Background information provides a general overview of a research topic including important terms and concepts, relevant names of people or places, and dates of specific events.
These resources are especially helpful during the idea generation stage. Finding good background information on a general topic can help you turn that topic into a research question.
They will also help you determine what vocabulary and background concepts you will need to identify relevant peer-reviewed sources in the databases and identify more specific areas of your topic that you may want to research further.
UT Austin currently has access to Handbooks in the following subjects areas and dates of coverage:
For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide
Contains reference material covering the following disciplines:
Divided into broad sections such as Population, Health and Nutrition, Education, Foreign Commerce and Aid, Prices and many others, the database can be searched or browsed to retrieve results that can then be narrowed by source, geography, time period, subject, and other breakdowns.
OR
Perform a scoped Google search for statistical information online. Here's an example of a search that is limited to .gov webpages:
Search: adverse childhood experiences statistics site:gov
Other endings:
site:edu
site:org
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