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Physical Therapist Assistant: Articles

This guide provides links to some of our key physical therapy resources as well as a selection of physical therapy news and blog feeds. Please explore the tabs at the top of this guide and don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

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AI in Library Databases

AI computer chipExciting News: AI is Here to Enhance Your Library Experience!

We’re thrilled to announce the integration of AI-powered tools into our library databases! This means faster, smarter, and more intuitive research assistance at your fingertips. Whether you’re searching for scholarly articles, refining citations, or exploring new topics, AI can help streamline the process—so you spend less time sifting through information and more time making meaningful discoveries.

💡 What Can AI Do for You?

  • Smarter Searches: Get precise results tailored to your queries.
  • Effortless Summaries: Quickly understand key takeaways from articles.
  • Enhanced Citations: Improve accuracy with AI-assisted referencing.
  • Research Guidance: Receive topic suggestions and deeper insights.

AI isn’t replacing your expert librarians—it’s here to empower your learning and make knowledge more accessible than ever. Ready to explore the future of research? Try it out today!

  • ProQuest's AI-powered Research Assistant appears when a search is initiated from most of the databases within ProQuest Central. Read more about the AI Research Assistant on their blog and in this FAQ.
  • AI Insights from EBSCO provides clear summaries of full-text articles, highlighting 2-5 key points, which helps researchers quickly assess the relevance of the article to their research and make better use of their time. It is available in most Ebsco databases. Read more about it here.

Recommended Databases

How to Read a Scholarly Research Article

 â€‹Picture of Scholarly ARticle, Abstract

An abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of 300 words or less, the major aspects of the entire paper.

Parts usually include:

1) the overall purpose of the study and the research problem(s)

2) the basic design of the study

3) major findings or trends found as a result of the analysis

4) a brief summary of the interpretations and conclusions.

 

 

 

This article can be found at 

Carlo, G., McGinley, M., Hayes, R., Batenhorst, C., & Wilkinson, J. (2007). Parenting styles or practices? parenting, sympathy, and prosocial behaviors among adolescents. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 168(2), 147-176. https://doi.org/10.3200/GNTP.168.2.147-176

Picture of Scholarly Article, Intro and Lit ReviewThe introduction leads the reader from a general subject area to a particular topic of inquiry. It discusses the scope, context, and significance of the research being conducted by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating the purpose of the work, explaining briefly the methodological approach used to examine the research problem, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and outlining the remaining structure and organization of the paper.

 

The Introduction begins after the Abstract. In this case, the Introduction also refers to other studies in the research area and serves as a Review of the Literature.

 

 

 

PIcture of Scholarly Article Methods Section

The methods section will describe the research design and methodology used to complete to the study.  The general rule of thumb is that readers should be provided with enough detail to replicate the study.​

You will find information about 

  • participants
  • measures and scales, which include surveys, inventories, and questionnaires
  • conditions of tests

PIcture of Scholarly ARticle, resultsIn this section, the results of the analysis are presented.  How the results are presented will depend upon whether the research study was quantitative or qualitative in nature.  This section should focus only on results that are directly related to the research or the problem. Graphs and tables should only be used when there is too much data to efficiently include it within the text.  This section should present the results, but not discuss their significance.

Picture of Scholarly Article, Discussion SectionThis section should be a discussion of the results and the implications on the field, as well as other fields. The hypothesis should be answered and validated by the interpretation of the results.  This section should also discuss how the results relate to previous research mentioned in the literature review, any cautions about the findings, and potential for future research.

Picture of Scholarly ARticle, author notes sectionThis section establishes the credibility of the authors. 

The Author Notes can be at the end or the very beginning of the article, either before or after the Abstract.

Picture of Scholarly Article, referencesThe research paper is not complete without the list of references. This section should be an alphabetized list of all the academic sources of information utilized in the paper.  The format of the references will match the format and style used in the paper, such as APA or MLA.

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Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research Methods

Quantitative data is numbers-based, countable, or measurable. Qualitative data is interpretation-based, descriptive, and relating to language. Quantitative data tells us how many, how much, or how often in calculations. Qualitative data can help us to understand why, how, or what happened behind certain behaviors. Learn more at Scribbr.

Quantitative data:

  • My best friend is 5 feet and 7 inches tall
  • They have size 6 feet
  • They weigh 63 kilograms
  • My best friend has one older sibling and two younger siblings
  • They have two cats
  • My best friend lives twenty miles away from me
  • They go swimming four times a week

Qualitative data:

  • My best friend has curly brown hair
  • They have green eyes
  • My best friend is funny, loud, and a good listener
  • They can also be quite impatient and impulsive at times
  • My best friend drives a red car
  • They have a very friendly face and a contagious laugh

From Career Foundry