Business School Research skills

The basic questions you need to ask before starting any kind of research are:

• What kind of information do you need?

• What resources are available?
• How to search

Once you have collected your research you need to be aware

• How to evaluate the results

• How to use the results
• How to use your findings ethically and responsibly

And before writing your essay/presentation/dissertation you need to know

• How to communicate or share your findings

• How to use references correctly

What kind of information?

Is it for an essay, a dissertation or a research project?

Should it be up to date (use news sources, articles, business databases) ...
... or a general overview? (use books, journals or encyclopedias)
remember that not everything is online – you may need to use printed sources too
for a dissertation try other library catalogues for more titles – use COPAC, British
Library, Library of Congress – which may be available on inter-library loan

What resources are available?

A huge amount of information is available in a range of different formats:

Print

Books and journals are an essential source of information. Whether you are just looking for
texts recommended on reading lists or starting your own research you can find which books
and journals are available in print at Exeter by using the Library catalogue – either use the
simple Google-style search box at Encore or the full (“classic”) version

Encore allows you to put in whichever search terms you choose; the classic version allows
you to search by journal title, subject terms, author’s name, etc. as well as the standard
keyword option.

Search catalogue –using keywords “tourism management”

Search results – first screen

Note locations –

1: Main Library ; classmark 338.4 etc. (shelved on upper floor); loan type –
NORMAL LOAN (4 week loan); loan type status NOT ON LOAN – this book should be
on the shelf

2: Online version – this is an electronic book. Click on title to get link for access

3: Main Library Ready Text (shelved on entrance floor); loan type – READY TEXT.
Click on title if you want to reserve this book for a specific time
 Electronic journals

Journals or periodicals are published at regular intervals and generally contain articles on
specialised subjects written by academic researchers. Many of the journals are also available
online – and sometimes we do not have them in print. Use the catalogue to find which titles
are available. You can follow the link(s) at the bottom of the page to get access to the full
text. It is best to use the catalogue as some titles may be available on more than one
service. Our main services for electronic journals are EBSCO (or Business Source Complete
for business journals) and JSTOR – an archive service which usually does not have the most
current issues of a journal. Remember that some titles may only be available in printed form.

Search catalogue –using journal title “abacus”

Results screen

This title has been published since 1965 by Sydney University Press (see second
line – Imprint).

The older issues are in store (Roborough basement) and all issues from 1980-2008
are in the Main Library at P-657 A5. Periodicals (classmarks starting with P) are
shelved on the same floor as books with that classmark (in this case on the upper
floor) in a separate sequence after the books at 600-699.

The links take you to the electronic version of this journal. Note the dates after
each link – if you want to see all available issues of this journal use link no. 3 BSC
(Business Source Complete).

Click on the link, then you will be asked to log in with your Exeter username and
password
Choose the year you need from the list on the right of the screen (2005), then
select an issue. You will be able to scroll through the table of contents for that
issue and see abstracts of each article.

Click on PDF Full Text to read the article online or to download it.

Databases

Exeter subscribes to a wide range of specialist databases – each has its own strengths and
special features. If you are searching for articles in a range of journals, use online services
like Business Source Complete (see example below) as this has the text of most of our
business and management journals (over 2,500 titles). Most databases are networked and
can be used anywhere: the Electronic Library portal provides details of each database and
links to the service described. It is always best to use this link as this allows our library
system to authorise you as a subscriber.

