chapter 6

Some studies cited in a literature review may be decades old. The researcher may decide to use studies from this far back because these studies: a. are groundbreaking or landmark studies. b. are particularly well-written studies. c. are peer-reviewed, relevant studies. d. are still considered current studies.

A

What is the main purpose of a literature review in grounded theory research? a. To explain, extend, and support the framework used for the study b. To identify gaps in current knowledge about the research topic c. To place research findings in context of what is already known. d. To support the need to study the selected research topic

A

When citing sources in a literature review, it is best if the author: a. paraphrases other authors ideas. b. points out any defects in other authors work. c. synthesizes the work of a group of authors. d. uses direct quotations as much as possible.

A

Which type of publication describes a journal that is published over time and is numbered sequentially for the years published? a. Periodical b. Article c. Encyclopedia d. Monograph

ANS: A A periodical such as a journal is published over time and is numbered sequentially for the years published. This sequential numbering is seen in the year, volume, issue, and page numbering of a journal. An article is a paper about a specific topic and may be published together with other articles on similar themes in journals, encyclopedias, or edited books. An encyclopedia is an authoritative compilation of information on alphabetized topics that may provide background information and lead to other sources, but is rarely cited in academic papers and publications. A monograph, such as a book on a specific subject, a record of conference proceedings, or a pamphlet, usually is a one-time publication.

Which type of information would the reader be least interested in obtaining from a literature review? a. How the variables of interest have been operationally defined in prior studies. b. Narration of an author's impression of a given situation c. Research results d. What research approaches have been used to study similar problems.

ANS: B The type of information that the reader would be least interested in obtaining from a literature review is the narration of an author's impression of a given situation. A high-quality review of literature contains the current theoretical and scientific knowledge about a specific topic, and identifies what is known and unknown about that topic. A review of literature is the process of finding relevant research reports and theoretical sources, critically appraising these sources, synthesizing the results, and developing an accurate complete reference list.

A nurse researcher understands that a search may identify thousands of references. In an effort to refine the search, which of the following are accurate statements? Select all that apply. A. Increasing the range of years you are searching is an effective strategy. B. Combining terms or searching for the terms only in the abstract will decrease the number of articles identified. C. It is not appropriate to limit the search to only full-text articles for undergraduate students. D.Narrowing a search tightly is an effective strategy to access more results. E.Some electronic databases allow you to limit the search to certain types of articles.

ANS: B, E Combining terms or searching for the terms only in the abstract will decrease the number of articles identified. Some electronic databases allow you to limit the search to certain types of articles, such as scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. One strategy is to decrease the range of years you are searching. It is appropriate to limit the search to only full-text articles for undergraduate students; graduate students should avoid limiting searches to full-text articles because doing so might result in missing sources that are needed.

Which database describes biomedical journals relevant to healthcare professionals deemed reputable by the National Library of Medicine and includes abstracts with links to some full-text sources? a. PubMed b. CINAHL c. MEDLINE d. Academic Search Complete

ANS: C MEDLINE database describes biomedical journals relevant to healthcare professionals deemed reputable by the National Library of Medicine and includes abstracts with links to some full-text sources. PubMed database content includes free access to MEDLINE available to patients and other consumers. CINAHL is the database content that includes nursing and allied health journals that publish clinical, theoretical, and research articles, including many full-text articles. Academic Search Complete includes multidisciplinary databases, including articles from many disciplines.

In the following APA-formatted reference, what is indicated by the italicized words/numbers? Koehn, A. R., Ebright, P. R., & Draucker, C. B. (2016). Nurses' experiences with errors in nursing. Nursing Outlook, 64(6), 566-574. a. Article title/volume number b. Journal title/issue number c. Journal title/volume number d. Book title/issue number

ANS: C When citing a periodical (journal), the title and volume number are both italicized. The article title is not italicized in a journal. When citing a book, the title is italicized. The issue number is not italicized.

