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FON 241Introduction to Nutrition Research
Danielle [email protected] 425 6765
Nutrition information bombards us…
Ads Infomercials Talk shows Magazines Friends Internet
How can you tell what information is reliable?
Apparent conflicts of interest
Does the website allow advertising? Yes No
-If yes, does the owner/sponsor market (a) specific product(s)? Yes No
-If yes, is the owner/sponsor the inventor/creator of the product? Yes No
-If yes, be very wary of any health information that may be provided and cross check with other more reliable sources.
Claims
Is a quick fix promised? Yes No
Does it sound too good to be true? Yes No
Are testimonials or anecdotes used as evidence? Yes No
-If yes to any of the above, be very wary of any health information that may be provided and cross-check with other more reliable sources
Credibility
What domain does the site belong to?
Is this an individual's site? Yes No
If so, does the person list any qualifications in nutrition (preferred is a RD or LN degree/certification)? Yes No
If this is the website of an organization, does it appear to be legitimate? Yes No
-If no, be very wary of any health information that may be provided and cross-check with other more reliable sources
References
Is a list of references in support of the website's opinions provided? Yes No
If yes, are they relevant to the health topic being covered? Yes No
Are the references from reliable sources? Yes No
-If no, is any other valid evidence presented that supports the opinions that are presented? Yes No
-If no, be very wary of any health information that may be provided and cross check with other more reliable sources.
Content
Does the website cover the health issue(s) adequately? Yes No
Does the website have a professional appearance? Yes No
Are there more than a few grammatical errors? Yes No
Is the information presented in a consistent manner? Yes No
Are there contradictions? Yes No
Are readers advised to contact a health professional with questions? Yes No
Is the information current? Yes No
Overall impression about the trustworthiness of this website: •Good -Accept almost all of the material that is presented. •Fair - Accept some material, but exclude: Poor - Do not accept any of the material
CHECKLIST FOR EVALUATING A NUTRITION WEBSITE
Website Evaluation Activity
Each pair of students will be given two nutrition sites to evaluate using the checklist.
Then several pairs (depending on time) will be asked to share their results
Diet Pill
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/HQ01160
http://www.weightlosswand.com/weight/chromium-weight.html
B12
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB12-HealthProfessional/ v
http://products.mercola.com/vitamin-b12-spray/
Valerian root
http://www.vitaminworld.com/stress-anxiety-support-766/valerian-root-extract-001328
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Valerian-HealthProfessional/
Evidence based nutrition/dietetics
Evidence is based on research
Research undergoes peer review
Research is published in scholarly journals
PEER REVIEW
A process done by many scholarly journals when considering the publication of research articles
Expert reviewers (peers) evaluate the article’s methodology, merit, and overall unique contribution to research in a specific discipline PRIOR to publication
In the health sciences, peer review is almost universal when it comes to primary research
published in the journal literature
Why is this important?
SCHOLARLY JOURNALS
Written for researchers & scholars in a field
Primary purpose is to disseminate research results
May also contain: Editorials, Job announcements, book reviews
Follow a regular and recurrent publication pattern (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc)
SOME MAJOR NUTRITION JOURNALS…
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Journal of the American College of Nutrition
Journal of Nutrition
PRIMARY RESEARCH ARTICLES Present the findings/results of a research
study
The authors of the article are the persons who conducted the research-i.e primary
The article will include: why, how, what
Typically published in scholarly journals & undergo peer review
An example
OTHER TYPES OF CONTENT IN PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS Besides research, you may also find the following in peer
review journals:
News articles
Letters
Editorials
Book reviews
Job announcements
Obituaries of prominent members of the field
****However none of these are peer reviewed****
SCHOLARLY VS POPULAR
Magazine and newspaper articles are not considered scholarly They are not peer reviewed If they report on research, it is research
done by others (i.e. secondary)
Example
Scholarly (Peer reviewed, research)
Popular (Magazines, Newspapers)
Primary-Reporting on research directly from those who carried it out
Secondary-may report on the research of others
Written by scholars/researchers in a field
Written by staff writers
Typically has introduction, methods, results, & discussion sections
No formal sections
Contains a works cited Rarely contains a works cited
Lots of technical jargon Written in plain language
ARTICLE DATABASES
Specialized search engines that find magazine, newspaper, and journal articles
Some are multi-subject and others focus on a specific discipline
For nutrition, the mostly common used are Medline and CINAHL
CINAHL
Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health
Contains articles in nursing and fields such as nutrition, audiology, physical therapy, respiratory therapy, etc
750 journals
1 million citations back to 1937
Medline
World’s premier medical/health science database
Articles from all health fields: medicine, nursing, dentistry, exercise science, veterinary medicine, allied health, etc.
4800 journals
Over 19 million citations back to 1940
Searching CINAHL & Medline
We now have a “meta” search engine that searches CINAHL, Medline and our other databases at once.
It is on the library homepage and it’s called the “search all” box