HLTH 415

Program Design and Evaluation

Health 415 - October 2013 Michele Chittenden

Queen’s University Library

Learning Outcomes

In today’s class you will learn how to:

Conduct a literature search on a topic. Find various types of research sources. Search for journal articles in multi-disciplinary and

subject-specific databases. Distinguish between popular and scholarly sources. Save and organize library searches. Evaluate sources.

Finding Information

Where do most people go first? The Internet:

Google, Wikipedia Why? • Abundance of information • Appears easy to search • Current, timely • Low cost or free • Convenient • Diverse viewpoints

Resources

Primary Sources

Multimedia

Websites

Government Documents

Grey Literature

Popular Press

Journal Articles

Books

Images

Org/NGOs

DVDs

Associations

Documents

Speeches

Reports

E-Books

Dictionaries

Encyclopedias

Library Subscriptions /

databases Google Scholar

Open Access

Newspapers

Magazines

Archives

Statistics

Podcasts

Theses

Getting Started

Connect from Off-Campus Access to the Library’s electronic subscriptions (e-books, e-journals, indexes and databases) is restricted to current Queen’s students, faculty and staff.

Your Topic

My topic is on walking school bus programmes. I need information on planning, implementing, and evaluating a walking school bus programme for elementary school-aged children. My community organization is the Limestone District School Board.

• List the main concepts or keywords in your research topic: ____________________________________________________

• Think of related words/synonyms: ____________________________________________________

Discussion

• Think of your topic. • Write down keywords describing your topic. • Think of related words or synonyms. • Briefly explain your topic to your neighbour. • Discuss the keywords and related words you

have chosen to describe your topic. • Ask for feedback.

.

Finding Background Information

• The Library’s Research by Subject guides are designed to advise you where to look for information on a particular topic.

• Use encyclopedias (including Wikipedia), dictionaries and handbooks to:

• Provide an overview of a topic. • Become familiar with terminology. • Provide relevant keywords. • Focus your topic. • Identify experts related to the field. • Help you find sources.

• For example: A dictionary of public health

Finding Books

• Search the library catalogue, QCAT for books, theses, government documents.

• The best way to find books

(secondary sources) on your topic are with a Keyword Boolean search.

• Use Boolean operators: AND, OR,

NOT.

MPj04394190000[1],” albertogp123

Search Tips

Use AND to combine search terms and narrow results health and environment Use OR to expand search results teenagers or adolescents Use “quotation marks” for phrases “public health” Use ? for plural forms and variant word endings child? Retrieves child, children, child’s Search Example: “social environments” and health

Activity

Using QCAT, find items on planning, implementing, and assessing a walking school bus programme for elementary school-aged children.

• Perform a Keyword Boolean search: “walking school bus”

• Narrow a topic that is too broad by:

– Time period – Geographic location – Population group (children, teens, adults, seniors)

Note: Not all topics will be represented in the library catalogue.

Finding Journal Articles

• Start with multidisciplinary databases. • Multidisciplinary databases index a great number of

publications and allow you to search across the disciplines.

• Examples of a multidisciplinary database include:

– Summon – Google Scholar – Web of Science

Summon

• Summon is the largest of our library’s multidisciplinary databases.

• It contains everything found in the QCAT Library Catalogue, plus millions of full-text articles available from the Library.

Search Tip: After performing a search, use facets to refine or limit your search results.

Activity

Using Summon, search for information on planning, implementing, and assessing a walking school bus programme for elementary school-aged children. Refine your Search results to Limit to articles from scholarly

publications, including peer-review Refine your Search to Publication Date, 2000 to 2012. Select two articles of interest. Save articles to the folder. View saved articles. Format your search results into APA style. Save in RefWorks.

Google Scholar

• Use Google Scholar to locate articles from a wide variety of academic publishers and universities, as well as Open Access scholarly articles.

Search Tips:

– When off-campus, use the web proxy to activate citations in Google Scholar to the full text of articles contained in Queen's subscriptions as well as to the library catalogue.

– Click on Settings to view several preferences you can set. • In “Library Links” ensure Queen’s University Library is selected. • In “Bibliography Manager”, choose RefWorks.

Subject Databases

• Each academic discipline has its own specialized article indexes and databases.

• For in-depth searching, use subject databases. • You can access article indexes and databases from the

following places on the library homepage: – The Kinesiology and Health Studies Subject Guide lists core

and related recommended databases. – Use the Databases tab, when you know the name of the

database you wish to search. – More Database Options

Relevant Databases

• Health Studies students often have research questions related to a range of different disciplines.

• Recommended Queen’s databases for disciplines relevant to health studies include: – Education: ERIC – Medicine: PubMed – Psychology: PsycINFO – Public Health: ProQuest Public Health, CINAHL – Public Policy: Canadian Electronic Library- Health Collection, HealthStar,

PAIS, PubMed – Sociology: Sociological Abstracts – Sports and Recreation: SportDiscus

Other Useful Databases

Queen’s Databases: – Business: ABI – Canadian sources: CBCA – Geography/environment: GEOBASE – Urban planning: GEOBASE, Urban Planning @ProQuest

Other • Systematic Reviews: Health Evidence, McMaster University

– Quality-rated systematic reviews evaluating the effectiveness of public health interventions.

