Week 3 Flashcards
ACQUIRE: Conducting a literature search (Part 1)
What are the 6 steps for searching the literature?
- Create a well-defined question
- Identify keywords and synonyms for elements of research question
- Develop a search strategy
- Select database(s) for literature search
- Tailor search strategy to database(s)
- Save search and export results to citation manager
Why are keywords important in a literature search?
You can’t search effectively without keywords. Keywords help to structure the search and yield relevant results.
How do you break down a research question for a keyword search?
Break the research question into bite-sized ‘chunks’ that you can search with, focusing on key terms and concepts.
Why is it important to think broadly and abstractly when identifying keywords?
Thinking broadly and abstractly helps to capture a wide range of relevant studies by including synonyms, variations in spelling, complex concepts, and umbrella terms.
What is an example of using synonyms in a literature search?
Use terms with the same or close meaning, such as ‘hypertension’ vs ‘high blood pressure’, to ensure all relevant articles are captured.
How should you handle different spellings or acronyms in a literature search?
Include terms with different spellings or acronyms, such as ‘Leukemia’ vs ‘Leukaemia’, to account for regional spelling differences and variations.
How do you approach complex concepts in keyword searches?
Complex concepts may be described inconsistently, so consider broader and alternative phrasing. For example, ‘patient-reported quality of life following contralateral prophylactic mastectomy’ could also be described as ‘women’s experiences with surviving breast cancer’.
What are umbrella terms and how do they help in searches?
Umbrella terms, like ‘learning disabilities’, encompass specific conditions like ADHD, Dyslexia, and Dyspraxia. Using both umbrella and specific terms helps to capture all related studies.
What are database-specific ‘subject headings’ and why are they important?
Database-specific subject headings (e.g., MeSH terms) categorize studies under controlled vocabularies like ‘Neoplasms’ instead of ‘cancer’, ‘tumor’, or ‘carcinoma’, ensuring comprehensive search results.
What is Boolean searching?
Boolean searching is a method used in research databases that utilizes specific operators (AND, OR, NOT) to combine or exclude search terms, giving more precise search results.
How does the Boolean operator AND work in a search?
The AND operator narrows your search by retrieving results that contain all of the specified terms. Example: “cancer AND treatment” will show results that include both words.
How does the Boolean operator OR work in a search?
The OR operator broadens your search by retrieving results that contain any of the specified terms. Example: “cancer OR tumor” will show results that include either term or both.
How does the Boolean operator NOT work in a search?
The NOT operator excludes specific terms from your search. Example: “cancer NOT lung” will show results that include cancer but exclude lung cancer.
How are research databases different from Google in searching?
Research databases require a specific set of language and structured search strategies (like Boolean searching) to specify what to include and exclude, unlike Google, which uses broader, more intuitive searches.
What are database limiters?
Database limiters are tools that allow you to control and filter search results by criteria like ‘year’, ‘format’, ‘language’, etc.
