99 views | 0 Vote this question as useful. 0 Vote this question as not useful. | Last updated on Apr 08, 2024 health sciences searching
Qualitative articles on medical topics can be somewhat trickier to find than quantitative, here are some great tips using different databases available in the Regis Library system:
In CINAHL use the CINAHL heading "Qualitative Studies" complemented by more detailed terms, including "Phenomenological Research" and "Focus Group," etc. You can also use these terms for keyword or natural language searches.
Or, on the lower half of initial search box in CINAHL, try selecting Qualitative- Best Balance as a Clinical Query search limit.
For MEDLINE/Pubmed
Use Subject terms: MeSH
PubMed uses "Qualitative Research" or "Nursing Methodology Research" as a SUBJECT term.
The narrow qualitative query looks for the words qualitative and themes in titles and abstracts of articles. A modification of this strategy is linked below. It includes the MeSH term Qualitative Research, which was added to the MeSH vocabulary in 2003. You can copy and paste this search string into the Pubmed search box along with your other keywords for your search connecting it with AND.
qualitative research [MeSH] OR qualitative[tiab] OR themes[tiab]
Additonally, these websites may be helpful:
Finding qualitative articles by database
From the fine librarians at University of Missouri-St. Louis who put together this useful guide to CINAHL, Pubmed, & PsychInfo for searching for qualitative article
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research
From Adelphi University Library