Guide to Searching the Collection

This guide includes tips for searching the Research Connections Collection and navigating the various sections of the Web site, and a description of the fields and types of resources found in the collection. For more information, send an email to contact@researchconnections.org and Research Connections staff will respond within 48 hours.

Resource Types in the Research Connections Collection
Child Care Bureau/OPRE Projects Research initiatives sponsored by the Child Care Bureau or the Office of Planning, Research & Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Datasets Raw data compiled by researchers that users can analyze using statistical applications
Executive Summaries Brief summaries of major findings and recommendations from larger, more detailed reports of original research
Fact Sheets & Briefs Brief, descriptive summaries of statistical results, research findings, and/or their policy implications
Instruments Data collection tools and measures used in child care and early education research reports, datasets, and major research projects in the Research Connections collection
Literature Reviews Resources that summarize and critique various reports on a particular topic, to provide a broad understanding of the status of research and knowledge on the topic
Major Research Projects Projects that encompass data collection in various ways over time and often in multiple sites, are significant in scope, and result in various reports
Reports & Papers Reports of original research, and papers dealing with theoretical issues relevant to child care and early education
Tables of Findings Created or commissioned by Research Connections, these tables on specific topics describe the methods, data and findings of all original research reports cited in an accompanying literature review
Bibliographies Descriptive lists of books, journal articles, reports, and/or other materials, usually sharing a common subject, author, time period, or other theme
Book Reviews Critical descriptions of newly printed books, usually by experts in the field
Methods Resources discussing research design, data collection methods, instruments, and data analysis techniques that address issues specific to the field of child care and early education
Other materials Other materials that do not fit into any of the categories above

Ways to Search

Searching is case-insensitive, so you may enter words in upper or lower case; for example a search for the term "Faces" will retrieve all documents containing the terms FACES, Faces or faces. The search will also look for both singular and plural forms of your search term. Commonly used words such as 'the' 'of' 'and' 'for' etc. will be ignored.

If you are searching for a phrase that you want to match exactly, enclose the words in quotation marks ("). For example, if you enter the words English as a second language, the search will look for documents in which all those words appear but not necessarily in the same order. However, if you enter the same words enclosed in quotation marks, "English as a second language," you will only get those resources in which the words appear next to each other. This will result in a smaller set of results that will contain more relevant documents.

Filtering your Search Results

The search results page displayed after you have entered your search offers you several pre-set filters that can be used to limit the set of results to those resources most relevant to your search. These filters appear along the right hand side of the search results page under the heading "FILTERS". You can use filters to limit your results to:

  • Articles published in peer reviewed journals
  • A specific type of resource, --such as reports or papers, fact sheets or briefs, executive summaries, datasets, instruments, etc.
  • Resources by a particular author
  • Resources that were published in a given year
  • Resources in which date were collected in a specific state

Only filters that will produce results are displayed on the right side of your search results page. Also the number of results you would get is indicated in parentheses following the filter values. The most frequently occurring values appear on the screen. If the list of filter values is longer than about 5 items, the word "more" will appear at the bottom of this list; you can click on "more" to expand the list on the current page. Some very long lists, such as the result of an author filter if there are many authors will include a "view all" option.

The Current Search section displays the terms and filters used to produce the results shown on the page. To remove a filter click on the word "remove" next to the term. The search will expand back to the results before you applied the filter.

Sorting Search Results

Unless you change it, the default sort order presents the most "relevant" resources first. In this case, relevance is a measure of how well a particular resource reflects the search terms entered and is calculated by the search tool. Relevance order presents the most useful resources near the top of the list. Documents where the search term appears more often are considered more relevant.

To sort by criteria other than "relevance" you may change the order in which the results are presented by using the "Sort by" option in the gray bar at the top and bottom of the search results list. Sort options include: Title, Publication Date, and items most recently added to the Research Connections collection.

Saving Your Search

You may also save your search and register to be notified when new items meeting your search criteria are added to the Research Connections collection. At the bottom of the Filters column on the right side of the Search Results page, there is a "Save your search" option. This will link to a Web or email based service that will send you alerts when the results of your saved search change.

Browsing the Collection

A second way to access the resources contained in the Research Connections collection is to use the "Browse" capability. Browsing provides users with a list of words or phrases, listed alphabetically or topically and links to the resources that contain them. Browsing is useful when you are unsure what words were used to express a concept in the collection, when a concept may have been expressed in several different ways, or when you wish to access a particular author or state, without looking for specific content.

You can "Browse by":

  • Author which includes Editor
  • State in which data were collected
  • Topic which are assigned by Research Connections to assist exploration of the collection

These browse options will show you the range of possibilities represented in the collection and will link to the pertinent resources. For example you could browse the state list and click on the entry for Michigan to see all the reports and studies in the collection dealing with data collected in Michigan. However, if you have a specific search term or phrase in mind, using the search feature may yield more results that relying on the list of browsing terms.

Accessing the Full Text of a Resource

In the upper right corner of the page, a box will appear with a variety of options for obtaining full text. Up to four options will appear; not all options are present for all publications, and for some publications the full text may not be available at all.

Please note that access to full text published in journals is almost entirely dependent upon your institution's subscription services. Scholarly journals seldom provide free access to the full text of their articles. If your institution hasn't paid for access, you may have to pay to obtain the full text. That said, many non-journal resources are freely available to the general public.

screenshot of full text box

1 Download from Research Connections. This document is available for you to download directly from the Research Connections site. Selecting this option will open up a PDF version of the document.

