Information Retrieval in Psychology:

Information retrieval is an important but generally neglected part of the research method in psychology. On the basis of a case study, which consists of an examination of the search strategy in a Swedish dissertation, the problems of searching are overviewed, with regard to both the selection of sources, and the construction of the search profile. Attention is given to subject faceting in psychology. A model used by Psychological Abstracts in building on the concepts of experimental variables is replaced by a facet model developed on the basis of the Bliss Classification System. This model is illustrated using the above-mentioned dissertation as an example, and it is shown that the model can help in formulating search questions in psychology. Also discusses are problems that concern the use of abstracts or full texts in the selection of documents. In addition, attention is given to the question of types of research in psychology that can benefit from computer-based retrieval methods.