SPCE 292: Treatment and Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders

This guide is meant to accompany SPCE 292 assignments.

When you're doing academic research, start on the Ball State University Libraries' homepage.  Then look for the Databases link.  Use the options under the "Subjects" drop-down menu to explore the available resources.

There are two principle research databases in the field of applied behavior analysis: ERIC (under the Education category) and APA PsycINFO (under the Psychology category).  Try both of them, but depending on your topic, you may find that one is more helpful than the other.

While you can use the same general search techniques in both databases, be alert for differences in terms used.

The words you use as your search terms have a big effect on the relevance of the results that you get.  So choose carefully!

• Start with terms used in the topic description.
• Then think of other ways you can describe that topic such as: 
  • direct synonyms (ex. teenagers, adolescents)
  • related terms (ex. mainstreaming, inclusion)
  • broader or more specific terms (ex. autism, developmental disorders)

• It may be helpful to consult:
  • a thesaurus,
  • class readings,
  • titles or description of articles you find in a database that look promising.  Subject headings are super-helpful!

To search like a pro, use the CHOP, DROP, and OR technique.

First, CHOP your topic into the different concepts involved.

• Concepts: telehealth, parent training, behavior analysis, autism

Next, DROP each concept into a separate search box on an Advanced Search screen.

Then think of whether there are different spellings, synonyms, or related words for each concept and type them in (if there are), using OR between them, and putting quotation marks around phrases or 2 or more words.  For our example:

• telehealth or telemedicine
• "parent training" or "caregiver training"
• "behavior analysis" or "applied behavior analysis" or ABA
• autism

Here's how those terms might look in the APA PsycInfo search boxes:

This allows you to cast your search net wide so the results include writings from authors who use slightly different ways to describe the topic.

Unlike Google and OneSearch, library research databases like ERIC and APA PsycInfo assign subject headings to each record, indicating the focus of the article.

When you're trying to come up with good terms to search on, the Subjects field is the place to look!

When searching in a database, put quotes around phrases of two or more words where it's important to keep the words together.  Then your words will be searched as a unit; it prevents the database from searching for the words individually.

So, when searching on a topic this can be important.  Here are some examples:

• "zero tolerance"
• "experimental function"
• "applied behavior analysis"

It's also helpful when searching for a title -- of a governmental act, an organization, an article, as shown here:

• "education for all handicapped children"
• "national autism center"
• "evidence-based practice in autism educational research: can we bridge the research and practice gap"

Getting Help With Your ABA Library Research (1:23)

3 Databases in 3 Minutes (3:06)

Using CHOP, DROP, and OR Search Strategy (3:21)

Finding an Article I Need Using OneSearch (1:31)

Browsing ABA Journals to Find Useful Articles (2:26)

Searching Inside a Specific ABA Journal (1:38)

Requesting a "Citation Online" Article Using OneSearch (2:37)

Help Finding More Results (2:30)

Help Finding Fewer Results (3:03)