Book Review
Resources for Nursing Research: An Annotated Bibliography (4th edition)
Cynthia Clamp, Stephen Gough, and Lucy Land
ISBN: 978-0-761949-91-6 2005 432 pages Sage Publications Ltd
Jeanine Blackford
Palliative Care Research Fellow, Austin Health, Clinical School of Nursing, La Trobe University, Melbourne VIC
This is a useful resource text for teachers, research students and thesis supervisors as it provides an extensive annotated bibliography to assist those embarking on nursing research. The publishers claim there are approximately 3,000 entries and even though it is the fourth edition, 70 per cent of the entries are new. The bibliography draws from a wide number of English-speaking countries with references extending from 1998 onwards. The authors state that before reading this text it is important to read the section on ‘How to use this Book’ as this gives the reader an understanding of the structure of the book. I returned often to this section.
The book has three major parts, each subdivided into relevant sections. Every bibliographic entry consists of a brief two-sentence description with a specific numbering system that assists in locating references. This numbering enables cross-referencing to other articles or sections relevant to any one topic.
Part 1 of the text examines sources of literature, that is, how to find literature in libraries and data bases, directions to potential services and of course the internet and worldwide portals. Part 2 is about methods of inquiry and is understandably the largest section of the book. It contains an introduction to research and research design, and then separate sections considering different qualitative and quantitative methods. Information about data collection, analysis and communication in nursing research, follows.
Part 3 is the final component of the book and is entitled ‘The background to research in nursing’. This last section is an eclectic mix and includes information about the development of nursing research in various countries, professional responsibility, the role of government and research funding. In some ways, Part 3 is a very broad consideration of nursing research that does not sit coherently with the rest of the text, appearing almost as an add-on. This material should perhaps be at the beginning of the text as an overview for the reader. A further consideration is that although this book may prove a good resource for current students and teachers it will date quickly which is a problem, given its cost.
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