Key Databases for Education Research
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Education Source This link opens in a new window
Indexes and abstracts as well as some full-text education journals. Covers all levels of education, from early childhood to higher education. Also includes a collection of videos that provide practical online teacher training that addresses the evolving landscape of education.
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ERIC [EBSCOhost] This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts to articles in education journals and documents. Full-text available via GetIt! for UD Library subscribed titles. Also contains resources on training and development; library and information science. (Coverage: 1966 --) Note: ERIC will be significantly reducing the number of records indexed going forward. The collection is expected to be reduced by approximately 45% starting April 24, 2025. This change follows a federal directive aimed at reducing overall government spending and reallocating resources under Executive Order 14222.
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APA PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts of peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science, mental health and related disciplines. (Coverage: 1806 --)
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SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new windowWhile not exclusive to education, this database provides videos on a variety of qualitative methodologies used in education including case studies.
Tips for Searching for Qualitative Studies
Tip 1: Focus on terminology
Although qualitative studies are sometimes flagged as "qualitative" in either the title or the subject headings, this is not always true. Researchers must be creative and flexible in order to find qualitative research, particularly in the ERIC database. Think about searching with terms that might indicate a qualitative approach.
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Such terms might include methods by which researchers gather qualitative data:
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They can also include terms that are likely to describe a certain qualitative approach:
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Tip 2: Look for Clues -- Use your Thesaurus / Subject Terms
Most databases such as ERIC, PsycInfo, and Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts will have a thesaurus that can help guide you to the words and phrases that are used to group articles together by their main ideas and (sometimes) by their methodologies. You can search these thesauri directly in the databases to discover relevant words to use in your search (see the 'Finding a Subject Term' tutorial). A simpler but equally effective way to discover relevant subject terms is to examine the subject terms that appear within your search results:
Note that different databases use different subject terms- each database has its own vocabulary.