42 Choosing relevant scholarly sources

When you do a search using Google, a library database, or other tools, you’ll often see the terms that match your search terms in bold:

Fig. 42.1. A Google Scholar search for Instagram and depression. [Image Description]

But can you be sure that every source that contains your search terms is relevant to your research question?

Let’s say you’re exploring the question, “Does Instagram cause depression?” All three of the articles in the search results above contain the terms Instagram and depression in the title. But take a closer look at that first source. Is it saying that Instagram causes depression?

Let’s break down this title: “Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression.” Does that relate to our research question of whether Instagram causes depression? It seems to be saying that photos on Instagram contain indicators of depression—so, like, maybe we can tell who might have or develop depression based on the images they’re posting on Instagram. But that doesn’t necessarily mean their Instagram use caused the depression.

Let’s look deeper at what the abstract says about what they did: “Using Instagram data from 166 individuals, we applied machine learning tools to successfully identify markers of depression.” Indeed, they’re seeing whether AI can scan someone’s Instagram account and tell from their photos whether they’re depressed, even before they’ve been diagnosed with depression, and no matter whether they look happy or sad in the photo. Still, that’s different from Instagram causing the depression.

For more practice deciphering scholarly articles, look back at the chapter on Rhetorically Analyzing Academic Texts.

Now try it with this example:

Image Descriptions

Fig. 42.1 Image Description. The image is a screenshot of Google Scholar search results for the query “instagram and depression.” At the top is the Google Scholar logo, a search bar with the entered query, and a blue search button. Below, it shows a list of articles related to the search query. On the left, there are filter options for time range, sorting preferences, and type of article. Three articles are displayed in the main section, each with a title, authors’ names, publication details, a brief snippet of content, and options to save, cite, view citations, related articles, and versions. Keywords like “Instagram” and “depression” are highlighted in bold. Transcribed Text: Google Scholar; instagram and depression. Articles: About 309,000 results (0.08 sec); Any time. Sort by relevance. Sort by date. Any type: Review articles, include citations. 1. [PDF] Instagram photos reveal predictive markers of depression AG Reece, CM Danforth – EPJ Data Science, 2017 – Springer … techniques to screen for depression using photographs posted to Instagram. Our results … depression are observable in Instagram user behavior, and Hypothesis, that these depressive …2. Instagram# instasad?: exploring associations among instagram use, depressive symptoms, negative social comparison, and strangers followed K Lup, L Trub, L Rosenthal – Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social …, 2015 – liebertpub.com … frequency of Instagram use and depressive symptoms. A … frequency of Instagram use and depressive symptoms; (b) this … of strangers followed on Instagram will moderate the direct and …3. Behavioural symptoms of mental health disorder such as depression among young people using Instagram: A systematic review GC Adeyanju, RP Solfa, TL Tran, S Wohlfarth… – Translational Medicine …, 2021 – Springer … : those relating to Instagram users and young people and depression or symptomatic behaviour of depression. Studies were included if they have been conducted on Instagram users, …[Return to Fig. 42.1]