NURS 635: Teaching and Learning Strategies/Evaluation: Pulling Your Sources Together

What does it mean to "pull sources together"?

For a project like this, it may not be easy to tell when you have enough information or the right information.  This part of the guide discusses when to use more sources or look for sources that cover all the different parts of your topic.  If you're having trouble telling whether you're done searching, contact your librarian for the School of Nursing and Health Professions:

Are You Done Searching?

Sometimes knowing when to stop searching is as difficult as doing the actual searching.  Students may feel like they don't have enough sources, especially if not all their sources address all parts of their topic.  But here's a little video that explains why you can't usually find one perfect source.

Do You Have the Right Number of Sources?

If your project requires 5 sources and you only have 4, well, you probably don't have enough.  You'll need to go back and do a little more searching to find the minimum number of sources.

If your project requires 5 sources and you have 5, you're done -- right?  Well, not necessarily.  It's important to make sure that your sources answer your research question completely.  Don't make the mistake of throwing in one or two that are only tangentially related, just to meet the requirements.

Synthesizing Your Sources

A good project combines different information from different types of sources to make one cohesive argument.  As the video showed, you're not likely to find 5 sources that all cover every single aspect of what you're writing about in your paper.  You're more likely to find a combination of sources.

For example, let's say that you're writing about whether mobile apps are a good substitute for the traditional textbook in your online nursing courses at SU.  You might find and use these sources:

• A book chapter that discusses the history of educational mobile apps
• A journal article that studies students who used a mobile app and students who used a textbook, then compared their test scores and course grades
• A journal article that is an in-depth study of students who used mobile apps, analyzing how much time they spent using the app each day
• An article from a magazine, The Chronicle of Higher Education, that discusses why textbook costs are a deterring factor for students who want to pursue 
• A post on the American Nurses Association website, recommending the use of mobile apps as a supplement to the textbook
• Reviews on the iOS app store with both positive and negative comments on the quality of the app
• An article from a technology website that discusses the difference in market share between Apple, Android, and other types of mobile devices
• The website of the company that produces the mobile app, including pricing, tech support, and comments from users
• An article from a newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, about the quality and speed of cell phone service in Baltimore County vs. Carroll County

Depending on your topic, you might have all of these kinds of sources or you might only have some.  Don't feel that you have to have one of each, but don't close yourself off from helpful avenues either.

Transferring Your Information

Before you get started synthesizing your sources, the last thing to remember is that the information needs to be transferable.  That means it needs to be related enough to your topic that it contributes to your thesis or argument.

In your example topic above, the sources seem like they relate directly to different aspects of the topic and you can use all of them to come up with a cohesive argument about why you're for or against mobile apps.

On the other hand, can you think of a reason why you wouldn't want to use the sources listed below?  (Scroll down for the answers.)

• An academic journal article about whether an app is a good textbook substitute for elementary school students doing online learning
• A newspaper article about nursing students in Mongolia, who successfully lobbied for the use of a mobile app over a required textbook
• An online forum for nurses who have already finished their degrees and agree that they do not recommend the use of a mobile app over a textbook.  These nurses all graduated school in 1990 or earlier.

Check Your Knowledge

These wouldn't be good sources because:

• An academic journal article about whether an app is a good textbook substitute for elementary school students doing online learning:  While the fact that it's an academic journal is good and the topic (whether an app is a good textbook substitute) is directly related to your research question, the populations are too different.  Your research question is about adult learners/graduate students and this article focuses on elementary students.
• A newspaper article about nursing students in Mongolia, who successfully lobbied for the use of a mobile app over a required textbook:  For this article the population (nursing students) fits, as does the topic (mobile app vs. required textbook), but the location is very different.  Your research question is about the use of a mobile in the Baltimore area in Maryland; Mongolia is on a different continent and may have very different technological and academic infrastructure.
• An online forum for nurses in the U.S. who have already finished their degrees and agree that they do not recommend the use of a mobile app over a textbook.  These nurses all graduated school in 1990 or earlier:  In the case of this source, the population (professional nurses in the U.S.) is correct, but the scope of the information is too old.  People who completed their coursework in the 1980s and 1990s would not have had mobile apps available to them, so their opinions are likely not based on firsthand information with an app.