Great Diseases: Conducting Research Module

What type of information are you finding?

There are different types of information resource you can use when doing research. They are arranged by how close they come to the original source of the information. A primary source is considered to be the closest direct representation of  information, a secondary resource is typically primary sources that have been synthesized or summarized, and a tertiary source is one that does not contain original material and is a very brief or condensed version of primary and/or secondary sources.

Primary

In the sciences, primary sources are documents that provide full description of the original research.

• Research Articles
• Interviews
• Journals/diaries
• Lab notebooks
• Patents

Secondary

These types of sources summarize the existing state of knowledge in a field at the time of publication. Secondary sources are good to find comparisons of different ideas and theories and to see how they may have changed over time. They often contain references to the primary sources they used.

• Books (not fiction or autobiographies)
• Review Articles
• Textbooks
• Newspaper and magazine articles
• Biographies

Tertiary

These types of sources present condensed material, generally with references back to the primary and/or secondary literature. They can be a good place to look up data or to get an overview of a subject, but they rarely contain original material.

•  Dictionaries
•  Encyclopedias
•  Handbooks
• Manuals and Guide books

Know the Audience

Whenever a scientist, author, producer, journalist, etc. creates something, they always think about who they are trying to reach with their final product. Knowing the intended audience is an important step in writing AND the resource evaluation process. 

Some items are created for a very specific audience. Think of the researcher who writes an article about their original research for Science Magazine. They are probably writing for an audience of their peers. But what if they are writing an article about advances being made in cancer treatment? They could be trying to write for a general adult audience, which means they need to present the information differently than when writing for other researchers.

Determine the itended audience of the information so you know if it's right for your use.
You wouldn't read Jane Eyre to kindergarteners or Dr. Seuss to high schoolers.

Common Audience Groups in the Health Sciences

When you are conducting your research, it may help to think of two common audiences: Experts and Health Consumers.

Articles, books and other resources written at an expert level use complex ideas and vocabulary that is expected to be standard knowledge within a profession. In the sciences, primary sources are often expert level, as well as many subject-specific books and texts. It is important to note that audience level is not strictly tied to source type, but it can be a good rule of thumb.

Information written for health consumers is aimed at the general adult public. These readers are not expected to understand expert vocabulary or topics, so they present complex ideas in the simplest way possible, using language most people with an 8th grade reading level will understand. Because they are not creating and analyzing the information like experts do, they are called consumers. Health consumers read consumer health information. Generally, items written for health consumers are secondary or tertiary sources.

If you only need secondary or tertiary information to answer your research question, you can search Consumer Health Information sources fairly easily. However, these sources are not usually meant to have in-depth concepts and data in them. If you need actual statistics and methodologies to back up your arguments, you may need to search the primary literature for expert-level sources.

Creating a Specific Question

When doing research it is very important to have a specific research question. Many people try to search their thesis statement directly, but this can actually cause more problems when trying to find expert literature. This is because statements cannot be answered. How do you know if you are finished researching or can build an effective argument with what you've found when you aren't sure what you are trying to answer or prove?

Copyright 2014, Bil Keane

It is good research practice to phrase your topic in a question. You will then be able to have a better idea of the kind of information needed to answer it, and when you can stop searching.

It is also very important to be specific - especially when searching in the health sciences. If I were to have a research question of:

Does exercise improve diabetes?

I would run in to trouble finding articles about "improvement." Why is this? In science we research measurable traits and outcomes. The idea of improvement is not specific enough, we need to think of specific outcomes that could be argued to be an improvement in diabetics. You might also want to narrow down the type of diabetes you are looking for. If we are interested in exercise, we are probably thinking of the type of diabetes that is caused by being overweight and sedintary - Type II Diabetes. A more specific question might be:

Does exercise help reduce insulin resistance in type II diabetes?

