Transcript The Literature of Health Education

The Literature of Health Education
Principles and Applications
Information & Health Education/Promotion
• Explosion of information; exponential growth
▫ Information overload and information burnout
• Increasing demand for the health information; more
production of information too
• Information need related to Responsibilities 6 (Serve as a
Health Education Resource Person) & 7 (Communicate &
Advocate for Health & Health Education)
▫ Need to be able to locate, evaluate, disseminate, & explain the
meaning of information
Evaluating Sources
• Primary Source
▫ “Open-access” journals (*web based only)
• Secondary Sources
• Tertiary Sources
• Popular Press Publications
Refereed or Peer-Reviewed
• Find the guidelines for authors or guide to
submissions section
• What review process is used?
• American Journal of Health Education
http://www.aahperd.org/aahe/template.cfm?tem
plate=ajhe_main.html
Evaluating Research Articles
• Abstract/Introduction
▫ Were the aims or objectives clear?
▫ Were the research questions/hypotheses of the study clearly stated?
• Methodology
▫ Were the participants in the study clearly described and do you
know how they were recruited?
▫ Was the design and location of the study clearly described?
▫ How was data collected? Were the instruments used clearly
identified and described?
• Results/Findings
▫ Did the results address the research questions or hypothesis?
▫ Were the conclusions logical given the data collected and the type of
analysis performed?
• Discussion
▫ Were the study implications meaningful to you or the population
you serve?
Evaluating the Accuracy of
Nonresearch-based Sources
• What are the authors qualifications? Does the person have an academic
degree in the field being written about?
• What is the style of the presentation…scientific or use of testimonials
or generalities
• Are the references included? Are most references to secondary sources?
• What is the purpose of the publication? Is the pub trying to sell items
discussed in the article?
• What is the reputation of the publication? Is it refereed?
• Is the information new? Can it be validated from other sources?
Newsworthy versus valid.
Evaluating Internet Sources
• Content – citation of sources (.gov, .edu, .org)
• Authority – credentials of authors
• Publisher source – sponsorship should be clear
• References – other pages linked to this site
• Documentation – are sources clearly identified
• Facts – facts consistent with information from other
sources
Computerized Databases
• ERIC (Educational Resources Information
Center)
• MEDLINE
• CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and
Allied Health Literature)
• PsycInfo (Psychological Abstracts)
‘Mining’ a Great Find
• Find full text article in pdf format
• Review reference list and identify other articles
you would like to find