Chapter 7

Question 1

What is a literature review?

Answer 1

A written summary of the state of evidence on a research problem.

• Objective synthesis of evidence on a particular topic.
• Seeks to gather a significant amount of data on a topic
• Can be a stand-alone article by itself or a section of a research study

Question 2

When would a literature review be performed in a qualitative study?

Answer 2

Might occur after the study has started or once the researchers have identified themes or theories

Question 3

Primary research article

Answer 3

One written by the person who conducted the research study
Example:
Randomized Control Trials

Question 4

Secondary research article

Answer 4

One that describes research studies written by someone else.
Example:
Literature review

Question 5

What are some examples of non-research-based sources?

Answer 5

Opinion articles
Case reports
Clinical anecdotes

Question 6

Should you include non-research-based sources in a literature review?

Answer 6

NO

but they can still have use*

Question 7

What are the first few steps in a literature review?

Answer 7

1) Figure out a topic and develop primary and secondary questions
2) Device a search strategy (Ex. WCU library database)
3) Screen the sources for relevance or appropriateness. Discard articles that are not applicable. If an article is good, check its reference section, it may have some articles that can be reviewed as well.

Question 8

What is a Boolean operator?

Answer 8

Use the words “and,” “or,” and “not” to filter results to be more applicable.

Question 9

Boolean operator + “and”

Answer 9

Will limit results to articles that have both words.

Question 10

Boolean operator + “or”

Answer 10

accepts sources that have either word, and not just both words.

Question 11

Boolean operator + “not”

Answer 11

Will refuse any sources with the second word.

Example:
if you wanted to look for articles on falls that did not discuss medications you could search fall not medications

Question 12

Searching words using quotation marks will:

Answer 12

Force the search to find the two words together

Question 13

What part of the article do you “screen?”

Answer 13

Reading the abstract of an article to see if its relevant

Question 14

What is Documentation as it pertains to research?

Answer 14

Refers to large-scale literature reviews in which you might review up to 100 articles for relevance.
Focuses on how the search was completed.
What limits were applied, what keywords were used? The goal is to prevent you from reviewing the same articles when a second literature search is performed.

Question 15

What is “abstracting” as it pertains to research?

Answer 15

A method to keep track of the articles themselves.
A table or word document can be used for this purpose.

Example:
The research table component of the PICO team project is a method of abstracting.

Question 16

Is a literature review expected to thoroughly discuss each article on its reference list?

Answer 16

NO

Question 17

Should a literature review be opinionated?

Answer 17

NO; should be objective, unbiased, and it should be pure paraphrasing

The only “opinion” in a literature review is when the researchers discuss the quality of an article.

Question 18

What is primary research?
A) A study conducted by one researcher
B) Research described by the person who performed the study
C) Exploring a topic focused on primary care
D) A study with one research goal

Answer 18

B) Research described by the person who performed the study

Question 19

What type of research is a literature review?
A) Ethnographic 
B) Secondary
C) Clinical Trial
D) Quality Improvement

Answer 19

B) Secondary

A literature review focuses on the results of studies completed by other researchers and is a secondary type of research. A literature review will be present in each of the other study types listed.

Question 20

What is the purpose of using quotation marks in a literature search? To locate articles:
A) that contain quotes related to the words in quotes
B) that have an audio-recorded version of the article
C) without the words included in the quotes
D) with titles that have the words together in the title

Answer 20

D) with titles that have the words together in the title

Question 21

What section of the article is used to screen for relevance?
A) Abstract
B) Methods
C) Results
D) Conclusion

Answer 21

A) Abstract

To screen an article or to determine if it needs to be read further, the abstract is the best place to start. The other sections are important as part of the review once it has passed screening.

Question 22

What is the purpose of a literature review?
A) to justify the references used for the study
B) give readers an understanding of the contents of the study
C) synthesize research evidence on a topic
D) review articles to determine if they should be published

Answer 22

C) synthesize research evidence on a topic

May talk specifically about one or a few articles, but largely it provides a citation for articles. Peer-reviewing is part of a process to determine if an article is able to be published. A literature review is conducted on studies already published.

Question 23

What is the purpose of an abstract?
A) to justify the references used for the study
B) give readers an understanding of the contents of the study
C) synthesize research evidence on a topic
D) review articles to determine if they should be published

Answer 23

B) give readers an understanding of the contents of the study