SS1010: Australian People: Indigeneity & Multiculturalism: The research phase

So how do you find good additional journal articles to support your essay?

Well one of the best ways is to combine the focus words from our essay question and the key words from the theme you selected in the book and put them into OneSearch on the library home page.

For example, if I am searching for articles on structural violence and inequality my search words might look something like this:

"Indigenous exclusion" AND "Australian Government" AND "structural violence" AND "stolen generations"

You may have to try a few different combinations of search words to really land on the topic you want, but don’t give up once you find it you're set, and your essay will be much easier to write.

Don’t forget you need to discuss the impacts of social exclusion on individuals and at level of society. Lees’s story is a case study but your research needs to move beyond individual psychological explanations.

You can learn more about breaking down your topic and developing search strategies on the InfoSkills Toolkit.

If you feel like a more structured approach to reading journal articles would be helpful to you, then consider using a reading strategy like this:

Tip 1

The librarians help people navigate Onesearch every day, so if you are having a hard time finding the right articles just take your research question and your chosen theme to the front counter at the library and the librarians will be happy to help you. Alternatively, you can ask library staff questions online.

Tip 2

As you research, include the APA references for the articles seriously, you will save a bucket load of time later and a heap of frustration. Here is a link to the APA Reference Guide.

Another excellent way to find new journal articles is from the reference list in other articles.

Here is one that I pulled from the  Walter (2016) reference list (remember you must use the Walter, 2016 article so you are already on the right track)

Hunter, B. (2009). Indigenous social exclusion: Insights and challenges for the concept of social inclusion. Family Matters, 82, 52-61.

Definitely looks like it’s worth taking a look at this one, don’t you think? 

Here’s another one that popped up in OneSearch

Hunter, B., & Jordan, K. (2010). Explaining social exclusion: Towards social inclusion for Indigenous Australians. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 45(2), 243-265. doi:10.1002/j.1839-4655.2010.tb00177.x

You can follow reference lists like threads. As you are reading an article if something strikes you as valuable to your essay check to see if is referenced and then you can search for the original paper and maybe find a gold mine of information.
Once you have found your articles, you still have to use them effectively. This means you will have to read with a purpose and record the important sections (including the page numbers) just like you did with the autobiography.