- The main search tool that I have used has been the Syracuse University online database because I am not really familiar with any other online trustworthy databases or where to find them. I like the Syracuse one because it is easy to navigate, and the search engine is quite simple in its easiest form. Personally, I have yet to attempt the advanced search features because I accidentally clicked that while conducting research for Unit 1 and was very intimidated. For Unit 2, however, the advanced search tool is something that I want to brave and hopefully master since it will most likely be very useful during the rest of my college career. The Syracuse library will not be available to me forever so if anyone has any other databases that are reliable, I would love to try them out to potentially prepare for the future!
- For my Unit 2 project, I am researching biases in the medical field, starting out with talking about the discrimination against the women working in healthcare and then moving onto the biases doctors can have against certain minorities, such as people of color and women. I am planning on finding a few sources on these topics, most likely just scholarly sources, and then moving on towards the primary source towards the end of my project. I know a few people who have had firsthand experiences with doctors not believing their illnesses/pains due to their gender/race, so I think I am going to interview one of these people. If that angle does not pan out, I am going to try and find a true story online of someone’s experience, either through a blog or in a YouTube video. Hopefully a real life example will make the facts and statistics from the research from the scholarly sources more compelling for my argument that there needs to be a change within the healthcare system in reference to unconscious biases and discrimination.
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Writing and Organizational Cultures
Caitlin,
Your project topic sounds intriguing. It hits home for me since my Grandmother had chronic back pain for many years. I know that the doctors insinuated that a lot of it was “in her head”. It was difficult to see her suffer and go through the endless cycle of doctors. I was looking through SU’s Summons and found an article (which you may have found already) appropriately titled ““Brave Men” and “Emotional Women”: A Theory-Guided Literature Review on Gender Bias in Health Care and Gendered Norms towards Patients with Chronic Pain”. The title says it all!
I’m doing my report on invisible disability disclosure and I was interested to note in this article the reference to women being invisible.
There are conditions where pain is the only reported symptom. Those conditions are highly dominated by women and have been described as difficult to fit in to the traditional bioscientific medical system. They have low status in the medical hierarchy of diagnoses, and women with those diagnoses are often questioned as patients. The concept of andronormativity implies that men and masculinity dominate health care to such an extent that women and femininity become invisible. Our results showed that symptoms in women-dominated conditions that do not fit the masculine norm actually seem to be invisible.
It appears that an individual by virtue of sex, disability or whatever difference is classified as invisible when they don’t fit the norm.
Reference:
Samulowitz, A., Gremyr, I., Eriksson, E., Hensing, G., Sahlgrenska akademin, Institute of Medicine, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Public Health Epidemiology Unit, Göteborgs universitet, Gothenburg University, Institutionen för medicin, avdelningen för samhällsmedicin och folkhälsa, enheten för folkhälsoepidemiologi, & Sahlgrenska Academy. (2018). “Brave men” and “Emotional women”: A theory-guided literature review on gender bias in health care and gendered norms towards patients with chronic pain. Pain Research & Management, 2018, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/6358624
Thanks for taking the time to share this recommendation, Ed–that’s really helpful!
Hi Caitlin,
I love your project idea! I have learned a lot about medical biases in my public health classes and I am excited to hear more from your research. From the angle of discrimination (and disrespect) women face from the healthcare system, I think you could cover the (seemingly never ending) reproductive health barriers. Recently, there has been many instances of proposed or implemented policies to take away access to essential healthcare for women. I think informing the class about how harmful these polices are could be very helpful!
Hi Caitlin,
The Syracuse University Library can kind of be overwhelming, and even though the advanced search feature is supposed to make your research easier it definitely has somewhat of a learning curve. I would suggest searching the SU database like normal and then using key phrases from the articles you find most useful in your advanced search. I would also suggest watching Ted talks or using other accredited visual media creators and checking out some of the texts they include in their reference section.
As Kayla said, there’s definitely a learning curve when it comes to using the Advanced Search functions on SUMMON (and other database tools), but it’s worth learning–a little extra time spent at the beginning on narrowing the search parameters can really help to streamline the research process by sorting out some of the irrelevant or unhelpful stuff first. When you start with a more targeted set of search results, it’s far more productive and efficient.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to use ALL of the fields or exercise all of the options. You can start with a couple of basic strategies (limiting the language and the date range, selecting certain types of sources) and see where that gets you, and then refine from there with multiple search terms.
Finally, I’m pleased to see that you’re already thinking about the valuable insights that primary sources might lend to your project–start looking for those now!