Introduction to Health Services Research : A Self-Study Course
Module 4: Search the Literature of HSR: Databases (Page 12 of 29) Section 1: Health Services Research Databases and Information Resources
HSTAT: Health Services Technology Assessment Texts, continued...
Searching HSTAT Documents
- Users may browse the table of contents. (Note: In the Web version, you would click on the link that, in the image below, says 36 items).
- Users may search using words or phrases. After entering a query, the query results will be displayed in rank order.
The search strategy is converted to "health literacy" AND hstat[book] .
In this search the term "health literacy" turns up numerous references in the HSTAT database.
When searching by words or phrases, the following rules apply:
- A string of words entered will be ORed together unless other Boolean operators are entered in ALL CAPs (e.g., entering the two words--pain management--will be searched as pain OR management unless otherwise specified).
- Phrases may be entered in a query by the use of quotation marks (e.g., "aplastic anemia").
- Wild cards, indicated by an asterisk, may be used. For example:
- guidelin* will retrieve guideline and guidelines;
- *pharesis will retrieve apharesis, leukapharesis, lymphapharesis, etc
HSTAT documents may be downloaded for printing at the user's machine.
Exercise
Using this link visit HSTAT and try a search or two on a topic of your choice to practice using the database. This is not a required exercise.
If you cannot think of a topic to research, try one of the following searches
- What is the best way to obtain optimal calcium intake?
- How can clinical competencies be maintained over time?
- Provide me with a statement on measurement bias. (What happens if you search on the term "b
Discussion Questions
- Abstracts, tables and even conclusions from documents are included in HSTAT. Why are these useful to researchers? (Note: not all tables contain numerical data in them).
- After trying the searches listed above, how valuable is it to be able to drill down into a document to extract meaning from it? Examples of specific useful content can include definitions, abstracts, tables, and so on. In other words, how important is full-text in retrieving short, but significant pieces of information on a topic from several related documents?
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