• TRIP: Database - For Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)

Activity

Using ProQuest Public Health, search for information on planning, implementing, and evaluating walking school bus programmes for elementary school-aged children. • Perform an Advanced keyword search. • View search results list. • Review ways to Limit your search results such as date and age group. • Limit to peer reviewed articles. • View new list. • Narrow your results by using the subject terms used to describe the

article. • Look at references for additional sources.

Scholarly vs. Popular Writing

• Scholarly Journals have articles that are written

by a scholar/expert in the field. report on original research or

experimentation. have articles that use the

terminology and language of the covered subject. have articles that are

footnoted and/or have a bibliography. are generally published by a

professional organization or a scholarly press.

Popular Works such as magazines and newspapers: are written for the general

public. are written to inform or

entertain, sell products or promote a point of view. avoid specialized terminology

of the field. do not have bibliographies. may be written by authors

who have no expertise on the topic. Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals

Peer Review

“Peer review means that other scientific experts in the field check research papers for validity, significance and originality – and for clarity.” From: I don’t know what to believe…making sense of science stories.

• One way researchers try to ensure the legitimacy of their

work is to have it peer reviewed prior to publication.

• A peer-reviewed or refereed journal is one in which manuscripts submitted by authors are reviewed by experts on the topic before being accepted for publication in the journal.

How do I find peer-reviewed or

scholarly research?

• Look in Research Databases to find peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles. – Some databases make it easy. Look for a check-box to limit or

refine to "Peer Reviewed" or Scholarly. • Use Summon

– Refine Your Search. Limit to articles from scholarly publications, including peer-review.

• Google Scholar • Enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature

(including peer-reviewed papers). —While not a substitute for the article indexes and databases

available at Queen’s University Library, Google Scholar can be a useful supplement.

Specialized Resources

• Government Information, Statistics, Data – Health Related Government Information & Statistics

• Multimedia – Eastern Ontario Health Unit Multimedia Resource Centre – WHO podcasts on Public Health

• Newspapers • Canadian Newsstand • Kingston Whig Standard

Finding Websites

• Go to your Research Subject Guide for librarian-recommended websites.

• Use search terms that uniquely define your topic to narrow your search.

• Use Advanced searching features. Activity Search Google Advanced: “walking school bus” and Canada

Websites

Some useful websites: • Canadian Institutes of Health Research • EUROPA –Public Health • Health Information Research Unit, McMaster University • National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools • NLM Health Services Research • Public Health Agency of Canada

– Public Health Agency of Canada: Canadian Best Practices Portal • Public Health Ontario • World Health Organization

– Data and evidence

Discussion

• Please get into groups of three or four. • Share your research topic with everyone in the group. • Based on what you have learned in this workshop, identify and

share with your group: i. The types of information sources you will use to

acquire information for your project. For example, books, journal articles, government reports, websites, newspaper articles, etc.

ii. One or two databases you think will be useful to search for information on your project.

Evaluating Sources

• Evaluating your sources is a crucial step in the research process.

• You need to evaluate each source to determine its

appropriateness and quality. – Use the Library’s Evaluating Sources Checklist

Critically evaluating the information you find is central to

successful academic research.

How Good Are Your Sources?

Not everything on the Internet is as it seems.

• Anyone can create a webpage so it is particularly important to analyze and assess information that you find on the Internet before using it in a research paper. – Use the Library’s guide to Evaluating Web Sources – Medline Plus Guide to Healthy Web Surfing

Web evaluation criteria:

• Authority – author(s)’s credentials; associated with an organization or

institution? • Purpose – inform, persuade • Coverage – depth of content, bias,verifiability of information • Currency – updated frequently, links maintained

Grey Literature

• Any literature that is not published in the traditional sense. • Grey literature is not easily found. It is often excluded from

large databases and other mainstream sources. • Use grey literature to complement your search. • Examples of grey literature include:

– Government documents, theses, annual reports, conference proceedings.

Tip: Use the database Web of Science to find conference proceedings.

Organize Your Research

• RefWorks is a web-based research management tool that

allows you to: – organize your research by creating folders for classes and

assignments; – format bibliographies automatically in any of the major

bibliographic styles (e.g. APA, MLA, etc.); and – import citations from database and library catalogue searches.

Connect via the RefWorks link on the Queen's Library home page.

Citing Sources

• Citing sources is an important part of your research.

• The Library has print and electronic copies of

the various citation style guides.

Identify at least two new things that you learned in this session.

Questions?

Michele Chittenden Kinesiology & Health Studies Liaison Librarian,

Stauffer Library