times a year. Studies include Simmons Kids, Simmons Teens, and Simmons Connect, which also includes the National Hispanic Consumer Study (NHCS) incorporating the same data as the NCS but asks additional questions of Hispanics. Access is limited to 24 simultaneous users. Please LOG OUT after use.
Mintel
Access 600 market research for the U.S. and European consumer markets which analyze market drivers, trends, market forecasts, market segmentations, demographics, and consumer attitudes and purchasing behaviors. Mintel Market Sizes provides market size, market share and segmentation data for global consumer packaged goods industries.

Provides access to two products. Mintel Academic publishes 600 market research reports each year for the U.S. and European consumer markets. Reports analyze market drivers, trends, market forecasts, market segmentations, demographics, and consumer attitudes and purchasing behaviors. The Trends module in Mintel Academic tracks cutting edge trends and shifts in consumer behavior. Mintel Market Sizes provides market size, market share and segmentation data for global consumer packaged goods industries. No walk-ins allowed.

Research/Consulting Firms and Professional Groups

Nielsen Norman Group
A UX firm founded in 1998 by Dr. Jakob Nielsen and Dr. Don Norman. Coiners of the term “user experience” and developers of Ten Usability Heuristics and led the discount usability movement, while Don and authored The Design of Everyday Things.
Deloitte Digital
Creative consultancy arm of Deloitte Consulting which focuses on customer experience for clients.
McKinsey
Major strategy and consulting firm.
Ideo
Design and consulting firm.
SIGCHI
ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI). Consists of professionals who contribute towards the research and practice of human-computer interaction.
User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA)
Professional group for UX workers. Provides education, guidance and standards on UX for business.