Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy: The Matrix Method / Edition 5

by Judith Garrard

Overview

Health Sciences Literature Review Made Easy: The Matrix Method, Fifth Edition describes the practical and useful methods for reviewing scientific literature in the health sciences. The goal of this text is to serve as a resource for students who need a practical, step-by-step set of instructions for how to organize, conduct, and write a synthesis of literature on a topic of their choice. Key Features: Includes author hints for conducting a review Caroline’s Quest details the process for conducting a review Method Maps provide a visual approach for conducting a methodological review Data Visualization reviews the history of data visualization to communicate scientific findings Features websites and e-tutorials for citing reference materials

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781284115192
Publisher:	Jones & Bartlett Learning
Publication date:	08/18/2016
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(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

A HeadPart I FUNDAMENTALS OF A LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Basic Concepts
Part II THE MATRIX METHOD
Chapter 3 Paper Trail Folder: How to Plan and Manage a Search of the Literature
Chapter 4 Documents Folder: How to Select and Organize Documents for Review
Chapter 5 Review Matrix Folder: How to Abstract the Research Literature
Chapter 6 Synthesis Folder: How to Use a Review Matrix to Write a Synthesis
Part III APPLICATIONS USING THE MATRIX METHOD
Chapter 7 A Library of Master Folders
Chapter 8 The Matrix Indexing System
Chapter 9 Matrix Applications by Health Sciences Professionals
Appendix A Useful Resources for Literature Reviews
Appendix B Structure of Computer Folders for the Matrix Method
Appendix C Data Visualization: A Digital Exploration

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Michalene A King, PhD, RN, CNE (Robert Morris University)
Description: This book describes an easy-to-use method to review scholarly literature and prepare the literature for use in research and publications. The accompanying website offers additional resources to assist in securing and organizing the literature. This book has been used in many graduate programs to assist students with their syntheses of the literature.
Purpose: According to the author, the purpose is "to describe a practical and useful method for reviewing the literature, especially the scientific literature in health sciences." The online resources enhance the book.
Audience: The intended audience is "beginning students to health professionals in the workplace." This title meets the needs of this audience.
Features: This book describes a unique approach to reviewing and synthesizing scholarly literature for research and publication. The three sections cover fundamentals of a literature review, the matrix method for literature review, and applications of the matrix method. I used an earlier version of this book in my doctoral program and found it helpful with literature review and synthesis. This book focuses on the method created by the author and, to my knowledge, this is the only one that discusses this method.
Assessment: This is a unique book that offers an easy-to-use method to review and synthesize scientific literature with a helpful interactive website offering additional resources.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

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