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How to Use the CMCH Database of Research The CMCH Database of Research is created and maintained by the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital Boston.
Our in-house master database contains 7,365 citations from 1929 to the present. As we are able (currently at the rate of 50 per month), we transfer citations to the online CMCH Database of Research.
Search Options There are 6 search field options available for the CMCH Database of Research. These options were identified as most useful by researchers in the field. If more than one field is chosen, the default search will be completed using the AND operator. For example, if you enter Author Name = Smith, then choose Publish Date = after 1976, your results will show only those citations by Smith written after 1976. Word or Phrase Searching: The word/phrase field searches words in the fields of title, abstract, synopsis, or keyword. Searching by a Single Word: You Enter: television Results returned will include any record that contains the word television* somewhere in the fields of title, abstract, synopsis, or keyword. *Note: This means that even if the abstract says “This article is not about television at all” that record will be returned as a result. For more targeted searching, see the section on Keyword Searches below. Searching by Boolean Operators: You Enter: television violence Since AND is automatically assumed when more than one word is entered, results returned will include any record that contains both the word television and the word violence somewhere in the fields of title, abstract, synopsis, or keyword. You Enter:television OR violence Results returned will include any record that contains either the word television or the word violence somewhere in the fields of title, abstract, synopsis, or keyword. You Enter: television NOT violence Results returned will include any record that contains the word television, but not the word violence anywhere in the fields of title, abstract, synopsis, or keyword. Searching by Phrase: You Enter: “television violence” Results returned will include any record that contains the exact phrase television violence, with one word right after the other, somewhere in the fields of title, abstract, synopsis, or keyword. Truncation: Use * at the end of a word to find all the variations of that word. You Enter: aggress* Results returned will include any record that contains the word aggress, aggression, or aggressiveness somewhere in the fields of title, abstract, synopsis, or keyword. Substitution: Use $ in the middle of a word to match spelling variations. You Enter: wom$n Results returned will include any record that contains the word women or woman somewhere in the fields of title, abstract, synopsis, or keyword. Search for an author by entering last name first followed by a comma, then first name or first initial. You Enter: Rich, Michael Results returned include any citation where Michael Rich is one of the authors listed. You Enter: Rich, M Results returned include any citation where Michael Rich, Mark Rich, Marlene Rich or Marybeth Rich is one of the authors listed. Use Anytime to retrieve any entries, regardless of publication year. Use the drop down box to choose either Before or After, and then enter a year. You Enter: Before 1970 Results returned will include any citations with publication years between 1929 and 1969. Use Between to enter a range of years you are interested in. Use the drop down boxes to choose the specific years you would like results from. You Enter: Between 1972 and 1987 Results retuned will include any citations with publication years of 1972 through 1987. Age Groups are defined by the American Psychological Association and then assigned by CMCH library staff. Age Groups include the following list:
If the ages of an experimental group overlap more than one category, all categories are identified in the record. For example, if an experimental group include children age 2-7, age groups in the record would be: Preschool Age, Childhood, and School Age. If the citation is for a document that discusses media effects in general terms, Unspecified would be the assigned age group. If the citation speaks about media effects on a general age group, that age group is identified as best as possible. For example, an article titled “Television and Teenagers,” the age group would be identified as Adolescence. Use Any Age Group to retrieve all citations, regardless of age group. Use Range and the drop down menu to choose one age group you are interested in. Will there be the option to hold down shift or control to choose more than one? You Enter: Range, Adolescence (13-17 yrs) Results returned will include any citations where Adolescence is marked in the Age Groups field. Use Exclude Range and the drop down menu to exclude an age group from your search. Will there be the option to hold down shift or control to choose more than one? You Enter: Exclude Range, Adolescence (13-17 yrs) Results returned will include any citations where Adolescence is not marked in the Age Groups field. Study Design refers to the type of study carried out in a particular paper and are assigned by CMCH library staff. Study Designs include the following list:
If a study has more than one possible Study Design, all are listed. For example, a study of boys and the television shows they watch that is carried out over 20 years can be classified both as Correlational and as Longitudinal. Use Any Design to retrieve all citations, regardless of study design. Use Choose Study Design and the drop down menu to choose one study design you are interested in. This refers to the change we need, so that this operates as the age group search option does. Also - will there be the option to hold down shift or control to choose more than one? You Enter: Choose Study Design, Content Analysis Results returned will include any citations where Content Analysis is marked in the Study Design field. Use Exclude Study Design and the drop down menu to exclude an age group from your search. You Enter: Exclude Study Design, Content Analysis Results returned will include any citations where Content Analysis is not marked in the Study Design field. This option will allow you to limit your results based on either of two factors: Peer-Reviewed Research By checking this box, only citations from peer-reviewed journals will be returned. Research by CMCH Authors By checking this box, only citations from authors affiliated with CMCH will be returned. Articles were not necessarily written during their time with CMCH, but represent the full scope of a particular researcher’s interests. If your searches are unsuccessful, consider trying our Smart Search option Smart Search accepts a question written in plain English. Rather than looking for specific keywords in our master database, Smart Search uses a technical vocabulary to match your question to any idea in the master database that is relevant. For example, you might enter "learn to read" and Smart Search may return results that refer to "language development and literacy". Your results will include references to relevant documents even though the question doesn't use the exact language of the document. What do the yellow boxes mean? |
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