Background Information & Statistics
Resources for Finding Background Information
Links to relevant databases useful for finding full text background information in academic level electronic sources.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. Provides searchable full-text e-book versions of over 3,500 reference works, including multi-volume encyclopedias, biographical collections, business plan handbooks, company history compilations, consumer health references, and specialized handbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. in a wide range of subject areas. - Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window Covers a wide range of controversial topics and results may include sources such as magazine, newspaper or journal articles, government documents, political position papers, public policy statements, legal and legislative materials, pamphlets, statistical data, biographies, court cases, and links websites.
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window Full-text detailed reports on controversial social, economic, political, educational, health, environmental, technology, and current topics. Each report includes an abstract, overview, background summary, current situation, outlook, special focus, chronology, pro/con, and bibliography.
- Oxford Reference This link opens in a new windowCollection of 260+ Reference books; including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and books of quotations, includes resources in a wide range of fields.
Social Services Statistics and Government Information
Use these sites to search for information about social services, statistics, and other government information related to human services
Population, housing, economic, and geographic statistics, the latest economic indicators, and some historical census data back to 1790. Includes Explore Data Main page, American Community Survey, State & County QuickFacts, and the most recent Economic Census. Access to census data sets. Full-text subject reports.
Center for Disease Control statistics.
CSU Fullerton Center for Demographic Research
Accurate and timely information regarding population, housing and employment. Focuses mainly on, but is not limited to, demographics in Orange County, California.
Kidsdata.org
A public service of the Lucille Packard Foundation for Children's Health which advocates for the health and well being of children.
A gateway for exploring public data on the United States.
Newspaper Search for Statistics and Background Information
- US Newsstream This link opens in a new windowProvides access to many major U.S. and international newspapers, including local titles (LA Times, Orange County Register) and national titles.
- Los Angeles Times: 1996-present This link opens in a new window Provides full-text (HTML text, not PDF) of the 'Los Angeles Times' newspaper. Searchable by keyword, subject, author, and other means. Provides a Topic Guide of subjects, and has a Search Alert service. No images (charts, graphs, photos) are included.
- Orange County Register This link opens in a new windowAccess to the Orange County Register via the California Custom News Collection (Newsbank). This link is to all the formats that are available in Newsbank.
Statistics From the Internet
Internet Searching
Please read the information below to learn how you can construct a search of government Web sites in Google for information on your research topic.
To search education Web sites, please type: site:.edu [skipping a space and then entering your search term(s)]
For a search of organization Web sites, please type: site:.org [skipping a space and then entering your search term(s)]
Additional Tip
As always, please take the time to evaluate your sources.
Sample Keywords for Statistics
As you look for statistical information, some keywords you may want to include in different searches are:
statistic, data, prevalence, incidence, survey, rate, demographic, population, characteristic, trend, sample
Sample Search Strategies for Statistics
The following sample searches are for statistics related to childhood obesity from government Web sites. Please remember the option to search organization and education Web sites as well.
In addition, please remember to use different search terms and to try different searches as needed in order to find helpful information for your assignment. In cases where the statistics are not recent, please note the source providing the statistics and search for the Web site of that source (e.g., a government agency) so that you may continue your research on that Web site for more recent data.
As always, please take the time to evaluate your sources.
Sample Search #1
site:.gov "childhood obesity" data
Sample Search #2
site:.gov children "healthy eating" survey
Sample Search #3
site:.gov "obesity in children" statistics California
Journal Articles
Complete List of HUSR Databases
Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT)
Boolean operators help you connect your search terms and build relationships.
- AND - Communicates that you are interested in finding information covering all search terms that are connected by this Boolean operator. It also helps to narrow results.
- OR - May be used within a search box to connect the search terms you are interested in exploring. This Boolean operator also helps to increase the possibility of obtaining more results.
- NOT - Placed before a search term that represents a topic or concept you are not interested in exploring. This Boolean operator, in effect, is one way to filter out unwanted results.
Truncation
This search strategy helps you find results that include the same root, or stem, of a word.
A common symbol is the asterisk (*).
For exampe, the use of employ* in a search box would look for results containing words such as employment, employer(s), and employee(s).
What concepts would the use of educat* represent?
