Literature Search

Literature Search Instructions
1. What is the goal of the lit search?
a. See what people have already learned
b. Create a hypothesis to test with your data
2. How will you proceed?
a. Look at the papers in the folder on BlackBoard. See if any report on your determinant
and mask wearing behavior
b. Read the abstract, results, and discussion to see if they mention my determinant and
mask wearing behavior
3. Can you use the papers in the folder?
a. Yes – read the abstract, results, and discussion to see what they found
b. No – If no papers report on my determinant and mask wearing behavior, search the
literature using PubMed or PsychInfo
4. What if there are studies of mask wearing and not about your determinant?
a. Are there any studies about mask wearing and a similar determinant? See the methods
b. If so, you can say there are no direct tests of the relationship you want to test, but there
are similar ones. Make a case for your hypothesis by analogy. E.g. “There were no
studies of Self-efficacy and mask wearing, but there were studies of attitudes and
mask wearing. I will review the literature on attitudes and mask wearing. I will create
a hypothesis based on what I see in those papers.”
5. What if there are studies of your determinant and not mask wearing?
a. There is a lot of this literature. Find a study about other vaccinations or behaviors that
are as similar as possible.
b. If so, you can say there are no direct tests of the relationship you want to test, but there
are similar ones. Make a case for your hypothesis by analogy E.g. “There were no
studies of Self-efficacy and mask wearing, but there were studies of self-efficacy and
other variables that require daily activity. I will review the literature on self-efficacy
and sunscreen wearing. I will create a hypothesis based on what I see in those
papers.”
6. How do I put it together in a paragraph?
a. Take the first three papers you find based on what I have said above, whether their
results are what you expect or not.
b. Start with a topic sentence that says whether the research has found a relationship or
not and whether the results are consistent or mixed (not all study results are the same)
c. Write a sentence describing the findings of each paper
d. Give an AMA style in-text citation for all of your findings
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v68OcRwRzRg)
7. Is that it?
a. Fill in Table 1 in the Introduction Template
b. Write your hypotheses based on the results of your literature search