To find a quantitative research study that uses a statistical test, search the research database named Academic Search Complete, accessible from the Alphabetical List of Research Databases here: http://library.csuohio.edu/research/databases/index.html

To search from home or off-campus, you will need a Library PIN. If you don’t have a Library PIN yet, then you can create one on the My Account page here: https://scholar.csuohio.edu/patroninfo~S0

Before you start searching, decide on a topic and brainstorm your keywords. Think of synonyms and related terms. What are some possible variables that could be studied? You will try searching on different keywords and combinations of terms to find information. I have been successful finding quantitative research studies on college students. You can use keywords like correlation, correlational, association, and relationship in your search. When searching, you can choose TI Title in the dropdown box that says Select a Field (optional). The database will look for your search terms in the TITLE of the item.

When you access Academic Search Complete, enter your main keywords into the separate search boxes and connect them with the operator AND. For example:

Under the Limit your results section of the database, turn the checkmark ON next to Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals. In the peer review process, an article is assessed by experts in the same subject area before being accepted by the journal for publication. You may also want to limit your results by Published Date to find the most current research.

Once you retrieve a list of search results, you must review the results to identify quantitative research studies. You may have to open up and review a lot of articles before you find a good one! Be patient and persistent.

Many articles will be available full text inside the database, either in HTML or PDF format. You can read, print, email, or save the articles. Also use the Find It! and/or Full Text Finder links inside the database to connect to the full text of articles.

Here are some tips to help you identify quantitative research studies that use statistical tests.

Look at the title of the article. Words like Association, Correlation, Experiment, or Relationship in the title of the article probably indicate a quantitative research study that uses a statistical test. Do NOT use an article that is a Review, Literature Review, Systematic Review, or Meta-Analysis -- they are not appropriate for this article review assignment!

Review the Subjects assigned to articles. These Subjects tell you what the article is about. If a statistical test is used, it is sometimes listed as a Subject.

Read the abstract (short summary) of the article. The abstract should indicate the type of research that was conducted. You should know from the abstract if the article is a quantitative research study--although the authors may not explicitly state that "this is a quantitative research study using a statistical test".

Open the article. Does it include a Methods or Methodology section? Does it include sections on Results and Discussion? It should be clear that a study uses a statistical test (like ANOVA, Chi-Square, correlation, regression, etc.) by reviewing the Methods, Results, and Discussion sections of the article. Does the article include inferential statistics? Remember, you are not just looking for frequencies or percentages.

Research databases contain plenty of articles. Your challenge will be to find a quantitative research study using a statistical test that is straightforward! Review several of them until you find one that will be interesting to read and easy enough to understand to answer the questions for your assignment.

Good luck!