Determine the Main Ideas in Your Question

The next part of this step is to "diagram" your question and determine what main topics are included. Typically these are the nouns in your question. It's very dificult to search expert literature using verbs. Searching by the nouns in your question can usually bring you the articles you need on your topic.

In our question, there are 3 topics that can stand on their own and be understood:

1. exercise
2. insulin resistance
3. type II diabetes

These three ideas could be researched individually, but you are combining them into one search to answer a unique and specific question. For more information about how to combine different topics effectively, you should read the Value of Vocabulary section.

Why is Having a Specific Research Question Important?

Having a specific question will allow you to determine the type of information needed to answer it. It will also give you an idea of the audience-level of information you should be seeking. It can even help you decide which databases to search for the most appropriate information! Remember that when searching for literature and documents, the question is the most important part of the process, and the very first thing you should do.

Your Choice of Database Determines What Type of Information You Will Find

When you decide to use one resource over another, you need to think about the capabilities of that resource. Some search resources are more specific than others.

Consumer Health Information sources target a certain audience and tend to be less science-intensive. they also tend to have simple search interfaces where using a single, representative word or two will be the best strategy for finding relevant information. However, you still need to keep in mind vocabulary differences, since some CHI resources may use "vaccines" while another might use "immunizations."

Google and other internet search engines tend to be very broad and will give results that encompass all audience levels and types of resource. Library databases tend to be much more specific. They may be centered around a particular topic or may contian only certain types of resources geared at a very specific audience.

Understanding these aspects of the database you are searching helps you set up a better search. If you are using Google, you know you will have to be more specific and detailed in your search in order to retrieve precise results tailored to the audience-level you need.

Using a library database that contains resources of only a specific topic may mean you don't have to worry as much about a complex search, but you do need to worry about the specific terms you use in your searches.

Your Choice of Database Determines How Complex Your Search Needs to Be 

Keyword Search Databases

Most freely available resources that you use on the web are what we call "keyword" search databases. This type of database only recognizes the exact word you type in and searches for only that word in the text. In these datadases, using synonyms is very important, because you want to make sure you are searching for "heart attack" as well as "myocardial infarction" to find as much information of use as possible.

Google and Google Scholar are probably the two most popular keyword search databases, but any major search engine on the web searches by keyword as well. These resources require more complex searches to return thorough results. You need to think about using OR to combine similar words that both express the same idea, quotation marks to indicate that two or more words need to be in close proximity to each other, and possibly using NOT to exclude resources and narrow your results.

Theaurus-Based Databases

There are some special databases that allow you to search without a list of synonyms at your disposal. This is because they recognize a specialized set of terms that search all of the synonyms automatically. If you use PubMed, it uses a thesaurus called the Medical Subject Headings, or MeSH. If you use only MeSH terms (denoted by [mh] at the end of the word) to build a search in PubMed, it will automatically search all of the synonyms for that term, too.

To learn more about where to find MeSH terms in the thesauraus, read this section.

By telling PubMed to recognize MeSH terms and use them to search for an idea, you create less complex searches, but still return many relevant results. This is called concept searching because instead of looking for just a string of letters, the database is searching for all synonyms that represent the same idea as the MeSH term. For example, instead of searching:

"atkins diet" OR "low carbohydrate diet" OR "south beach diet"

you can just use the MeSH term that represents all of these synonyms: Diet, carbohydrate-restricted[mh]

By telling PubMed to search the MeSH heading of "Diet, carbohydrate-restricted[mh]" you are saying to find any article that is about this concept - no matter what they specifically call it.

It is important to remember two things: 

1. Only PubMed  or PubMed Central can search by using Medical Subject Headings as concepts
2. You have to tell PubMed that what you typed in is a subject heading by placing a [mh] immediately behind the term.

Concept searching allows you to create simpler searches than if you were using a keyword search database.

Google Scholar Quick Tips

Be sure to ask if your library provides direct links to articles through Google Scholar and how to use that feature.

