Case Studies

This tutorial uses examples from three case studies to help explain why and how you would use the key resources in health sciences research.

Case Study 1: Alcoholism

Jane has to write a public health pamphlet about alcoholism. She knows very little about this disease, since no one she knows personally is an alcoholic. Jane needs to find an introduction to alcoholism so she can decide what aspect of the disease is most interesting to her.

Jane will use the Catalog and online Merck Manual to research her topic.

Case Study 2: Allergies

Rob has some serious allergies, and has taken a variety of anti-allergy medicines over the last few years. He wants to know more about allergies in general, and in the different medicines he’s taken in specific. So far Rob knows only what he’s picked up in the doctor’s office, including to what he’s probably allergic and the names of the drugs he’s taken for his symptoms.

Rob will use Article Databases & More and MEDLINEplus to research his topic.

Case Study 3: Diabetes

Cheryl is working on a research paper on exercise therapies and management plans for teenagers with diabetes. She’s been working on this paper for a few weeks now and feels pretty confident that she knows the basic information about diabetes management with exercise. She now needs peer-reviewed articles that discuss this topic.

Cheryl will use Article Databases & More, PubMed, and Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition to research her topic.