Economics 236: Health Economics and Policy (Spring 2009)
Instructor: June Fu O'Leary Librarian: Carr Ross |
 World Health Organization |
The purpose of this guide is to identify library databases that cover scholarly articles, newspaper articles, and statistical sources that will help you with your two writing assignments. It is meant to complement the health care websites list found in your Blackboard site. If you have questions feel free to contact Carr (x3545 or cross@bowdoin.edu).
Getting Ideas for Your Paper & Gathering Background Information
- New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
- the "Encyclopedia Britannica" for economics; has good background articles on health economics - CQ Researcher
located in H-L Library Reference section H1.C62
- covers many contemporary issues, including health care; describes the current state; chronology; solutions to the problem; bibliography - National Conference of State Legislatures - Health Topics A-Z
- brief description of health issues facing state legislatures; legislative initiatives; state programs
These three sources can help you to decide on a topic and give you a little background. Once you've decided on a specific topic, then move on to the other sources below.
Articles, Working Papers, Studies
- Academic Search Premier
- a general, multi-subject article database; will moderately cover issues in health policy, economics, health care, sociology, psychology; includes New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and other similar publications that are clinically- and research-oriented but that also focus on broader policy issues; see other sources below for more in-depth research; contains both magazine/popular articles and scholarly articles - Business Source Premier
- while this source primarily is used for business and business management, it also will be good for health issues and where they intersect with the commerical world; contains both magazine/popular articles and scholarly articles - EconLit
- the primary economics database; expect advanced, disciplined-specific empirical studies and research - PAIS International
- an excellent source for health economics on an international level; contains references to journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, and publications of international agencies - CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
- working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals, case studies, and policy briefs - Worldwide Political Science Absracts
- one of the primary sources for political science literature; it will be good for uncovering articles on domestic and international health care policy - PubMed (Medline)
- one of the primary sources for clinical and medical research but there also are general articles on hospital administration, medical policies, public health care, etc. - PsycInfo
- the primary psychology, psychiatry, and related fields database; will include coverage of health attitudes, health behavior, health administration, health policy, etc., particularly as they relate to mental health; draws from journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, conference proceedings - Sociological Abstracts
- the primary sociology database; like PsycInfo, will include coverage of health behavior, attitudes, administration, and policy but as they relate to culture and social structure; draws from journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, conference proceedings
Statistics
Please Note: there are many other sources for statistics; please contact Carr if the ones below don't meet your needs
- Health, United States
- statistics and trends in domestic health care - National Center for Health Statistics
- American Health : Demographics and Spending of Health Care Consumers
Main Ref RA445 .A442 2005 - OECD.Stat
- statistics of all kinds, including health, for OECD member (and non-members) countries - World Development Indicators
- from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), statistics of all kinds, including health care, for all countries - World Health Organization - Data & Statistics
- Health Care State Rankings
Main Ref RA407.3 .H423 - Polling Sources/Public Opinion
- Gallup Brain
- Gallup Polls conducted from 1935 to today - Polling the Nations
- a compilation of surveys conducted by over 1000 polling organizations in the United States and 100 other countries from 1986 to the present time - Roper Center
- The Roper Center archives datasets from thousands of surveys with national adult, state, foreign, and special subpopulation samples. US nationwide public opinion polls since 1935 are available through the iPoll service. A full-text retrieval system, the iPOLL online database is organized at the question-level
- Gallup Brain
Newspaper Databases
- New York Times
- Washington Post
- ProQuest Newspapers
- while this covers some major papers, it is best for local and state-wide newspapers around the country - Lexis/Nexis Academic
- major national and international papers, local & state papers, newswires, transcripts from NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, CNN, PBS, NPR and more
Other State, Federal, & International Policy Sources
- CQ Almanac
- an important source for national health care policy; provides detailed annual summary of Congressional actions; search by keyword or browse by broad topic
- the online version covers up through the 109th Congress (2006), the hard copy version up through the 1st session of the 107th Congress - National Conference of State Legislatures - Health Policy
- tracks state and federal initiatives and policies - National Academy for State Health Policy
- U.S. State Health Care Agencies
- - "...an independent academy of state health policymakers working together to identify emerging issues, develop policy solutions, and improve state health policy and practice."
- World Bank - Health, Nutrition & Population
- World Health Organization
