We have found that many students use
Reading Research: A User-Friendly Guide for Nurses and Other Health Professionals in first-year courses and elective courses that may be taken before the research course is scheduled. In these courses, the students’ ability to read and use research-based literature for their papers and discussions begins to engender attitudes and skills that will support their course and professional work.
2. When you are reading for courses that you are taking, try to observe the article “format” before you start to dig in for the article “content”. This will give you an idea of the different styles that journals use and help make you more familiar with research language.
3. Be sure to find an article that is the original report of the research. This means that the authors are the people who did the study, as opposed to someone who is writing about it secondhand.
4. Research articles will have a description of the data collection methods and will present the original data results, whether in the form of numbers or qualitative data, such as quotations of sample participants.
5. Follow up on any research described in the local newspaper. A Web address is usually provided in such articles.
