OTHA 1305 (Principles of Occupational Therapy) - Prof. C. Henry

Evidence-Based Research Articles

This is a simplified list of possible articles you might encounter in your searches. The list is derived from a concept called Evidence-Based Medicine or Evidence-Based Practice. For more information on Evidence-Based Information, please watch this video from OvidWoltersKluwer: https://youtu.be/OvenUa3Ww8o. The original list forms a hierarchy of evidence, indicating which research is already critically appraised for reliability and applicability.

• A review of several studies providing analysis and how applied to certain circumstances
• Clinical trials - with volunteer or randomly selected participants
• Original research - narratives or numbers
• A literature review of existing studies
• Case reports studies of a single patient or a group of patients
• Guidelines issued by a governing board for use in clinical settings

Scholarly articles can be thought of as put together like an inside-out Oreo.  The “good stuff” – is on the outside (if your favorite part is the filling of the cookie): the Abstract, Introduction, the Discussion, and the Conclusion.

The “dry stuff” is on the inside of the article: the Methodology and the Results.

Read for basics and relevance first

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Conclusion
• Discussion

Scan the data

• Methods
• Results/Findings

Now reread the entire article and the methods and results will make more sense now that the purpose and conclusions of the research are more familiar to you.