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Two Free eBooks that Every Massage Therapist Should Read

These were posted on another thread as information on the basics of critical thinking skills and research methods. Both are free. One of them is in *the Queen's English*, so you'll see words like "Randomisation" instead of "Randomization", but it's an easy read and is meant for consumers of health services:

http://www.jameslindlibrary.org/tt-downloads.html

(you'll need to download this one, but it's OK - no viruses!)

The other one is on critical thinking skills and it is also an easy read:

http://www.kantakji.com/fiqh/Files/Research/t116.pdf

Some might find them boring - they're not about massage, but they are about subjects in which all of us (not just massage therapists) should be familiar.

Take a book, take a chapter a day and have a wee think. I guarantee you'll be better off for it.

Cheers.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vlad on May 10, 2011 at 9:28am

Cheers, Ty.

Here's a blog series that goes through some basics of research. It's not about massage either, but it covers some great topics ina very easy to read format. If people were to start at the bottom post on the list and work their way up, I'm sure they will learn something new.

http://updates.pain-topics.org/search/label/Making%20Sense%20of%20P...

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Permalink Reply by Las Vegas Massage In Summerlin on May 10, 2011 at 10:33am

Here’s another good one, by Mortimer J. Adler, How To Read A Book. This book has been around a long time, yet still valid, Imho ;) The title of the book speaks for itself ;)

How To Read A Book

Kris

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Permalink Reply by Jenna Williams on May 14, 2011 at 8:13am

Thanks for sharing!

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Permalink Reply by Vlad on May 17, 2011 at 2:20pm

If anyone liked the critical thinking book, here is a little site that you might like:

http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/

They also have another free eBook on the subject in their links at the bottom.

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Permalink Reply by Vlad on May 25, 2011 at 10:10am

Here is an essay on critical thinking that has a self-rating form that some might find interesting. Also, the tables within it are very good for assessing information that we are exposed to every day - that includes what we're hearing and reading about our profession.

It's worth a read:

http://www.insightassessment.com/pdf_files/What&Why2010.pdf

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Permalink Reply by Vlad on May 30, 2011 at 8:58am

Since most people probably aren't working today, why not read this little document. ? It has some great examples on hindrances due to Psychological and Sociological Pitfalls (all of which we should be able to spot in our every day lives). Please pay attention to "Appeal to Authority", "Red Herring", "Ad Populum", "Ad Hominem", "Poisoning the Well" and "Positive outcome Bias" - all of these have been used in discussions on this site at some stage.

I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day.

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Permalink Reply by Vlad on May 30, 2011 at 4:59pm

Here is an easy to read series on research literacy that some people might find interesting:

The Need for Research Literacy

Understanding Scientific Results

Structure of a Research Article

Evaluating Accuracy of a Hypothesis

The Methods Section (of a research article)

The Results Section

Reading Charts and Graphs

Approaching Graphics, Avoiding Pitfalls

The Discussion Section

Finding Relevant Research

Evaluate Research Relevance

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Permalink Reply by Vlad on June 1, 2011 at 7:32pm

Just as an FYI for anyone interested, the free eBook that I gave a link to in the original post for critical thinking is sold on amazon - check out the reviews of it and the price of the hardcopy. You can see that it's not a typical free eBook that is used for self promotion (although you should also be aware that when reading a book on critical thinking, you should use critical thinking when reading it! :)

Also, if you look at the reviews you will see that educators use it in the classroom to teach CTS. If any educator were to bring it into their classroom (with maybe covering a topic each week and using MT magazines or other information sources for "let's find examples of...."), then that to me would be the sign of a good educator. I know we have some great educators, but any great educator also knows that there is always room for improvement. It's just an idea, but even if educators don't use it for their students, please take time out to read it for yourself.

Cheers.

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Permalink Reply by Vlad on June 6, 2011 at 8:13pm

Clinical reasoning, critical thinking and research are all closely related - finding good information, figuring out what is relevant, distinguishing belief from fact and using analytical skills in practice can all have a major impact on outcomes. That's not to say that we're non-intuitive machines, but good information can always inform better decision-making.

Finding good books that has an objective view of *what does the research say about this* included can be a difficult task, but one that I quite like is Tracy Walton's Medical Conditions and Massage Therapy, A Decision Tree Approach since it includes a section on the conditions covered along with a "Research at the time of writing" segment (which is indication on how we need to keep updated on what is coming out of research) in each section.

It gives an example of a chapter in the google link and you can also have a look to see if you would like to know more about the specific conditions referred to in the book before making any decision to purchase it.