Week 3 Responses
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Response 1
Hi Olivia, I agree that search strategy options can consist of databases, ancestry, and descendancy. While database searches use keywords and names of researchers to yield research references, other search strategies such as the ancestry approach examine references cited in relevant studies to track down information regarding a topic. It was interesting to read about the descendancy approach, as I was not aware of it. Galvan (2017) agrees that this approach is utilized through finding a pivotal early study and searching forward in citation indexes for more recent information.
I agree that the Cumulative Index to Nursing, Allied Health Literature, Medical Literature On-Line, and Psychology Information are easy to navigate among the other databases mentioned. Most of these databases are also similar, which entails full texts, while others provide the abstract.
It was helpful to read about the helpful vital concepts that you used to streamline the search process. As said, identifying keywords applied to a particular topic, limiting one’s search to present research studies and full-text articles is an easier and fast way of finding suitable literature.
Reference
Galvan, J. L., & Galvan, M. C. (2017). Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences. Taylor & Francis.
Response 2
Hi Janae, I agree that Google Scholar is a suitable approach when looking to conduct research. Google Scholar offers a broad spectrum of various articles to examine, as searching for a PICO question can be a challenging part of research given that one must ensure that the topic identified has enough resources that support it. Other tips for search strategies can include using keywords or variations of other keywords.
It was interesting to read that the use of keywords as a search strategy is a commonly used approach to complete a search on databases. Nevertheless, this strategy could be a limitation as authors can use different keywords, making it challenging for a researcher. The only way to combat the issue would be reviewing all the different keywords used from multiple sources to ensure that one has all the key terms needed for a search.
Like you, I agree that PubMed and Google Scholar are suitable databases for research. Your discussion was of benefit as I became more aware of the EBSCOhost database. Galvan (2017) supports the information given regarding the database, including providing more information than other databases.
I agree that limitations can be encountered while streamlining the search process. Full texts are not always utilized so as to see all available resources. Nevertheless, one can always search the title of an article to see if an available full-text option may be available on other websites.
Reference
Galvan, J. L., & Galvan, M. C. (2017). Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences. Taylor & Francis.