Appendix 3: use the Electronic Library: Business Source Complete

From the main Library web page use the popular links to the Electronic Library
If you are already logged in, you will get straight to the next page (below). If not
use the Single Sign On screen to log in with your Exeter username and password

Select either the subject area you are interested in (in this case Business) or the
resource type, e.g. Electronic journals

This will give you a list of all the databases relating to your subject. The most
important are usually highlighted in yellow with a key symbol to show they are key
resources, e.g. Business Source Complete
The search screen allows you to put in any terms you like, e.g. “sustainable
tourism”
And will produce the results for that search with the most recent publications first
To improve your search you can either add extra search terms, or sort the
results to show only articles available in Full text, in Scholarly (Peer
reviewed) Journals) – just tick the box alongside - and articles within a
smaller range of dates (e.g. 2000-2010) by using the date bar at the bottom.
Click on Update Results
As you can see, this reduces the number of hits from 848 to a slightly more
manageable 499! If you want to save these results to a file, or print them off
together, or send them to yourself by e-mail click on Add to folder below each
article you’re interested in. Check what you have saved by clicking on Folder in the
top toolbar. To double check, click on Select all items then choose from the icons
whether to Print, Email or Save the results. The final icon allows you to export the
citations if you are using EndNote, EndNOte Web or any other bibliographic
management package for your references. See the last section in this tutorial for an
explanation.
 Bibliographic databases – for general research on books and articles

While library catalogues generally don’t include references to articles, specialist bibliographic
databases like ISI Web of Knowledge allow you to search for details of books, chapters,
articles and conference papers. Some of these databases also link up to our electronic journal
collections.

See Electronic Library; select resource type Databases to see which are relevant to your
studies.

News sources

Newspapers are useful in researching current issues which may not have been dealt with
by academic writers. Although the University Library has some newspapers in print,
news databases like Nexis UK allow you to search the world’s press in English and many
other European languages. For more information about news sources see the guide at
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/newspapers/

Appendix 3: use the Electronic Library: Nexis UK

Select Nexis UK from the list, click on the link and agree to accept terms and
conditions of access. The search screen automatically defaults to News and will be
set to All English language resources. To select a different search option, click on
the drop-down menu and change, e.g. to UK Broadsheets (which refers to all the
more “serious” UK newspapers. Use any search terms and experiment with options
like business* which will search for business/businesses/businessmen, etc. If you
get more than 3,000 results, either add more search terms of limit your search by
date at the bottom of the screen
As with Business Source Complete you can save the results to print,
download or file by ticking the box by each article and then clicking on View
tagged. To find results from a particular newspaper, click on the title in the
left hand panel. You may notice this does not include the Financial Times or
The Economist. Both of these titles have to be searched separately. Go to the
Sources tab at the top of the search screen, enter financial times or
economist and click on Find Sources
Click on Financial Times (London) and Financial Times Online Archive and then OK-
Continue
From the new search screen, add search terms as before.

It is important to remember that Nexis UK also allows you to search for

information about Companies, Industries or Countries by using the other
tabs at the top of the screen. For more training on how to use this
sophisticated database click on the How do I...? links on the left of the
screen or View tutorials
 Statistics

Statistical data are needed for research in many disciplines and can be found both on
subscription databases and free websites. Some of the most important national and
international statistical databases can be searched online via ESDS (Economic and Social
Data Service) and downloaded to use in your own research. International bodies like the
World Bank and the European Union and national governments are also a valuable source of
free information. For details of what major collections can be found free online see the guide
at http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/statistics/

Business information

Business research needs information of many different kinds, including market research,
country and industry profiles.

To find which databases you can use for your research, see Electronic Library; select subject
area Business to see which will be most useful for particular kinds of research.

Company information

Some of our networked databases are particularly helpful if you want to research individual
companies; see the guide to Researching companies at
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/researchingcompanies/ for more details.
You may also need to use the specialist financial databases which only be used in the
Business School.

Government information
Official publications like government reports, statistics and legislation are a valuable resource
for many areas of research. For full details of how to find them in the Library see the guide to
Official publications at http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/law/officialpublications/

Extensive information about the European Union is available free online. See the guide to
Researching EU law and policy at
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/law/researchingeulaw/

Internet

Although an enormous amount of information is available on the internet by using Google,

internet guides like Intute http://www.intute.ac.uk/ are a good way of finding important and
reliable sources. Intute’s Virtual training suite provides separate tutorials for all academic
disciplines. Go to http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/ to find the tutorial for your subject.