Research Connections uses Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) as the primary delivery medium for full text resources available to users for download. Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free product available from Adobe, Inc., must be installed on your machine to view resource files.

2 Obtain from the original source. This item is freely available to the public through another Web site. Selecting this option will link you directly to the document at another Web site.

3 Search for an electronic copy from an online subscription service. This option will be most useful to anyone at an institution that subscribes to online journals. Based on your computer's network address, selecting this option will take you to the full text of the document, if your institution has paid for access to it.

4 Query Google Scholar. Selecting this option will link you to the Google Scholar search results for this document. An abstract or summary of the document may be available at no charge and payment may be required to access the full text.

Feedback on your Search

The search capability is an important feature of the RC site. Your general feedback about how the search worked for you will help our efforts to improve the quality of our search capability.

Fields in the Research Connections Collection
Abstract For Reports & Papers, Datasets, Major Research Projects, and Literature Reviews, contains an informative, non-evaluative description (250 words or fewer) of the research project and its findings, written in language accessible to a wide audience. Abstracts commonly contain a sentence describing the topic or problem being researched or the purpose, thesis, or organizing construct and the scope of the paper; information on the participants, including pertinent characteristics; the design and methods or sources used; the findings, including statistical significance levels, if applicable; and conclusions reached by the authors.
Country For Reports & Papers, Datasets, Major Research Projects, and Literature Reviews, contains the name of the country or countries covered by a study
State For Reports & Papers and Major Research Projects, contains the name of the U.S. state where data were collected for a study
Geographic Unit For Reports & Papers, describes the lowest level of geographic aggregation covered by the data (Country, State, City, Town, Neighborhood, Zip Code area, Census tract, etc.)
Data For Major Research Projects, describes all types of information collected from observations and analyzed during the research study, as well as methods utilized for observing, measuring, and recording information.
Design and Method For Major Research Projects, describes research design and methods for data collection
Research Questions For Major Research Projects, presents the overarching research question(s), followed by the more specific research questions, if applicable
Sample For Major Research Projects, describes type of sample, sample design, and sample size
Unit Of Analysis For Datasets and Major Research Projects, the basic unit of analysis or observation, or for Instruments, the unit of analysis the instrument can be used to assess (Individuals, Dyads, Families/households, Groups, Institutions/organizations, Administrative units, Social artifacts, etc.)
Date Of Collection For Datasets, provides the date(s) when data for the research were collected
Kind Of Data For Datasets, describes the types of data collected in the study
Universe For Datasets, describes the population studied; for Instruments, describes the population that the instrument can be applied to in order to collect data and describe or draw conclusions
Administration Procedures For Instruments, provides general description of the procedure for administration/use
Administration Time For Instruments, the average administration time
Minority Populations For Instruments, describes suitability for minority populations
Scores For Instruments, gives the range of valid scores on the instrument
Reliability For Instruments, describes reliability measures
Special Needs For Instruments, describes suitability for special needs populations
Standardization For Instruments, indicates if the instrument has been standardized
Training Requirements For Instruments, includes training requirements for using the instrument properly
Translated Versions For Instruments, notes languages other than English in which instrument is available
Use Restrictions For Instruments, may indicate any restriction, as indicated in the manual or documentation, regarding the use of an instrument, or identifies situations or circumstances in which or subpopulations with which an instrument should not be used because it yields unreliable and/or invalid data
Uses For Instruments, a description of the appropriate uses of the instrument (instructional, assessment, etc.)
Validity For Instruments, provides measures or discussion of validity
Explore Other Sections of the Site
Understand the scope of the Research Connections Collection Visit the Scope and Sources of the Collection page in the Research Collection section to learn about Research Connections collection development policies, and view lists of journals and Web sites used by Research Connections staff to select resources for the database

Find information on assessing research quality
Learn about research methods Visit the Research Methods page in the Understanding Research section for information on topics such as research design, data collection, and data analysis
Understand child care terminology Visit the Child Care & Early Education Glossary in the Understanding Research section for definitions of terms used to describe aspects of child care and early education practice and policy
Understand research terminology Visit the Research Glossary in the Understanding Research section for definitions of terms used in conducting social science and policy research

Find statistical information
  • Use the links provided in the State Data Tools section to locate statistical information on U.S. states
  • Visit the Statistical Sources page in the Datasets & Statistics section to access a list of links for summary statistical information, including demographics, economic conditions, early care and education statistics, and program and policy statistics
Learn about federally funded research Visit the Child Care Bureau/OPRE Projects, Good Start, Grow Smart Interagency Work Group, and the Federal Research Links pages by selecting the links on the Research Connections home page, for a summary of research initiatives from the U.S. government, and for quick access to resources in the database published or funded by the U.S. Child Care Bureau/OPRE
Learn about state and federal policies Visit the Policy Resources section to access to access various policy relevant resources related to early care and education
Learn about collaborative activities Visit the Collaborative Projects section to access materials from partnerships of researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the field of child care and early education
Contribute research Visit the Contribute Research section to learn how to contribute research reports, instruments, measures, data, and other related materials, and to learn about the benefits of contributing
Contact Research Connections Visit the Staff page to access a complete listing of staff names, addresses, and phone numbers. Send an email to contact@researchconnections.org to ask a question, report a problem, or share comments, and Research Connections staff will respond within 48 hours
Join the Research Connections listserv Join our Email List to receive bi-weekly updates on additions and enhancements to the Web site, including announcements of new Research Connections publications, information on events and opportunities related to child care and early education, and notifications about Research Connections data trainings, presentations, and exhibits