Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy: The Matrix Method / Edition 3

by Judith Garrard

Overview

Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy: The Matric Method, Third Edition helps students and practitioners better understand scientific literature by instilling the essential skills (via the matrix method) needed to evaluate article findings critically. Covered at the most basic level are the fundamental principles of searching, organizing, reviewing, and synthesizing. Woven throughout the text are visual examples and a single case study This easy-to-read and practical reference is an invaluable aid to students, researchers, and practitioners. Completely revised and updated, the Third Edition reflects the switch out of "paper" mode and into electronic mode. New to this edition are clinical practice examples and references to PubMed and PubMed Central in addition to information on reference management softwares such as endnote and refworks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763771867
Publisher:	Jones & Bartlett Learning
Publication date:	05/15/2010
Edition description:	3E
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Judith Garrard, PhD, is a research psychologist with postgraduate training in epidemiology. She is has been a professor at the University of Minnesota since 1971.She is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research in the School of Public Health and Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health. Dr. Garrard teaches graduate courses in research methods and program evaluation in health and mental health programs. Her research specialty is pharmacoepidemiology and patient outcomes, with a focus on prescription drug use by elderly people in the community, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities. Her peer reviewed publications include papers on psychotropic drug use, including antipsychotics, antidepressants, and antianxiety drugs. Over the past 10 years, she has led a team of colleagues in pharmacy, neurology, and biostatistics in NIH funded research on the use of antiepileptic drug use by nursing home residents. Her past research has been funded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, AHRQ, HCFA, and private foundations including the AARP-Andrus Foundation, Retirement Research Foundation, and the American Society for Consultant Pharmacists. In 1989, Dr. Garrard received the Leonard M. Schuman Excellence in Teaching Award, and in 1991 a Career Research Award in social and behavioral geriatrics from the National Institute on Aging, NIH. In 1999, her book, Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy: The Matrix Method, was published by Aspen Publications, Inc.; 2nd edition: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2007; and 3rd edition: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2010.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

Part I Fundamentals of a Literature Review 1

Chapter 1 Introduction 3

Review of the Literature 4

Well Beyond Index Cards 5

To Own the Literature 7

Research Synthesis: Historical Perspective 8

The Matrix Method: Definition and Overview 17

Review Matrix: A Versatile Tool 18

Overview of Chapters and Appendices 20

References to Websites 22

Caroline's Quest: Understanding the Process 23

Chapter 2 Basic Concepts 29

Source Materials Defined 30

Different Kinds of Source Materials 30

Anatomy of a Scientific Paper---Finding what you need in a Typical Research Paper 36