Which is true about quality of sources when critically appraising a literature review? a. A secondary source is written by the person who originated or is responsible for generating the ideas published. b. Authors of primary sources paraphrase the works of researchers and theorists and present their interpretations of what was written by the secondary author. c. A primary source summarizes or quotes content from secondary sources. d. Secondary sources are used only if primary sources cannot be located.

ANS: D Secondary sources are used only if primary sources cannot be located, or the secondary source provides creative ideas or a unique organization of information not found in a primary source. A primary source is written by the person who originated or is responsible for generating the ideas published. Authors of secondary sources paraphrase the works of researchers and theorists and present their interpretations of what was written by the primary author. A secondary source summarizes or quotes content from primary sources.

A nurse appraising a research article should perform which action in order to critically evaluate the literature review? a. Locate and review sources and abstracts listed in the research article b. Note the number of data-based and theoretical sources cited in the reference list c. Perform a meta-analysis or meta-synthesis on the cited references d. Search the literature to determine whether other relevant sources exist

B

An author uses an electronic source in portable document format (PDF). Which is true about citing this source in a literature review? a. It is necessary to provide the URL used to retrieve the article electronically. b. It is not treated differently than a print version of the article. c. The original print article must be located. d. The page numbers will not be available for citation.

B

An initial step when preparing to conduct a literature review is to: a. choose the types of sources to use. b. clarify the purpose of the review. c. determine how many articles to review. d. select electronic data bases and keywords.

B

Once relevant studies have been identified, the researchers next step is to: a. determine the expertise of each studys authors. b. obtain full-text copies of each of these articles. c. review the study design and methodology of each article. d. write the literature review based on abstract information

B

When conducting a literature search, which electronic product would a nurse researcher use to track and store reference information? a. Cumulative Index of Nursing and Health Literature (CINAHL) b. EndNotes or Ref Works c. Google Scholar d. Science Direct

B

When initially reading the relevant literature for comprehension, the researcher will: a. critically appraise the studies. b. highlight the main points of the studies. c. make decisions about paraphrasing quotes. d. review the abstract only.

B

Which is most important in a critical appraisal of a body of literature? a. Counting the available resources to determine whether more information is necessary. b. Examining the quality and content of the resources to determine the credibility and validity of each. c. Reviewing the reference lists in each study to find other relevant studies and landmark studies. d. Searching the literature thoroughly using appropriate keywords to ensure that all relevant literature is included.

B

Which type of study is least likely to include a review of the literature prior to initiating the study? a. Grounded theory b.Phenomenological c.Qualitative d. Quantitative

B

A researcher conducts a study using dependent and independent variables used in a previous study but uses a different population of subjects. What type of study is this? a. Landmark b. Pilot c. Replication d. Seminal

C

A researcher performs a critical appraisal of a group of studies measuring the effects of a home care education program on confidence levels of caregivers of elderly family members. The critical appraisal will include: a. determining the theoretical frameworks used for defining confidence. b. identifying sampling and inclusion criteria used in the studies. c. making value judgments about the credibility and validity of concepts. d. recording quotations relevant to the concept of confidence.

C

A review of empirical literature will yield information obtained from: a. concept analyses. b. descriptions of models and frameworks. c. research studies. d. theories.

C

A reviewer reading a proposal for a qualitative research study notes that the author has not included a literature review. The reviewer understands that a literature review may have been omitted in this case because: a.it is not necessary to conduct a literature review for qualitative research. b.qualitative research is conducted to study areas where there is no previous knowledge. c. some researchers feel that previous studies may bias data collection in qualitative studies. d. the researcher was not adequately prepared to conduct this research study.

C

A step just prior to beginning a literature search using an electronic database is to: a. decide how many articles are needed. b. determine the type of study. c. identify keywords for the search. d. perform a Google search.

C

For a study to be considered current, it should be published within the last: a. year. b. 2 years. c. 5 years. d. 10 years.

