Directed Research in Health Sciences

Table of Contents

1. Literature Review  2. Methods for Secondary Research  3. Searching  4. Research Question  5. Worksheet

1. Literature Review

THE PRODUCT: A literature review is a survey of research about a particular topic.

• It's specific - focuses on a well-defined research question.
• It's selective - includes a curated selection of research.
• It's a synthesis - brings together discussions from across the research.
  • A synthesis table template is available.
• It's a starting point - identifies where your research fits into the picture.
• It shows accountability - demonstrates how you're tuning-in to others' work and voices responsibly.

2. Methods for Secondary Research

THE PROCESS: Literature review is a type of secondary research. There are different ways to review literature. Your methods need to fit your goals for the project at hand.

• Secondary research = how you identify and work with existing research. 
• Methods for secondary research = the strategies, processes, or techniques you use to identify and work with existing research.

Question! How do you think your searching might change between these 2 scenarios:

1. Your goal is to find 5 peer-reviewed articles on a topic.
2. Your goal is to find the 5 most recent peer-reviewed articles on a topic.

Example of Methods for Secondary Research

• Systematic review = identifying, appraising, and synthesizing ALL existing evidence to answer a specific question.
  • Researchers develop, document, and report their methods for secondary research.
    • E.g. "Music Interventions for Improving Psychological and Physical Outcomes in People with Cancer" (see Search methods for identification of studies, pp. 8-9).

Specific Goals for a Research Paper or Thesis

3. Searching

PART I: GETTING STARTED

a. Article Databases

There is a list of databases relevant to Health Sciences. Choose databases to search for your topic based on the descriptions.

• Limit results to peer-reviewed.
• Discover key articles.
• Recognize key scholars.
• Avoid missing important results.
• Cut out irrelevant results.

Example: for a FASD topic, you might search MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Web of Science.

b. Keywords

What are the major concepts in your topic? What are some synonyms or alternate terms you can use? 

• Consider the terms typically used in research literature.
• Google "synonyms for ..."
• If you have an on-topic article, see what terms get used in the title/abstract.

c. Field Searching

• Use the drop-down beside a search box to find terms in specific areas of results. Codes beside each field tell the database where to search for a term.

Example: ti("adverse childhood experiences") in PsycINFO (all results will have the term in titles).

d. Limits

• You can limit results to peer-reviewed or scholarly.
• A date limit is also sometimes useful.

e. Preliminary Searching

• Before brainstorming a research question, it's helpful to learn a bit about your topic. 
  • Do some preliminary database searching: what questions are researchers are asking?
    • From your search results, read just article titles and abstracts where the titles sound interesting.

Example: handedness AND sport* in SPORTDiscus

PART II: SEARCH LIKE A PRO

a. Search Tactics

Try using some of the following database search tactics to get better results.

b. Subjects

• These are controlled terms from a database thesaurus that are assigned to articles.
• Databases have different thesauri, which affects the subjects you use.

Example: MESH.EXACT("Health Services for Transgender Persons") in MEDLINE

Example: (MH "Transgender Persons+") in CINAHL

Question! What is the CINAHL subject for teenager?

4. Research Question

Question Frameworks

• A well-defined research question gives direction to your searching.
• Frameworks can give guidance about what to include.
• Pick any elements from the frameworks below that work for your topic.

Developing a Research Question

5. Worksheet