LibGuides: Tips for Finding Cause or Effects Sources: Introduction

What are Cause or Effect Sources?

Cause and effect sources are potentially anything that has factual information.

Searching for your topic with the term "causes of" or "effects of" can be a great way to get articles in databases to support your paper, but there are other terms you can combine with your topic that may also help

Good for Cause

Good for Effect

Good for Either

"reasons for"

why

factors

"impact of"

correlation

complications

benefits

patterns

statistics

influence

role of

associated with or association of

Reliability

Since you are doing college level research it's very important to make sure your source is reliable. You should read all sources critically, but you can trust the sources you can get through COM Library.

Finding Topics

CQ Researcher, Issues & Controversies, Gale In Context Opposing Viewpoints and Gale In Context Science can also help you come up with topics by taking a look at their browse topics pages.

You Can Use Pro & Con Sources, But...

Opinion or pro & con articles, books, or other sources can used for cause & effect research assignments, but you have to be careful so as not to produce an unintentionally biased paper or presentation that is meant to be objective.

Cause or Effect Databases

Use COM Library's databases to get the college level articles you need for your research faster. These database are great for cause & effect topics.

Statistics Websites

Statistics can potentially be great for cause or effect. Here are some top sites for statistics.

Census.gov
Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does so by conducting public opinion polling and social science research; by analyzing news coverage; and by holding forums and briefings. It does not take positions on policy issues.
US Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) The mission of the BJS is to collect, analyze, publish, and disseminate information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Center for Health Statistics From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Access data on the health of Americans.
US Environmental Protection Agency: Envirofacts Get data and statistics on the environment by topic or location.
US Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics: Childstats.gov The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, or the Forum, is a working group of Federal agencies that collect, analyze, and report data on issues related to children and families. The Forum has partners from 22 Federal agencies as well as partners in private research organizations.