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PSYC 100: Foundations of Psychology (HC) Spring 2024 - Media Assignment

Psychology 100: Foundations of Psychology (LaTourrette, Schacherer)

Popular Literature Versus Scholarly Literature

  Popular Scholarly
Author Staff writer; journalist Expert in the field; known credentials
Audience General public Scholars, researchers
Language Little technical language or subject-specific jargon Uses technical language and subject-specific jargon
Coverage Broad topics; shallow coverage; shorter length Narrow topics; in-depth coverage; longer length
Documentation Usually no bibliography; may have links throughout Bibliography present
Peer-reviewed? No Usually

Primary Literature Versus Review Literature

Scholarly literature then falls into two categories: primary literature and review literature

Primary literature (AKA primary research articles AKA empirical articles AKA research studies)     

  • Reports the findings of original research done by the authors of the article.
     
  • Usually published in peer-reviewed journals.
     
  • Poses a research question or states a hypothesis.
     
  • ​To determine whether or not you've found a research study, scan the article (or even just the abstract). Look for an introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections.

Review literature

  • Review articles in the sciences summarize previously reported findings rather than present new findings, often pulling together the findings of multiple research studies. In doing so, review literature often gives a broader view of the current state of understanding in a given topic area.

How do I find an article about a research study?

  • There's no perfect way to find research studies. A safe bet is to use the word "study" as one of your search words.

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