Quick Tips on Using the Web Site
Navigate with Ease
Research Connections' streamlined home page helps you access resources with ease. The Topics of Interest section allows you to quickly see resources and publications elated to a specific issue area. The New Research section highlights the latest research findings in the field of child care and early education. The Search box lets you immediately search the database for your subject of interest. And finally, the main toolbar and drop-down menus, accessible from any page on the site, help you easily pinpoint the information you need.
Perform Searches on Specific Topics
Search functions provide easy access to the ever-expanding collection of resources, including reports & papers, datasets, fact sheets & briefs, and other resources types. Search the Collection or consult our Guide to Searching the Collection to learn more about our search features and to obtain tips for navigating the various sections of the Web site.
Clarify Search Results with Icons
When you perform searches on Research Connections, icons designate resources in peer reviewed
journals (
),
or produced by Research Connections (
).
You can also search exclusively for full-text articles using the check box provided. Visit this sample
search on Infant and Toddler Child Care to see the various icons and how they can aid your search.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Understand Research
Research Connections offers resources on Understanding Research. This page offers information on how to evaluate the quality of research, descriptions of common data collection methods, and two glossaries--one of terms in policy research and another on terms used in child care and early education practice and policy.
Use our State Data Tools
Our State Data Tools page provides links to various 50-state databases on the web related to child care and early education, including those developed by the National Center for Children in Poverty which allow you to create customized tables for a range of child care and social welfare policies and state-level statistics.
Download Publications in our Series
Research Connections produces various publications that synthesize research on critical issues and identify policy implications. You can easily search and download Our Publications by topic or by publication type. Research Connections currently offers four types of publications: Key Topic Resource Lists, Reviews of Research, Research-to-Policy Connections, and Research Guides.
Search Datasets and Statistics
Research Connections offers both research data suitable for further analysis and statistical results generated from public sources. We use the term "research data" to refer to the coded responses from each respondent, documentation that provides the original questions asked, and discussions of complex statistical methods. A quick link in the main toolbar leads you to the access point for Datasets and Statistics.
Access Information on Federally Funded Research and Early Childhood Policies
From the Policy Resources section of our Toolbar, you can access various information about the Good Start, Grow Smart (GSGS) Interagency Workgroup, as well as other research supported by the Child Care Bureau/OPRE and other federal research links. These resources provide useful context for understanding child care research.
Contribute Research
Research Connections welcomes contributions to the database. Research contributions are indexed, described, and displayed on the Research Connections Web site and can easily be located using the search tools. By contributing to our collection, authors receive professional recognition for their research and data collection efforts and make them available to others. From the "Research Collection" section of the Toolbar at the top of the page, select Contribute Research from the drop-down menu.
Learn About Grants, Jobs, and Events
Research Connections features a section devoted to keeping you aware of the latest Grants, Jobs, and Events related to child care and early education. Learn of these frequent updates in the field by clicking on the light blue "Learn" box on the bottom of our home page, or by clicking on the "What's New" section of the Toolbar at the top of this page. From there, select 'Grants, Jobs, and Events' from the drop-down menu.
Subscribe to Our Email List: News & Resources
You can easily subscribe to News & Resources to receive bi-monthly e-mail notifications of the latest research and opportunities in the field of child care and early education. Just click on the light blue "Join" box on the bottom of our home page. Also included in these announcements are updates from Research Connections on our new publications and additions to our site.
Find Research Connections in the Field
Research Connections participates in conferences and meetings related to child care and early education -- through presentations, posters, and exhibits. We also host data training workshops and provide technical assistance. You can find a continually updated listing of Research Connections' presence in the field by clicking on the light blue "Attend" box at the bottom of the home page, or by clicking on the "What's New" section of the Toolbar at the top of this page. From there, select 'Data Trainings, Presentations, and Exhibits.'
Technical Assistance
Research Connections offers online Technical Assistance. To ask a question, report a problem, or share comments, e-mail us at contact@researchconnections.org. Research Connections staff will respond within 48 hours.
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