Research Guide for Health Education and Community Health
Your topic
What do you want to find out? Write down topic words, aspects of your topic, and very important terms. You will use these keywords to construct your searches.Draft an outline
Write a list of the topics you will cover and the main points you plan to make. Leave space to add to this or rearrange it. You will revise this outline several times as you work!How to search
Choose keywords to start your search. As you get good or not so great results, be prepared to change your keywords.- If the words for your topic are very distinctive, then try using just one or two terms. Example: anemia
- If the words for your topic work together as a phrase, but can mean other things on their own, then try using quotation marks to keep them a phrase. Example: "Grave's disease"
- If you need more than one or two words to describe your topic, start with two or three words that seem most important. As you search, look to see if other words might work better. Example: for violence against women at home, you might start with violence against women, but for some search engines domestic violence or family violence might work better.
- You might add a word for a specific type of information. Example: anemia statistics
- You might add a word for a specific group of people. Example: "Grave's disease" women Notice that the word women is NOT inside the quotation marks.
- As you search, if you get too few results, consider using fewer words or searching for a larger category of information that includes your topic. Example: "thyroid diseases" instead of "Grave's disease"
- Need help? Ask a librarian!
Where to search
Find different kinds of information by looking in different places. A well done course assignment should use two or three different kinds of sources, including periodical articles, government websites, websites for non-profit organizations, and books. Here are some suggested starting points for various kinds of information.- Brief definitions and overview
online encyclopedia: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia online dictionary: MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary print encylopedia: Encyclopedia of Health & Behavior print dictionary: Mosby's Dictionary - In depth background and analysis
books: CityCat subject search CityCat keyword search - Quick background or analysis
goverment websites: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Health Library National Institutes of Health. Health Information Center for Disease Control and Prevention MedlinePlus Health Topics and Overviews WomensHealth.Gov Health Topics periodical articles: Follow link to CQ Researcher on Find Articles page - Textbooks and advice
books: CityCat subject search CityCat keyword search - Fact sheet
websites: Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Women's Health Network Fact Sheets - Statistics
websites: National Center for Health Statistics WomensHealth.Gov Women's Health Statistics - Epidemiological reports
websites: The WWW Virtual Library: Medicine and Health: Epidemiology - Specific aspect of your topic
periodical articles: Follow link to InfoTrac on Find Articles page Follow link to Ethnic NewsWatch on Find Articles page web pages: Limit domain to .gov or .org in Google Advanced Search - New discoveries and research
periodical articles: Follow link to InfoTrac on Find Articles page websites: National Institutes of Health. - San Francisco information
websites: San Francisco Department of Public Health HealthySF - Holistic & alternative treatments
websites: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Supportive organizations
websites: Limit domain to .org in Google Advanced Search Choose links to Community Resources & Access Other Health Sites at San Francisco Department of Public Health
Evaluate your sources
Is each source reliable? It's worth your time and effort to figure out whether health information is really accurate and helpful. For each source, try to answer the following questions:- What are the motives of the publishers and writers? Maybe they have other goals in addition to providing information. Are they selling products? What is their politica, social, or religious agenda?
- Are the authors health professionals, journalists, or people writing from their individual experiences? How much expertise do they have?
- How accurate and complete is the information? Does the information include opinions as well as facts? Are conclusions logical? Are there any contradictions or things that don't quite add up? Are there footnotes or citations given to show where the facts came from?
- When was this information written and published? Does it contain facts that might have changed since it was written? Is it missing recent events that are important for your needs?
- Is it clear and easy to understand? Is it too technical? Is it technical enough?
- For more about evaluating health information on the web, try Content Evaluation Guidelines from the Medical Library Association.
Citations
Write the citation for each source as soon as you decide to use it, while you have all the information in front of you. Remember to include these in your finished project.Read each source and think about what it tells you.
Use an online or print dictionary to look up terms you don't know.Questions that you have after reading a source can be answered by more research.
For important or surprising facts, try to find more than one source.
Synthesize what you have learned and write your project
revised by Karen Saginor 12 July 2007