Research instruments include things that measure body processes or reactions such as blood pressure or brain activity but also includes things such as observation or interview guides, rating scales, questionnaires, and psychological tests. Researchers may create their own instruments but finding appropriate instruments created and tested by others can save time.
Below are some recommended resources for finding previously created and validated research instruments.
Click on title to link directly to resource.
Some research instruments may be found only in a dissertation or thesis. Below are 3 sources for searching dissertations and theses. Proquest is provided by the AU Libraries, you will be required to login off campus, the other 2 are freely available Internet resources. A good search to start with is your condition or topic AND research instrument but you may need to expand your search with synonyms or subject headings. If you need help constructing a search strategy, check out Modules 2, 3, & 4 of the Library Instruction Tutorial for Graduate Nursing Students.
Some instruments can be found using search engines such as Google, Google Scholar, or Yahoo. Try searching for your condition or topic AND research instrument, for example:
Depression AND research instrument
You can also try synonyms for research instrument such as questionnaire or scale or measurement