• Do more than one search
• Utilize your vocabulary – try different searches with different words
• For more information on the importance of vocabulary in searching and how to find better words, read The Value of Vocabulary
• Try using OR and parenthesis to do more work with your vocabulary in a single search
• Be sure to use quotation marks if you are searching ideas with a phrase: "heart attack" or "type II diabetes"
• For more information on operators and search symbols, read Creating Search Formulas
• Remember that FEWER results usually means more PRECISE results
• Evaluate what you find by asking: “Is it CRAAP?” and using the checklist from Assess Your Findings

PubMed Quick Tips

• Do more than one search
• Utilize your vocabulary – try different searches with different words
• PubMed is connected to the  Medical Subject Headings Thesaurus, so it is easy to find terms to use
• For more information on the importance of vocabulary in searching and how to find better words, read The Value of Vocabulary
• Try using operators and other symbols to do more work with your vocabulary in a single search
• PubMed recognizes the asterisk (*) as a truncation symbol, and also recognizes AND, OR, NOT and parenthesis
• For more information on operators and search symbols, read Creating Search Formulas
• Filter your results by “freely-available” in the left column of the results page
• Evaluate what you find by asking: “Is it CRAAP?” and using the checklist from Assess Your Findings
  

Remember: Searching is a process. Try running your search multiple times but with a change in terms or complexity. If you are having trouble with a search, make sure you have a specific, defined research question to guide your research process.

Once you’ve spent the time finding vocabulary and building searches, you’ll likely be ready to jump into those search results and evaluate your claims...STOP!

Save yourself time and energy by first evaluating whether that seemingly interesting resource is even worth reading. You don't want to waste prescious brain cells evaluating a claim if the article or webpage is from a disreputible source, isn't up-to-date, or is not trustworthy because the research was funded by an agenda-driven organization.

Before reading entirely through a resource, ask yourself: Is it CRAAP?

Is the article or website:

• Current?
• Relevant?
• Authoritative?
• Accurate?
• Purposeful?

Asking yourself these questions as you skim through a resource will save you time and help ensure you are using reputible sources.

At the end of this section, underneath the tutorial video, you will find a downloadable copy of the CRAAP Checklist. Have a copy with you to evaluate papers and websites you find while searching.

The Video Summary

Pirillo, F. Plagiarism. bLaugh.com

Always remember: How you say it matters!

Words, especially in english, often have multiple meanings and interpretations. There are many different ways to say or describe the same or similar things - think of how you speak versus how your teacher speaks. Professionals often use different vocabulary than the public.

This cartoon wouldn't make sense if "flash" didn't have more than one interpretation. (Piraro, D., 2012)

You will often find scientific terms or phrases that are used in research articles that we don’t use in our day-to-day vocabulary. For example, “heart attack” and “myocardial infarction” are the same thing, but we are more apt to say “heart attack” when we talk to one another. Similarly, the terms “low-carbohydrate diet” and “ketogenic diet” both describe the Atkins diet, so which one would you use when you are searching for information? 

So why does this matter?

Simply because humans are smart and computers are DUMB. Computers are merely tools – they take exactly what we type in and use it in a way they were programmed to work and spit out results. The vocabulary that is used to search for a topic can affect the types of results we get. If you choose poor vocabulary, you will have poor results. The concise way to think about it is “garbage in, garbage out”.

Since there are multiple ways to talk about ideas you need to make sure when you are searching a database like Google Scholar that those multiple expressions are represented in your search. If you search “heart attack” but only 30% of the information uses that phrase you will be missing out on 70% of the papers regarding that topic!

Medical Subject Headings are a thesaurus of official medical and health terms. (NLM, 2010)

Using A Thesaurus to Build Vocabulary

A thesaurus is a good tool to ensure you are thinking of all of the synonyms associated with your topic. It not only tells you definitions of words, but other words that mean the same, or similar thing. In the medical world there is an “official” thesaurus of terms for published research articles and books called Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). To find good terms and synonyms for your searches visit MeSH at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh and type in a word or brief phrase that represents your idea.