C

In a literature review, the author identifies themes present in articles under review and describes connections among these themes. This is an example of: a. analysis. b. appraisal. c. synthesis. d. theorizing.

C

In the following APA-formatted reference, what is indicated by the italicized words? Maxwell, S. E., & Delaney, H. D. (2004). Designing experiments and analyzing data: A model comparison perspective (2nd ed.). Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. a. Abstract information b. Article title c. Book title d. Publishing company

C

One reason for conducting a review of the literature other than for purposes of developing a research study is to:a. determine the expertise of researchers in the field of study. b. identify current theoretical frameworks. c. implement evidence-based practice guidelines. d. work in a Magnet-certified hospital setting.

C

When conducting a literature review for a thesis or dissertation and deciding how far back in the available literature to search, what will the student do? a. Ask the instructor to specify necessary publication years for articles cited. b. Base the decision on the number of articles necessary for the assigned task. c. Locate any seminal or landmark studies on the topic of research. d. Look for sources no older than 10 years prior.

C

When determining the reliability of a website resource in a literature review, it is important to determine: a. accessibility of the website information. b. costs of retrieving website information. c. sponsorship of website information. d. whether website information is also published conventionally.

C

When developing evidence-based-practice guidelines, if a researcher wishes to identify studies that evaluate a specific intervention in quantitative research, the literature review should include: a. grounded theory research. b. only current research from the last 5 years. c. replication studies and meta-analyses. d. seminal and landmark studies about the topic

C

When developing the outline for a literature review, the researchers first step is to: a. describe the focus or purpose of the review in the discussion section. b. include a statement about what is known in the literature. c. make notes about which sources to site in each section. d. use a standardized format to outline subsections in the discussion section.

C

Which source of information is rarely cited in academic publications? a. Conference proceedings b. Dissertation or thesis c. Encyclopedia d. Textbooks

C

A researcher reviews several articles about coping skills among parents of children with chronic illness and notes that half of the studies involved single-parent families. The researcher decides to examine whether coping skills differ in single-parent versus dual-parent households. The researcher is engaging in: a. analyzing. b. appraising. c. evaluating. d. synthesizing.

D

After a literature search has yielded a list of articles, an efficient way to identify relevant studies during a literature search is to review: a. an electronic database search history. b. only experimental studies. c. reference lists in other studies. d. study abstracts.

D

The concluding sentence of each paragraph in a literature review: a. describes relevant studies that support the theme of the paragraph. b. identifies the main themes of the paragraph. c. provides evidence to support the topic of the paragraph. d. transitions to the ideas expressed in the following paragraph.

D

To analyze a body of literature in a literature review the reviewer will: a. describe the findings of each study in the literature review. b. list the studies and itemize the findings of each one. c. make value judgments about the credibility of each study. d. synthesize and summarize findings from various studies.

D

What is an important limitation of secondary sources in literature reviews? a. The authors do not have high levels of expertise. b. They are usually not peer-reviewed sources. c. They do not contain unique or original information. d. They may contain misinterpreted information.

D

What is the purpose of a limited research review? a. To allow the reader to become familiar with the research problem b.To develop an initial pilot study prior to a more in-depth study c.To direct the planning and execution of a study d.To identify studies published after a study is performed

D

When appraising a literature review, one aspect of determining the breadth of the review is: a. whether the review provides direction for the proposed study. b. the number and percentages of sources from the past 5 to 10 years. c. whether landmark or seminal studies have been used. d. the disciplines of the study authors and journals cited in the review.

D

When reviewing articles in a peer-reviewed publication, the reader is assured that the articles are: a. landmark studies. b. primary sources. c. seminal studies. d. trustworthy sources.

D

Why might Wikipedia be a questionable reference for a study citation? a. It does not contain factual information. b. It does not provide ideas for other resources. c. It is an online resource.. d. It is an open, editable format.

D