WRI 1100: Shim

The above is only a select list of SPU databases I thought would be most helpful for this class.  There may be other databases that would be helpful for this assignment - for example if you were looking for information about the legal ramifications of your topic, you might want to search the database 'Legal Collection.'

Not sure which database is best for your topic?  Ask a Librarian!

A-Z List of SPU Databases

SIFT is a set of four 'moves' you can use when evaluating a source.

Stop - 

• First, what do you know about this source?  What is the reputation of the claim and the website (or journal, or book).  If you don't know, use the other moves to get a sense of what you are looking at.
• Second, think about how much fact-checking you need to do for your purpose. If you want to know if something is reliable to repost on social media, this might be a quick check, but if you are doing scholarly research you would want to do more research before using or sharing

Investigate the source - 

• This does not need to be a full scale investigation, but take a little time to recognize what media type it is and a little about the source before deciding to read, share, or use as a source.

Find Better Coverage - 

• Often the same information will be available from multiple sources. While this doesn't always prove that this information is correct or that you must agree with the claim, it does help to a give context and history for the claim.

Trace claims, quotes, and media back to original media -

• Secondary sources are often stripped of their original context, going back to the primary source, or even a fuller secondary source can help. For example, is the claim broadly accepted or contested? 
• Sometimes you will find that the initial source is outright wrong or mis-leading, but most often you will simply find additional helpful context

Shared under a Creative Commons License from:https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/
To learn about SIFT in more detail, check out the SIFT three hour online minicourse.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Choosing a topic:

1. Choose any topic in the universe  (or as assigned by your professor)

 e.g. Patient Safety

2. Be a little more specific about your topic

e.g. Medication errors

3. Be a lot more specific about your topic,

e.g.  Medication errors and nursing role in prevention

4. Repeat these steps a few more times to give yourself a few examples of topics to choose from.

Narrowing your topic:

1. Make one or two words more specific,

e.g. Medication errors  IV drugs dosage errors and bedside nurses role in prevention

2. Turn your topic into a complete sentence that actually makes a statement

e.g. Bedside nurses have a critical role in preventing intravenous drug dosage errors.

3. Make the sentence a precise and arguable as possible

e.g. By following existing care standards and practices in the preparation and administration of IV medicines,  bedside nurses have a critical role in improving patient safety and preventing medication errors in the pediatric hospital setting. (CINAHL Search)

Adapted from: Choosing and Narrowing a Topic to Write About (for Research Papers)

Some additional ways to broaden or narrow your topic (MIT Libraries: Selecting a Research Topic)

When thinking about finding statistics, think first about the parameters of your data. Do you need information for a specific country or region, or a specific population such as gender, race, or ethnicity?

Second, think about who might gather such data, a government agency such as:

Or a health-related non-government agency such as:

Another excellent resource are library subject guides.  Here is a starting point from U.C. Berkeley:

Journal articles often report health statistics, but you will want to follow those back to the agency that first gathered them to double check their report. The simplest way to find the information may be to locate the reference in an article and then verify it from the source.

Finally, using Google to search for incidence or prevalence and your health topic can reveal numbers - just be sure to fact check any numbers you find.

Other statistics resources: