Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Library instruction student survey

Literature Review

1. Powerpoint presentation (.pptx)
2. Planning a Literature Review (video)
3. Campbell, A., Taylor, B. & McGlade, A. (2017). Reviewing the literature. In Transforming Social Work Practice Series: Research design in social work (pp. 9-26). 55 City Road, London: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:10.4135/9781473909618.n2

• examples of a literature reviews
  • Kader, S. (2016). Development of hospice environmental assessment protocol (HEAP): A post occupancy evaluation tool.
    • thesis (chapters 2 and 4; page 63 for methodology)
  • Spain D, Sin J, Paliokosta E, Furuta M, Prunty JE, Chalder T, Murphy DG, Happé FG. Family therapy for autism spectrum disorders. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017, Issue 5. Art. No.: CD011894. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD011894.pub2.
    • Cochrane Review (see Methods, and Appendix 1)

Navigating Library Databases

Well developed research questions can only be developed with a comprehensive understanding of prior research and theory. This understanding is informed by research literature. The challenge is to use the appropriate tools and methods to ensure your search for this literature is both methodical and complete. Here are some steps to fine-tune your searches.

1. Formulate specific research questions
   • identify the key elements of your questions
2. Consider word variations and synonyms
   • widen the scope of your results; think about how others might refer to your ideas
   • e.g, academic outcomes = school performance, grades, GPA, entrance exams, college admission, etc.
3. Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)
   • AND = results will contain all the terms
   • OR = results will contain at least one of the terms
   • NOT = results will exclude the term
   • Parentheses and Boolean operators can be used to set apart search groups
   • NEAR/# = search terms within a specified number of words apart, e.g., nursing NEAR/3 education
4. Limit or expand terms
   • "quotation marks" = exact
   • truncat* = truncate, truncates, truncated, truncation, etc.
5. Employ search limiters (available limiters depend on the database)
   • peer reviewed, article type, date
   • in PsycInfo, can include
     • age group, population group, methodology
6. Identify key publications and authors
   • note citations, and cited references, repeated author names
7. Document and track everything you do in the steps above

Choosing a Library Database

• What is Proquest and what is EBSCO?
  • create accounts in either/both to save results and searches
  • Can't I search them all at one time?
• Databases for Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy

Research Methodologies

The Laurier Library also many resources devoted to research methodologies. Search Omni (and filter for books) for some of these terms: Action research; Case study; Field research; Grounded theory; Qualitative research; Quantitative research; Survey research; Textual Analysis. Also look at the online titles contained in our Sage Knowledge resource.

Predatory Journals

• Check for publication integrity before misconduct (Nature, Jan 7, 2020)
• International observatory targets predatory publishers (Times Higher Education, Dec 29, 2019)
• Ideal Journal of Psychology and Theology (example)
• Beall's list (wikipedia page)

Managing Citations

• Citing Sources