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Finding Research Instruments

This guide discusses how to search for research instruments using library databaes, books, and websites.

Helpful Search Terms

Useful keywords to consider when searching for research instruments in any resource include:

  • Survey
  • Questionnaire
  • Index
  • Measure
  • Inventory
  • Score
  • Scale
  • Battery

Database Search Terms

Here are some specific tips to help you when searching APA PsycInfo

  • When looking for any article which has a test or measure with the subject concept in the test name:
    • TM diabetes
    • TM diabetes AND TM knowledge
  • General search for questionnaires or surveys on a subject topic:
    • ( DE "Questionnaires" OR DE "Surveys" ) AND diabetes AND knowledge 
  • Looking for a specific type of test or measure, do the following:
    • Click on Indexes in the menu bar on the top of the page
    • At Browse an Index, select Tests & Measures
    • Enter the type of test/measure, i.e., knowledge assessment in the browse box and click Browse
  • To search for specific instrument types select Indexes from the top menu bar, then choose Instrument Type from the Browse list. Some common instrument types are:
    • Battery - (ZY "battery")
    • Diary - (ZY "diary")
    • Index/Indicator - (ZY "index/indicator")
    • Inventory/questionnaire - (ZY "inventory/questionnaire")
    • Rating scale - (ZY "rating scale")
    • Survey - (ZY "survey")
  • Use any of the instruments above in combination with a subject area. For example, when looking for inventories or surveys regarding diabetes knowledge, you might consider the following.
    • ( (ZY "inventory/questionnaire") or (ZY "survey") ) AND diabetes AND knowledge 

Below are some tips for searching CINAHL for instruments and tools.

  • To search for all articles indexed to either the research instruments tree or research measurement tree do the following:
    • (MH "Research Instruments+") OR (MH "Research Measurement+")
  • When looking for any instrument where the subject concept is in the name of the instrument:
    • IN "medication adherence"
  • To look for questionnaires:
    • Limit/Filter the search to the Publication Type "Questionnaire/Survey"
  • Search for continuing education articles to mine for questions:
    • Limit/Filter the search to the Publication Type "CEU"

In addition to general search terms, most materials in PubMed that are older than 6 weeks are indexed with medical subject headings (MeSH terms). These MeSH terms can be used to capture specific medical concepts. The terms below may be helpful for finding research tools and instruments:

  • This is a strategy you can use when looking for data collection tools. Feel free to adjust the search to better match the specifics of your search. Combine the strategy below with your subject/topic concept
    • "Data Collection" [mesh:noexp] OR "Interviews as topic" [mesh] OR "focus groups" [mesh] OR "Surveys and Questionnaires" [mesh] OR "health care surveys" [mesh] OR "health surveys" [mesh] OR "nutrition surveys" [mesh] OR "data collection" [tw] OR "interview*" [tw] OR "focus group*" [tw] OR "survey*" [tw] OR "questionnaire*" [tw]
  • if your focus is more on psychological tests, you may find this strategy helpful. Again, do this in combination with you subject/topic concept, and feel free to adjust the search to better match the specifics of your search.
    • "Psychological Tests" [mesh:noexp] OR "Aptitude Tests" [mesh] OR "Behavior Rating Scale" [mesh] OR "Neuropsychological Tests" [mesh] OR "Personality Tests" [mesh] OR "Psychometrics" [mesh] OR "psychological test*" [tw] OR "aptitude test*" [tw] OR "behavior rating scale*" [tw] OR "neuropsychological test*" [tw] OR "personality test*" [tw] OR psychometric* [tw]
  • When looking for studies validating an instrument or tool, you will want to use the following strategy:
    • "Validation Studies as Topic" [mesh] OR "Validation Study" [ptyp]  OR "Reproducibility of Results" [mesh] OR "validation stud*" [tw] OR reproducibility [tw]
  • A generalized search for instruments or tools with a concept not using MeSH terms might look like this:
    • ("diabetes knowledge*" [tw]) AND (survey* [tw] OR questionnaire* [tw] OR index [tw] OR measure [tw] OR inventory [tw] OR score [tw] OR scale [tw] OR battery [tw])

 

As noted, keyword search is the best way to find instruments in Mental Measurements Yearbook. Some examples:

  • To search for any references containing diabetes in any text word field (not full text):
    • TX diabetes
  • Searching for a test with a specific word in the test title:
    • TI health