Guidelines for a Methodological Review of the Literature 42

Caroline's Quest: Learning the Concepts 55

Part II The Matrix Method 59

Chapter 3 Paper Trail: How to Plan and Manage a Search of the Literature 61

What Is a Paper Trail? 62

How to Create a Paper Trail 62

How to Find Source Materials: Creating and Using a Paper Trail 65

Tips on Searching for Source Documents 81

Caroline's Quest: Managing the Search 84

Chapter 4 Documents Folder: How to Select and Organize Documents for Review 95

How to Select the Documents for your Review 96

What Is a Documents Folder? 97

How to Organize a Documents Folder 99

How to Remember where you put the Documents 99

Caroline's Quest: Assembling a Documents Folder 101

Chapter 5 Review Matrix: How to abstract the Research Literature 105

What is a Review Matrix? 106

How to Construct a Review Matrix 107

How to Arrange Documents for use in a Review Matrix 108

How to Choose Column Topics for a Review Matrix 108

How to Abstract Documents in a Review Matrix 113

Fringe Benefits of the Abstracting Process 118

Caroline's Quest: Constructing a Review Matrix 121

Chapter 6 Synthesis: How to use a Review Matrix to Write a Synthesis 127

What Is a Synthesis? 128

How to Use a Review Matrix to Write a Synthesis 129

Caroline's Quest: Writing a Synthesis 134

Part III Applications Using the Matrix Method 139

Chapter 7 A Library of Lit Review Master Folders 141

What Is a Library of Lit Review Master Folders? 142

How to Create a Library of Lit Review Master Folders 142

How to Use a Library of Lit Review Master Folders 144

Making the Most of the Matrix Method 145

Caroline's Quest: Building her Own Library of Lit Review Master Folders 151

Chapter 8 The Matrix Indexing System 153

What Is the Matrix Indexing System? 154

How to Set up a Matrix Indexing System 154

How to Expand the Documents Folder 161

How to Update a Literature Review Efficiently 162

Caroline's Quest: Using the Matrix Indexing System 163

Chapter 9 Matrix Applications by Health Sciences Professionals 165

What are Matrix Applications? 166

How to Use Matrix Applications in a Research Project 167

How to Use Matrix Applications in a Meta-Analysis 169

How to Use Matrix Applications in Practice Guidelines 170

How to Use Matrix Applications in Evidence-Based Medicine 172

Caroline's Quest: Matrix Applications in a Nonscientific Setting 174

Appendix A Useful Resources for Literature Reviews 181

Appendix B Structure of Computer Folders for the Matrix Method 193

Index 201

About the Author 211

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Diane M Tomasic, EdD, RN (Slippery Rock University )
Description: This book describes a process to help students understand scientific literature, using the Matrix Method to critically evaluate articles. Each chapter concludes with an example of the experiences of a graduate using the process. Visual examples and case studies are included. Previous editions were published in 2007 and 1999.
Purpose: The purpose is to describe the Matrix Method for reviewing scientific literature and the Matrix Indexing System to create and maintain a reprint file. This edition has been updated to focus on converting from a hard copy method to an electronic method. This is a worthy goal and learning how to accomplish it electronically is a useful skill.
Audience: The target audience includes graduate students or health science professionals learning how to conduct literature review.
Features: The purpose and scope of this book has not changed with the third edition, but it has been revised based on the changing publishing landscape. For example, the method of converting from a hard copy to an electronic basis is new, there is new terminology for describing literature review, and innovations in the National Library of Medicine infrastructure that have implications for literature reviews for health sciences are described. The book is divided into three parts. Part I covers the fundamentals of literature reviews, part II discusses the Matrix Method consisting of paper trail, document folders, how to abstract the research literature, and how to synthesize the literature. The final part explains the application of the Matrix Method. Resources for literature reviews and how to structure computer folders for the Matrix Method appear in the appendixes.
Assessment: This book should be very helpful for conducting and synthesizing literature reviews. It is very easy to read and straight to the point with useful examples.

Doody's Review Service

Reviewer: Diane M Tomasic, EdD, RN(Slippery Rock University )
Description: This book describes a process to help students understand scientific literature, using the Matrix Method to critically evaluate articles. Each chapter concludes with an example of the experiences of a graduate using the process. Visual examples and case studies are included. Previous editions were published in 2007 and 1999.
Purpose: The purpose is to describe the Matrix Method for reviewing scientific literature and the Matrix Indexing System to create and maintain a reprint file. This edition has been updated to focus on converting from a hard copy method to an electronic method. This is a worthy goal and learning how to accomplish it electronically is a useful skill.
Audience: The target audience includes graduate students or health science professionals learning how to conduct literature review.
Features: The purpose and scope of this book has not changed with the third edition, but it has been revised based on the changing publishing landscape. For example, the method of converting from a hard copy to an electronic basis is new, there is new terminology for describing literature review, and innovations in the National Library of Medicine infrastructure that have implications for literature reviews for health sciences are described. The book is divided into three parts. Part I covers the fundamentals of literature reviews, part II discusses the Matrix Method consisting of paper trail, document folders, how to abstract the research literature, and how to synthesize the literature. The final part explains the application of the Matrix Method. Resources for literature reviews and how to structure computer folders for the Matrix Method appear in the appendixes.
Assessment: This book should be very helpful for conducting and synthesizing literature reviews. It is very easy to read and straight to the point with useful examples.

This book provides a complete and easy-to-understand description of the matrix method, a systematic methodology for conducting a thorough and efficient review of health science literature. The matrix method, which has grown from a simple organizational system into an efficient and precise research methodology, is described here in full. This publication serves as a how-to guide along each step of the process. It is intended for graduate students and professionals from a variety of health science backgrounds. The author, a professor of health science research methods, originally developed the matrix method for her own research purposes. She has instructed her students in the methodology for years and now brings it beyond the classroom. In addition to providing a tutorial on searching the literature using electronic databases, she describes how to systematically abstract each article, how to synthesize the information in a coherent and logical manner, and finally how to maintain and update the file of information. The author applies this methodology to relevant trends in healthcare research, such as evidence-based medicine and clinical practice guidelines. At the end of each chapter, the reader is presented with the story of one student's experiences as an illustrative example of each concept that is discussed. In addition, a useful list of references to books, journals, and web sites is included. This book goes beyond other research methods texts by delving beyond the basic search process into evaluation and organization of the information. The step-by-step organization is clear and the common sense approach taken by the author is logical. Although some more experiencedresearchers may consider this publication very simplistic, the methodology may still be useful to learn. I recommend this book to anyone interested in conducting a thorough and efficient review of the literature.

Alison Grodzinski