ENGL 304: Advanced Business Communication

Research Resources from the Library

Library Presentation Google Slides

The resources provided here will help you complete your research for business proposal assignment.

I recommend a few strategies to start:

Brainstorm a list of keywords about each concept in your topic to use as search terms.
Start with trying some databases listed on this page.
If you get stuck, contact me and/or schedule an appointment to talk about your research.

Check your assumptions

Blog post on 16 cognitive biases - Board of Innovation
Read about 16 cognitive biases you may encounter and how you can overcome them.

16 cognitive biases - PDF - Board of Innovation

Check the competition

Market Research Handbook Series
Each handbook compiles comprehensive data & information about an industry. Depending on your client's problem & needs, you may find these titles most helpful: Consumer Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Consumer Use of Internet & Mobile Web; Entertainment, Media & Advertising.
Advanced Google Search
Get insight into what your client's peers are doing through news stories, press releases, social media, industry-specific publications (aka trade journals), and more. Start with an Advanced Google Search to find this information.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The nation’s largest newsroom dedicated to covering colleges and universities.
Inside Higher Ed
Online source for higher education news, thought leadership, careers and resources.

Identify stakeholders

Market Research Handbook Series
Each handbook compiles comprehensive data & information about an industry. Titles include: Business-to-Business Marketing; Consumer Marketing; Consumer use of internet & mobile web; International Consumer Markets; Restaurant, Food & Beverage; Sports Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Entertainment, Media & Advertising; Healthcare Business; Leisure Business; Retail Business; Travel & Tourism.

SimplyAnalytics
Use SimplyAnalytics to find out the size of your client's customer segment and where they are. There's census demographic data, consumer expenditure, and market segments (e.g. Young Families with Children)

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
PolicyMap
An online data and mapping tool that enables government, commercial, non-profit and academic institutions to access data about communities and markets across the US. Use it for research, market studies, business planning, site selection, grant applications and impact analysis.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.

UNC Office of Institutional Research and Assessment
The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) provides data and other types of information about the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Find demographic information about the UNC student body.

Mintel Academic
Explore reports to discover the needs, values, and interests of your client's target group. You can search by keyword or browse by Sector, Theme, or Demographic.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: 2001 -

Find multiple source types & perspectives

Finding Primary Resources
You may want to find or conduct primary research for your project, like interviews. This guide provides information about identifying primary resources and links to some resources.

ABI/INFORM Collection
Major source for academic journals, trade publications, market and industry research reports, company annual reports, dissertations, and working papers. Also contains country profiles and economic forecasts for most major economies.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: Coverage varies. Some academic journals start in the 1800s, and some newspapers start in the early 1900s.
Language: Primarily English. Over 20 languages total.
Business Source Premier
Business Source Premier is the major source for scholarly, peer-reviewed journals covering all aspects of business; marketing, management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and more. Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: Varies widely.
Sociological Abstracts
Database covering over 2500 journals in sociology, both theoretical and applied, and related disciplines including anthropology, economics, education, medicine, community development, philosophy, demography, political science, and social psychology. Articles in 30 different languages from about 55 countries.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: 1963-present
Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
A multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the social sciences; indexes 1,700 journals spanning 50 disciplines, as well as covering individually selected, relevant items from over 3,300 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals for anthropology, political science, history, public health, industrial relations, social issues, information science, library science, social work, law, sociology, linguistics, substance abuse, philosophy, urban studies, psychology, women's studies, psychiatry, etc.

Access: Off Campus Access is available for: UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff; UNC Hospitals employees; UNC-Chapel Hill affiliated AHEC users.
Coverage: 1956 -