NURS 8142: Quantitative Data Collection Methods and Measurement for Nursing Research

slides from class: z.umn.edu/N8142

1.  Check PsycTests

• Search for instruments on a topic
• Use various filters
• Find full text of known tests

2.  Search for articles on your topic and see what instrument they used

• Try the "Surveys and Questionnaires" subject heading in Ovid Medline
• Try validat* as a title or multiplacement keyword with your topic to pick up things talking about validation, which is a marker for a tool

3.  To find the full text of an instrument that is not in PsycTests, search Google to see if it is freely or commercially available. If not, contact the author.

4.  To find articles using a specific tool, consider a database like Google Scholar that can search the full text of articles (as opposed to Medline/CINAHL etc., which only searches title/abstract/keywords) since specific instruments are often not mentioned in the abstract. 

• Use quotes or a specific fragment of the instrument title to help with retrieval, and try different variations since there is not standardization in author text.

​​​​​​​5.  Look for articles that have cited the original article the instrument was published in. Databases like Scopus or Google Scholar work well for this. 

• Search for the source article first, then view "cited by" to see articles referencing it.

• A keyword search looks for your exact word or phrase as used by the author in the title, abstract, or other data attached to the record (subject heading words, author keywords, etc.). It does not see into the full text of the article.
• With a keyword search, think first about possible different endings (plurals, other variants). The * at the end of a stem will pick up any variations after the symbol.
  •  Example: breastfeeding gets only that exact term, breastfe* gets breastfeeding, breastfeed, breastfeeds, or breastfed
• Ovid does automatic phrase searching (words are searched as a phrase without you needing to type them in quotes)
  • Example: neonatal abstinence syndrome
• Use parentheses for grouping. Codes attached to the end of parentheses will apply to the whole group.
  • Example: ((neonat* or newborn*) adj5 (feeding or breastfeeding)).mp
• Codes and logic can nest and combine, with few exceptions. Pay attention to the logic and it will usually work.
  • (((older adult* or elder* or geriatric* or senior*).ti or (nursing home* or care home*).mp) and music.ti)
• You cannot front-truncate a term. Search multiple terms if there are prefix variations to account for.
  • Example: (quadripleg* or parapleg* or hemipleg*)

Keyword codes in Ovid Medline

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