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What is Research?

The organized quest for new knowledge and better understanding (Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 28th ed)
Investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws (Merriam-Webster, 2011)

Research can be categorized in many different ways:

basic or applied
observational or interventional
qualitative or quantitative
primary or secondary [for details click tab Evaluating Sources]

What do all types of research have in common?

context: prior research on the topic, future directions
structured process: uses a scientific perspective to analyze a specific research question of interest and develop an approach for studying it
methodology: follows recognized procedures appropriate to the research area
objectivity: incorporates multiple perspectives yet remains unbiased

How Can I Identify a Research Article?

Examine the Title of the Article

Sometimes the authors indicate the study type or design in the title of the article.

Example:

Sarris J, Byrne GJ. A systematic review of insomnia and complementary medicine. Sleep Med Rev. 2010 Jun 5.
Hammond FM, Davis CS, Whiteside OY, Philbrick P, Hirsch MA. Marital adjustment and stability following traumatic brain injury: a pilot qualitative analysis of spouse perspectives. J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2011 Jan/Feb;26(1): 69-78.

Examine the Abstract and/or Full Text Article

Abstract: Look for key phrases such as the following.

"This study examines..."
"The purpose of this study was to..."
"The study's findings support..."
"We investigated..."
"The results of this study confirm..."

Examine the article for a structured outline such as the IMRAD format:

Introduction (Background, Objective)
Methodology (Methods)
Results
Analysis (Conclusion)
Discussion

Examine the Indexing of an Article in a Library Database

Library bibliographic databases usually identify the publication type of a given article. Type of publication or subject headings can often include the type of research methodology used in the article. NOTE: there is a delay before an article is indexed in a databases, so this may not work with very recent articles.

Example:

CINAHL Research Study Design
Pfeiffer, J. A., Wickline, M. A., Deetz, J., & Berry, E. S. (2012). Assessing RN-to-RN peer review on clinical units. Journal of Nursing Management, 20(3), 390-400. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2834.2011.01321.x

Important note: Research articles are the primary means of developing new clinical knowledge, but vary in the level of detail given about the study. You may need to do your own evaluation.

Type of Reference	Pros	Cons	Examples	Evidence-based?
Websites	Easy to find Can be very current	Quality variable	MedlinePlus Child Development Vaccine/Autism	May lead to evidence-based sources of information in traditional literature it the references. Expert Opinion
Textbooks	Quick and easy to use Provides summaries	Can be expensive Can be slow to update	The Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice	May summarize evidence and lead to evidence-based sources of information in the references. Expert Opinion

Journal Articles
Reviews (Narrative)	Provide summaries of what is known on specific topics	Methodology used in compiling the summaries may not be scientific or systematic	Headaches in children.	May lead to evidence-based sources of information in the references. Expert Opinion
Systematic Reviews	Provide systematically derived summaries of research studies on specific topics	Addresses a single research question Requires some research to already have been done on the research question	Factors influencing completion of multi-dose vaccine schedules in adolescents: a systematic review.	Evidence-based, secondary research References individual research articles
Meta-analyses	Provide systematically derived summaries of research studies on specific topics and applies statistical methods of analyses	Requires considerable amounts of research to have already been done on the specific research question	Prevalence of, and risk factors for, chronic idiopathic constipation in the community: systematic review and meta-analysis	Evidence-based Leads to individual research articles
Research Reports/Articles	Describes original research studies and reports on results	Can be time-consuming to read, interpret, and translate into clinical practice	Double-blind, placebo-controlled antibiotic treatment study of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in children with chronic abdominal pain	Evidence-based research

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