Course Number: SK312-BR2
Subject: Social Work
1. Introduction
This guide builds on the Literature Review Research Methods module in your SK312-BR2 MyLearningSpace (MyLS) course site and will be used for in-class activities on Tues. Oct. 4.
IN-CLASS OBJECTIVE: Practice using literature review research methods.
Questions?
Please ask! Use our shared Google Doc, raise your hand at any point today, or email me (mefischer@wlu.ca).
2. Quick Recap
The MyLS Literature Review Research Methods module focuses on:
- Developing your topic and drafting a research question.
- Preliminary searching and learning about your topic is key.
- Starting to review the literature.
- There are different ways to review literature - your methods need to fit your project.
- Where will you search?
- What keywords will help you identify relevant literature?
- What search tactics will improve results?
- There are different ways to review literature - your methods need to fit your project.
Let's look at an example: "Beyond the Family Binary" in The Journal of Marriage and Family. How many sources does the literature review cite?
Your Project (Assignment) Goals
- Do a literature review (at least 5 peer-reviewed articles published in the last 10 years) for a research proposal.
- Demonstrate knowledge and comprehension of literature about your topic.
- Synthesize findings from across the literature about your topic.
Where might you search for: (i) 5 peer-reviewed articles versus (ii) 5 of the most recent and/or influential peer-reviewed articles by researchers in your field?
3. Activity: Searching for Peer-reviewed Articles
For the next 10 minutes, please follow the 3 steps below individually. Then, we'll review together.
- Copy the following search: "housing first" Canada
- Paste the search into each of the following tools, and run it.
- Answer these 3 questions:
- How many results did you get?
- What are the dates for the first 3 results?
- What journals are the first 3 results from?
4. Extra Tips for Later - Working with Sources
(a) Synthesis
- Adapt a synthesis table template to compare studies.
(b) Citing
- Use the citation feature in databases to create APA 7 references (always edit the citations!).
(5) Extra Tips for Later - Searching
(a) Cited By and References
- "Cited by" shows works that have cited a particular study (forward in time), while references show what the study cites (backward in time).
(b) Searching with Subjects
- Use subjects to make your results more relevant.
- Subjects 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
Major Concept | Keywords | Subjects |
---|---|---|
Cancer | cancer, neoplasm, melanoma | CINAHL: Neoplasms Melanoma |
(c) Updated Worksheet
The worksheet below includes a section to enter subjects related to your topic (otherwise it's the same as the MyLS worksheet).