Occupational Therapy

Library of the Health Sciences

find quantitative articles

Find quantitative research articles:

In all databases, you can use keywords to search for specific types of research, and add these to your search phrase. Researchers don't usually put "qualitative" or "quantitative" in their article titles (though it is possible), but they often use more specific terms like:

  • scoping review
  • systematic review
  • rapid review
  • controlled trial
  • case control

 

Example search phrase with methods specified:

"occupational therapy" AND "mental health" AND ("controlled trial" OR "control trial" OR "randomized trial")

 

You can also use search filters within database to try and filter only certain kinds of articles:

In CINAHL: within the Advanced Search feature, type your search phrase in the search box, then scroll downward and on the left-hand side of the page, select "Research" before clicking "search".

In PubMed: there is no specific MeSH term for quantitative research. As with CINAHL, you may limit your publication types to randomized control trials or systematic reviews to see quantitative studies.

In PsychInfo: go to the Advanced Search feature, type your search phrase in the search box, then scroll downward to the "methodology" section in the lower right of the page, and select the methodology you're looking for