NUR 39000: Nursing Research: Qualitative Study from a Specific Journal

The easiest way to access articles from a specific journal, such as Applied Nursing Research, is to start on the Library Catalog Journal Search page and follow the steps below. (Pro tip: the Journal Search page searches almost all of the library databases, so you can see which database has the journal and which years are available in full text from each database).

1. On the Journal Search page, type the name of the journal into the search box (ex. Applied Nursing Research) and click Enter.
2. Click on the correct journal title. 
3. On the journal's page, look under View Online > Full text availability.
4. Look under the database name(s) to see the date range each database has for the journal. Find one that includes the year that you're looking for (ex: if the Elsevier Science Direct database says "available from 1988; Most recent 12 months not available," that means the database has full text for all volumes and issues from 1988 through one year ago).
5. After you click on the database, it will take you to a page with information on the journal. Each database looks a little different, but you'll want to find a page that will list all of the years/volumes for the journal (ex: In Elsevier, click on the dropdown link that says Articles & Issues, then click All Issues).
6. Now you can see dropdown menus for each year, so you can find the correct volume. 
7. Click on the volume number and browse the contents of that issue to find a qualitative study that looks interesting.
8. To read the article, click on the red View PDF link.
9. Check to see if article meets your assignment criteria (qualitative study, first author is nurse).
10. Look for download arrow to save the article in PDF format.

Qualitative research 

• Involves less tangible results, often dealing with perceptions, experiences, or opinions.
• If a study's results are reported in phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and there would be no mathematical way to average them, this is qualitative research. Sometimes, even a quick glance at a study will show several quotes in sentence or paragraph form, thus indicating a qualitative method. 

Below are examples of qualitative studies from Applied Nursing Research. Scroll quickly down the pages. Note how the first example uses indented blocks to indicate its results in quote form. The second example uses italicized paragraphs to display their results.