How to search for information

Although you can get good results just by using keywords, it is useful to understand why you
may sometimes get too many, too few or irrelevant results. Every database has different
ways of helping you to improve your searches. It is worth looking at the help pages provided
by most online services and at the short “Essentials” guides to all our databases written by
library staff.

Decide on your search terms

Be prepared to change them depending on the results

If you search online, get to know which special features can help you - eg

o Boolean terms (AND/OR/NOT) for more specific searches

o Truncation (use the root of a word like ethic* to find variants)

o Quotation marks to search for a complete phrase, eg “World Trade

Organization”, “sustainable tourism”

For more details of how to improve your search skills, see the guide at
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/informationskills/searchskills/

Evaluating the results

It is important to know how to evaluate the resources you are using, as many of them are
not reliable enough for your research. While Wikipedia, for instance, can provide a useful
introduction to a subject it is not normally acceptable as an authoritative source for academic
essays.

Check the source – is it reliable? (government, university, etc)

Level of information – is it academic, news or written for the general public?

Databases like Business Source Complete allow you to sort out results from academic
journals or news sources

How up to date is the information? – this is crucial in legal or business information

Is it biased? (from a newspaper, political organization, company, pressure group, etc)

A good online guide is provided by the University of Berkeley in California at

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html and by Exeter at
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/usingtheinternet/evaluatingwebsites/

Using the results

If you are using statistical or financial information you may need to use software to
manipulate the results. Various software programs and packages are available through the IT
Department, including SPSS and Excel. Courses may be run within individual departments to
help you to use them. Many other universities around the world also provide free online
tutorials:

Free and specialised SPSS courses http://pages.infinit.net/rlevesqu/spss.htm

Using Excel http://www.meadinkent.co.uk/

Using results ethically and avoiding plagiarism

You should always credit other people’s work fully by providing complete references;
this applies even when you are summarising an author’s views

Avoid plagiarism – any quotation should be clearly shown and fully referenced

Respect confidentiality if you have acquired information from private sources

Provide a balanced report if your sources may display bias

Find out which referencing style is used in your department from the student
handbook. More information about referencing styles, including online guides, is at
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/informationskills/referencing/

See our guide to Interpreting your reading list for help with citations for different kinds of
document.
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/informationskills/interpretingreadinglists/

Communicating your results

Be aware of different styles for different publications – a report in a newsletter or on a

blog can be more informal than a written report or essay; see Business School guide
at http://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/business-
school/information_for_students/study_skills/essay_writing/ and Academic Services
general guide at
http://services.exeter.ac.uk/cas/employability/askills/essay/index.htm

Network via email, subject groups, blogs, etc to find collaborators or other
researchers interested in the same topics. Our guide to Current awareness at
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/currentawareness/ will give you
more ideas

Referencing your sources correctly

Always ensure that you keep full details of publications, especially if photocopying –
it’s very difficult to find them afterwards

If you refer to websites, download at least the first page and keep a record of the URL
as web pages frequently move or disappear without warning
 If you have used a working paper, conference paper or consultation paper check
before publication that it has not been superseded by a final version. It is worth using
search engines for institutional repositories like BASE http://base.ub.uni-
bielefeld.de/en/index.php or Intute repository search http://www.intute.ac.uk/irs/

The Business School uses the Harvard style, with some local variations. Make
sure you know how to reference correctly – see University of West of England’s
online guide at
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/general/info_study_skills/harvard2.htm

Use software packages like EndNote (also available in a web version which is free to
students), RefWorks or Reference Manager as a way of bringing all your research
together. Although these are fairly complicated, help is provided online – see the
guide to Referencing software at
http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/business/informationskills/referencingsoftwa
re/ - and in courses provided for postgraduates.

Online help pages are provided by most major databases.

Use library web pages http://as.exeter.ac.uk/library/using/help/