Deck 3: Gathering and Appraising the Literature

Question 1

For which of these reasons would a nurse researcher decide to use secondary sources in a review of the literature?

A) They provide material written by the person who conducted the study.
B) They provide a different way of looking at specific issues or problems.
C) They define the relationship of two or more variables affecting an outcome.
D) They supplement the body of nursing knowledge in a specific area of practice.

Answer 1

They supplement the body of nursing knowledge in a specific area of practice.

Question 2

When the nurse researcher conducts an electronic literature search, the search yields more than 7000 citations for the topic. The researcher should make which of these interpretations of the finding?

A) The search was comprehensive.
B) The key words were not sufficiently narrowed.
C) The topic does not require additional investigation.
D) The topic has broad application across health care disciplines.

Answer 2

The key words were not sufficiently narrowed.

Question 3

A general timeline for a literature search for an academic paper or project is to go back how far in the literature?

A) At least the last 6 months to 2 years
B) At least the past 3 to 5 years
C) At least the past 6 to 10 years
D) At least the past 12 to 15 years

Answer 3

At least the past 3 to 5 years

Question 4

Literature reviews are usually organized according to what?

A) The order in which materials are retrieved
B) The conceptual or theoretical concepts
C) The importance or credibility of authors
D) The variables being studied

Question 5

Which of these factors limits the usefulness of the World Wide Web as a source of information for research consumers?

A) Downloading from the Web can be a slow process.
B) Nontext capabilities reduce the professionalism of presentations.
C) There is little quality control over the information on many websites.
D) Much of the available information is too technical to be understood by the casual reader.

Question 6

The "6S" pyramid hierarchy of preappraised evidence developed by DiCenso, Bayley, & Haynes (2009) provides a means to help nurse consumers of research find preappraised evidence for clinical questions. Using this model, which level of evidence would be highest?

A) Summaries such as clinical practice guidelines
B) Synopsis of Synthesis such as summaries found in the journal Evidence-Based Nursing
C) Syntheses or systematic reviews such as a Cochrane review
D) Studies such as synopses of a single study

Question 7

Which of these electronic databases is the most relevant and frequently used source for nursing literature?

A) MEDLINE
B) CINAHL
C) Cochrane Collaboration
D) National Guideline Clearinghouse

Question 8

Which website is an important source for clinical evidence but limited as a provider of primary documents for literature reviews?

A) CINAHL
B) MEDLINE
C) Cochrane Library
D) PsychINFO

Question 9

Which command is an example of a Boolean connection used when ordering an electronic literature search?

A) Explode topic
B) Limit search to abstracts
C) Search from years 2003 to 2013
D) Search diabetes diagnosis and treatment

Question 10

What is considered to be essential to a thorough and relevant review of the literature?

A) Use of both published and unpublished sources
B) Critical evaluation of mainly primary sources
C) Liberal use of secondary sources
D) Evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative sources

Question 11

A nurse is encouraged to use a Boolean operator to more efficiently perform an electronic search of the literature. The nurse should understand that a Boolean operator is what?

A) A specialized reference librarian who can assist in searches of electronic medical and nursing databases
B) A software program that enables combinations of permissions and restrictions for a database search
C) A definition of the relationship between words or groups of words in a literature search such as "and"
D) A clinical query that can be performed to focus on a particular clinical issue or practice question

Question 12

When comparing MEDLINE and CINAHL databases, which of these differences will the nurse find?

A) The coverage of MEDLINE dates back to 1975, whereas the coverage of CINAHL dates back to 1980.
B) MEDLINE's journal coverage includes more than 10,000 biomedical journals, whereas CINAHL's coverage includes more than 5000 journals.
C) MEDLINE's database size is more than 21 million records, whereas CINAHL's database size is more than 3.2 million records.
D) MEDLINE has more than 500 Evidence-Based Care Sheets, whereas CINAHL has more than 50 Evidence-Based Care Sheets.

Question 13

The review of literature is important to the research process for which of these reasons?

A) It guides all steps of the research process.
B) It provides a vehicle to disseminate the findings of the study.
C) It guides only the conceptualization of the problem statement.
D) It identifies only gaps or inconsistencies in the knowledge base.

Question 14

A research article has undergone a blind review for a peer-reviewed journal. The nurse reading the research article should understand which of the following about this review process?

A) The reviewers of the article did not know the identity of the other reviewers.
B) The reviewers of the article did not know the identity of the author.
C) The criteria used to review the article were not known to the author.
D) The criteria used to review the article were determined by the reviewers.

Question 15

Which is an example of a secondary source in a literature review?

A) An oral history of a nurse researcher
B) An investigator's report of a research study
C) A summary and critique of another's scholarly work
D) An autobiography of a developer of a nursing theory

Question 16

Which objective of a review of the literature is unique to a review for research purposes, rather than a review for evidence-based practice?

A) Discover conceptual frameworks used to examine problems
B) Generate useful research questions and hypotheses
C) Determine what is unknown about a subject, as well as what requires clarification
D) Uncover a new practice intervention or gain support for current interventions and policies

Question 17

Which is an example of a primary source in a literature review?

A) A video recorded interview of a nurse researcher
B) A critique of a nursing research study
C) An edited textbook on nursing research
D) A review of theoretical frameworks used in nursing research

Question 18

Why would a nurse researcher choose to use multiple online fee-based databases such as CINAHL and MEDLINE?

A) The charges for these services are minimal.
B) Databases are updated weekly or monthly.
C) An independent professional critique of each work accompanies the full text.
D) The service provides translations to English of articles written in other languages.

Question 19

For which of these reasons would a nurse researcher include refereed journals in the literature review?

A) The articles are critiqued by a panel of external reviewers.
B) The articles selected for publication are related to a specific field of knowledge.
C) The journals encourage competition among authors to have their articles published.
D) The journals publish only articles that are primary sources of research findings.

Question 20

A study published in a nursing research journal is titled, "Effects of nocturnal hemodialysis on physiological and psychological parameters of patients with end-stage kidney disease." The nurse should recognize that this study belongs to which of these types of reference?

A) Primary
B) Secondary
C) Tertiary
D) Historical