Deck 4: Finding Sources of Evidence

Question 1

Which of the following is an example of a secondary source?

A) A textbook on infectious diseases
B) Commentary on a study by an infectious disease specialist
C) A review of infectious disease research from the past 10 years
D) All of these are correct.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What is the purpose of the peer-review process?

A) To ensure that published works are of high quality
B) To confirm that the information presented is from primary sources
C) To evaluate the quality of publications included in literature reviews
D) To help medical personnel make informed decisions about best practice

Answer 2

A

Question 3

A scholarly paper about the effects of inpatient care on patient sleep patterns brings together data from five previously published studies, each of which used a different research method. The paper is most likely which type of review?

A) Peer
B) Narrative
C) Integrative
D) Meta-analysis

Answer 3

C

Question 4

How do meta-analyses differ from other types of reviews?

A) They include data only from previously published works.
B) They combine the results only from similar or identical studies.
C) They can be subjective because the author can choose to exclude some works.
D) They are more effective because they combine elements of other types of reviews.

Question 5

For a nurse trained in EBP, what is the primary purpose of performing a literature review?

A) To ensure the quality of published works on a clinical topic
B) To identify gaps in the existing research on a clinical topic
C) To promote awareness of a clinical topic among members of the medical community
D) To increase knowledge of a clinical topic with the goal of informing practice in the clinical setting

Question 6

A nurse wants to find more information about a study that took place within the last 6 months. The study is still under peer review, but an unpublished report of the findings exists. Which of the following resources would be most helpful to the nurse's research?

A) Library catalog
B) Interlibrary loan system
C) Subject-specific database
D) General content database

Question 7

Using the Boolean operator "AND" to connect two words has what effect on the results of a keyword search of a literature database?

A) It expands the results to include all articles containing either word.
B) It narrows the results to include only articles that contain both words.
C) It limits the results to include only articles where the two words appear side by side in phrases.
D) It defines the search results by one or the other word.

Question 8

A nurse conducting a keyword search of a literature database enters the search terms "anorexia NOT bulimia." Which results does the nurse expect to obtain?

A) Articles that mention bulimia but primarily discuss anorexia
B) Articles that discuss the differences between anorexia and bulimia
C) Articles that contain the word "anorexia" but not the word "bulimia"
D) Articles that have the word "anorexia" in the title

Question 9

In an electronic database search, what is a controlled vocabulary?

A) A list of words that cannot be used as search terms
B) A series of keywords that must be entered in a specific order
C) A set of proprietary terms that can only be used when searching one particular database
D) A standardized, hierarchical list of terms that represent major subjects and conditions

Question 10

In which situation does the use of keywords provide better results than a controlled vocabulary search?

A) Finding standardized hierarchical lists that represent major subject concepts
B) Searching full text or citation records
C) Searching for a particular subject
D) Searching for exact matches

Question 11

A nurse is searching database subject headings for the search term "fracture." The nurse expands the search results so that they include the search terms "compound fracture" and "oblique fracture." Which technique did the nurse most likely use to obtain the results?

A) Exploding
B) Truncation
C) Qualification
D) Nesting

Question 12

A nurse researching melanomas would use which technique to limit search results to only include articles with the word "melanoma" in the title?

A) Truncation
B) Positional operators
C) Qualification
D) Nesting

Question 13

What action(s) can a nurse take to address concerns about the validity of articles located during research?

A) Exclude the questionable articles from the research.
B) Verify the questionable articles elsewhere using a reputable source.
C) Ask a nursing faculty member or a librarian for assistance determining the validity of the articles.
D) All of these are correct.

Question 14

Which of the following statements would require a citation if used in a research paper?

A) UTIs occur frequently in some women.
B) George Washington was the first president of the United States.
C) Zithromax has shown statistically significant results in the treatment of UTIs.
D) Antibiotics are used to treat infection.

Question 15

A nurse researching physical therapy enters the words "physical" and "therapy" into the keyword search bar of a database. What should the nurse do to the two keywords to obtain the most relevant results?

A) Remove the space between the words.
B) Add parentheses around the words.
C) Add the word "AND" between the words.
D) Truncate the words.

Question 16

When information is paraphrased instead of directly quoted, an inline citation is not necessary as long as the source of the information is included in the reference list.

Question 17

A researcher who has located a reputable source can often locate other useful and reputable sources by consulting the reference list of the original source.

Question 18

The use of consistent record formatting and field labels prevents new information from being included and ensures that researchers can obtain the exact same results every time they perform the same search.

Question 19

Recall search strategies usually yield a greater number of results and are most useful when the information being researched has been written about many times and appears in many reputable sources.

Question 20

Using a citation for common knowledge information is unnecessary, clutters writing, and is equally as inappropriate as plagiarism.