For example, if you type in “Atkins diet” you will be taken to a page called ‘Diet, Carbohydrate –Restricted’. This means that the official, medical way to talk about the Atkins diet is to talk about carbohydrate-restricted diets. If you scroll down you will find a section called ‘Entry Terms’, followed by a list of synonyms that you can choose to use in your searches. There are plenty of synonyms to choose from for Atkins diet, including “south beach diet”, “low carbohydrate diet”, and “carbohydrate-restricted diet”. It's up to you to decide how many and which synonyms to use in your search. It may take a couple of tries to get a set of results you really like.

The Video Summary

Piraro, D. (2012). Flash card. BizarroComics.com
National Library of Medicine. (2010). MeSH logo

Now you have an idea of where you want to search and what words and phrases you need to use to find as much relevant information as you can. The next step is to build a search with your vocabulary.

Searching databases is like building math equations. If you use the wrong operations, your answers won't come out properly. There are three main "operators" that a majority of search engines and databases recognize (we type them in all capitals to let the database know these are ways to combine words, not vocabulary we want to search for):

• AND
• The addition operator, this indicates that you want BOTH words or phrases to appear in your results
• This is the operator to use between distinct words or phrases of your search to ensure all the important ideas appear in the results
• For example, the query: vegan AND vegetarian will yield results regarding both vegan and vegetarian, not just one or the other
• OR
• The all-inclusive operator, this means you want either term - as well as possibly both terms - to appear in your results
• This is the synonym operator - use this to combine words and phrases that mean the same thing
• For example, searching for vegan OR vegetarian diet will yield articles that use either synonym to describe the idea ofa meatless diet
• NOT
• The subtraction operator, this indicates that you do not want the term or phrase to appear in your results
• For example, the search vegan NOT vegetarian means that you are searching for studies about a vegan diet that does not also include non-vegan vegetarians 

The above operators (Manifold, L., 2012) are called Boolean operators and are the most basic and universal way to build good searches. Here are a few other useful operators:

• Truncation Symbol: *
• Using this symbol at the end of words tells the database to search all possible endings of the word
• For example, the search leav* would find leaves, leaving, leaven, leavening, leaver, leavers, etc.
• This is a useful, but dangerous, tool! You should not use this for bases that are too short or non-specific. For example, how many words do you think begin with rat*?
• Parenthesis
• Just as in mathematics, parentheses tell the computer what to do first
• This is most useful to put around strings of synonyms
• For example, the search (atkins diet OR low carbohydrate diet OR south beach diet) AND (weight OR BMI) tells the computer to search for all the words of the separate ideas before combining the ideas together
• Quotation Marks: " "
• Quotes ensure that a phrase is searched as a phrase and not separate words anywhere in the article or webpage
• In the above example, it might be better to have put all of the diets in quotation marks: "atkins diet" OR "south beach diet", so that the computer knows that those words should be found together

The Video Summary

Step 4b: The Art of Searching - Practice Makes Perfect

Not every resource you search will be able to understand all of the different symbols and tools you've learned.

You wouldn't search a book using Boolean operators and parantheses - and some databases are more complex than others.

• PubMed Central is very organized and complex, so it uses lots of tools ot help narrow down your search
• DOAJ, Google Scholar, and many others may only know Boolean operators and quotation marks
• Still others - like MedlinePlus - are made to be searched by all members of the public, so the search interface is very simple
• This means it may only recognize single words or will only combine multiple words with AND automatically

The best search for a particular resource may NOT be the most complex.

We've also spent a lot of time talking about vocabulary and building a list of terms to use in searches. It's important to know that some words will be better at finding the information you need than others. You may have to try different combinations of words and operators and see what results you get in order to build a "perfect" search. 

It takes time and practice to become a good searcher, so don't stop or give up after only one search.

Manifold, L. (2012). Boolean how-to. New IUCAT Blog: Indiana University