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Research Steps

Research Steps. The following criteria are meant to serve as a guide or strategy to your research. Some of the strategies will need to be re-visited and some will need to be altered during the research process. Remember this is only a guide. Identify a Research Topic

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Research Steps

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  1. Research Steps The following criteria are meant to serve as a guide or strategy to your research. Some of the strategies will need to be re-visited and some will need to be altered during the research process. Remember this is only a guide.

  2. Identify a Research Topic • Collect Background Information • Find Books • Find Articles • Locate Other Sources • Evaluate Other Sources • Cite Using a Standard Format

  3. 1. Identify a Research Topic From Topic to Research Question There are many good ways to identify a research topic. Consider the following: • Read journal articles in your field. • Read the news. • Discuss topics of interest with your manager, peers, and friends. • Go to the library and seek out the reference librarian • Think about your interest using a critical point of view; ask who what where when why type questions, read about it though various types of media, and bounce ideas off of those around you.

  4. Identify a Research Topic Cont.Choose a topic. Now that you know a little about your topic, start forming questions you would like answered about your topic. The research question lives in a constant state of change during the research process. It will need constant "tweaking" in order to make the research itself sound. The following are examples of research questions. Some are too broad some too narrow. • Broad: What is the best medicine for a cold? • Narrowed: What is the best medicine for an adult with a cold? • Broad: What is the best shoe? • Narrowed: What is the best shoe for running long distance? • Narrow: What is the most comfortable temperature for patients in a waiting area of the Medical Center? • Too Narrow: What is the most comfortable temperature for your mother in a waiting area of the Medical Center?

  5. 2. Collect Background Information As you were identifying your research topic you should have picked up on some of the terminology associated with your topic. You should have also noticed different types of information presented with your topic. The following is an example that may help keep you on track with your research. It helps to tweak your research question, learning the terminology associated with your research topic, and helps with focusing on the main idea of your research. Consider the following to be a worksheet to plan for your research.

  6. Collect Background Information Cont. Think of a research topic. Running Shoes Develop your topic into a question. What are the best shoes for running? Extract key concepts or the main idea. Shoes and running. Develop synonyms or subject headings Shoes, Tennis Shoes, Sneakers, Athletic Shoe, Running, Jogging. Narrow your topic by re-asking the question using the subject headings or synonyms above. What is the best athletic shoe for a 5k run?

  7. 3. How to find books Ask the librarian, use online bookstores, or go to your library's online catalog. Our library's catalog is undergoing a few changes however you can find books in any medical academic library if you follow the National Library of Medicine Classification System listed below. The HRC Library also contains e-books located on our website.

  8. How to find books Cont. • AIDS & HIV WC503 / WD308 • Allergy WD300 • Alternative Medicine WB890-962 • Anatomy, Human QS • Anesthesia WO200-460 • Biochemistry QU • Musculoskeletal System WE • Neoplasms (Cancer) QZ • Nervous System WL • Nursing WY For a complete list visit your library or go to http://wwwcf.nlm.nih.gov/class/

  9. 4. How to find articles Articles can be a little tricky to find but it does get a lot easier with a little bit of practice. If you have trouble please use the librarian.

  10. Find Articles Cont. E-journals • Go to the intranet and click on "Departments". Then click on "Health Resource Center Library" or in the url box type in "intranet/library". Click on the e-journals link. • Check the box for CINAHL Plus with Full Text (a database) • In the search box type in some of your research main ideas (refer to the collect information link). For example: athletic shoe and running • Before you click on search make sure you check the full-text option.

  11. Find Articles Cont. GaIN • Go to the intranet • Click on "Departments". • Click on "Health Resource Center Library" or in the url box type in "intranet/library". • Click on the GaIN link. The password does change so please check with your library. Username: mccgill Password: hrc888mc Reminder: We are sampling one database. There are many.

  12. Find Articles Cont. MD Consult (Database in GaIN) After you enter the GaIN password, click on "MD Consult". In the search box type in some of your main ideas (refer to the collect information link). For example: athletic shoe and running

  13. 5.Locate Other Sources Using the World Wide Web Internet resources: The web is a fantastic resource if used with a certain amount of critical thinking. Listed below are a few resources that may be of interest. MedlinePlus http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ "MedlinePlus will direct you to information to help answer health questions. MedlinePlus brings together authoritative information from NLM, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations. Preformulated MEDLINE searches are included in MedlinePlus and give easy access to medical journal articles. MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news." PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ "PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 17 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources."

  14. Locate other Sources Cont. Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/ "Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research." Pogofrog http://www.pogofrog.com A medical search engine. This site excludes "consumer sites and specifically including only credible healthcare sites such as FDA.gov, peer-review journal sites, association sites and others."

  15. 6. Evaluate Other Sources 1. Accuracy of Web Documents • Who wrote the page and can you contact him or her? • What is the purpose of the document and why was it produced? • Is the person qualified to write this document? • Can you contact a representative? • Know the distinction between author and Webmaster.

  16. Evaluate Other Sources Cont. 2. Authority of Web Documents • Who published the document and is it separate from the Webmaster? • Check the domain of the document, what institution publishes this document? • Does the publisher list his or her qualifications? • What credentials are listed for the author(s)? • Where is the document published? • Check URL domain.

  17. Evaluate Other Sources Cont. 3. Currency of Web Documents. • When was it produced? • When was it updated? • How up-to-date are the links (if any)? • How many dead links are on the page? • Is the information on the page outdated?

  18. Evaluate Other Sources Cont. 4. Coverage of the Web Documents. • Are the links (if any) evaluated and do they complement the documents theme? • Is it all images or a balance of text and images? • Is the information presented cited correctly? • If the page requires special software to view the information, how much are you missing if you don't have the software? • Is it free, or is there a fee to obtain the information? • Is there an option for text only, or frames, or a suggested browser for better viewing?

  19. Evaluate Other Sources Cont. If your page meets the following then you probably have a higher quality website that may be valuable to your research. Accuracy If your page lists the author and institution that published the page and provides a way of contacting him/her. Authority If your page lists the author credentials, and its domain is preferred: edu, gov, org or net. Objectivity If your page provides accurate information with limited advertising and it is objective in presenting the information. Currency If your page is current and updated regularly (as stated on the page) and the links (if any) are also up-to-date. Coverage If you can view the information properly-not limited to fees, browser technology, or software requirement.

  20. 7. Citation style links American Psychological Association (Book located in the HRC Library) http://apastyle.apa.org Council of Science Editors (Should be in the HRC Library soon) http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/publications/style_preface.cfm

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