This help guide will provide some tips and information to guide you in your search for quantitative research articles through databases, such as PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Education Source and others.
Databases use controlled keywords (known as thesaurus or subject terms) to categorize each record stored. MEDLINE/ PubMed, for example, uses Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), a highly structured index of terminology. The subject headings vary for each database according to their indexing system. In CINAHL you'll find the the subject heading "Quantitative Studies," while in ABI/Inform the subject heading is "Quantitative Analysis."
Note: some but not all databases feature subject headings for qualitative research.
Qualitative Research Filters are built into the database, usually in the advanced search, to help you retrieve articles that deal with qualitative research. You can use the filter and then combine the results with your subject.
Note: Only some databases feature a methodology filter, such as:
This strategy uses text or keywords that might specifically identify quantitative studies by searching the abstracts and keywords of records held in the databases. Keywords might be the type of study, data analysis type, or terminology used to describe the results, such as:
To search for records that contain any of these terms, combined them with the Boolean operator OR:
(Chi square OR T-test OR ANOVA)
(Statistic* OR Correlation OR Variable)
Note the use of the asterix symbol (*) This is called truncation which tells the database to retrieve records with the root of the word that may have different endings
