Chapter 3: Defining the Research Question

Question 1

How to select a topic for the research question

Answer 1

Questions grow out of a need to know something that is not already known, resolve a conflict, confirm previous findings, or clarify some piece of information that is not sufficiently documented.

Question 2

Where do research questions come from?

Answer 2

Clinical experience
Clinical theory
Professional literature
- Gaps
- Conflicts
- Replication

Question 3

What is clinical experience?

Answer 3

A clinician’s knowledge, experience, and curiosity will influence the types of questions that are of interest.

Question 4

What is clinical theory?

Answer 4

To formulate a specific research question, a clinician must first examine the principles behind a theory and then determine which clinical outcomes would support or not support the theory. The answers will be the basis for a research question.

Question 5

What is professional literature?

Answer 5

Reference to professional literature plays the most essential role in the delineation of a research problem and ultimately in deriving the specific research question.
Professional literature provides the basis for developing a research problem in several important ways.

Question 6

What gaps and conflicts are found in professional literature?

Answer 6

Literature may point out holes in professional knowledge, areas where we do not have sufficient information for making clinical decisions.
Another common source of ideas derives from conflicts in the literature when studies present contradictory findings.

Question 7

What is study replication?

Answer 7

Replication of a study is a useful strategy to confirm previous findings, correct for design limitations, study different combinations of treatments, or examine outcomes with different populations or in different settings.
Replication is an extremely important process in research because one study is never sufficient to confirm a theory or to verify the success or failure of a treatment.

Question 8

How do you develop research rationale?

Answer 8

Start with a systematic review or meta-analysis
Use theoretical framework

Question 9

What are the 4 general types of research?

Answer 9

1. Comparison
2. Exploratory
3. Descriptive
4. Methodological

Question 10

Describe comparison research.

Answer 10

Comparison defines a cause-and-effect relationship using an explanatory model. This includes the gold standard RCT as well as comparative effectiveness studies.

Question 11

Describe exploratory research.

Answer 11

Exploratory looks for relationships to determine how clinical phenomena interact. These studies are considered observational because they do not involve manipulation of variables.

Question 12

Describe descriptive research.

Answer 12

Descriptive seeks to characterize clinical phenomena or existing conditions in a particular population. Qualitative research is a unique type of descriptive research that focuses on systematic observation of behaviors and attitudes as they occur in natural settings.

Question 13

Describe methodological research.

Answer 13

Methodological, stems from the lack of appropriate measuring instruments to document outcomes. Studies may involve the investigation of reliability and validity in measuring tools to determine how different instruments can be used meaningfully for clinical decision-making.

Question 14

How do you frame a clinical research question?

Answer 14

P: population or problem
I: intervention
C: comparison or control
O: outcomes

Question 15

What is an independent variable?

Answer 15

A predictor variable is an independent variable.
It is a condition, intervention, or characteristic that will predict, or cause a given outcome.
This is the I and C in PICO.

Question 16

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 16

The outcome variable is called the dependent variable, which is a response or effect that is presumed to vary depending on the independent variable.
This is the O in PICO.

Question 17

What are the levels of independent variable?

Answer 17

In comparative studies, independent variables are given “values” called levels. The levels represent groups or conditions that will be compared. Every independent variable will have at least two levels.

Question 18

What are the operational definitions of variables?

Answer 18

Defines a variable according to its unique meaning within a study.
- Should be sufficiently detailed that another researcher could replicate the procedure or measurement.

Question 19

What is the final step in delineating a researchable question?

Answer 19

Clarify the objective of the study
The objectives may be presented as hypotheses, specific aims, the purpose of the research, or they may be phrased as a research question.

Question 20

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 20

A declarative statement that predicts the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.
The research hypothesis states the researcher’s true expectation of results, guiding the interpretation of outcomes and conclusions.

Question 21

What are explanatory studies?

Answer 21

Nondirectional hypotheses do not predict a direction of change.
Directional hypotheses not only describe the relationship between variables in terms of a difference, but they also assign a direction to that difference.

Question 22

What are exploratory studies?

Answer 22

Hypotheses can also be phrased to predict a relationship between variables, rather than a difference.
Directional predicts the presence of a relationship between two variables and the direction of that relationship.

Question 23

Compare simple and complex hypotheses.

Answer 23

A simple hypothesis includes one independent variable and one dependent variable.
A complex hypothesis contains more than one independent or dependent variable.

Question 24

Describe a complex hypothesis?

Answer 24

Nondirectional because of the potential difficulty in clarifying multiple relationships.
Efficient for expressing expected research outcomes in a research report, but they cannot be tested.
Must be broken down into several simple hypotheses.

Question 25

What are specific aims or objectives?

Answer 25

The specific aims of a study describe the purpose of a project, focusing on what the study seeks to accomplish. The statements reflect the relationships or comparisons that are intended and may reflect quantitative or qualitative goals. Aims may also expand on the study’s hypothesis based on various analysis goals.
A single study may have several aims, typically breaking down the hypothesis into analysis chunks. These define the scope of the study.

Question 26

Throughout the process of identifying and refining a research question, what four general criteria should be considered to determine that it is worth pursuing?

Answer 26

The question should be important, answerable, ethical, and feasible for study.

Question 27

Why does a research question need to be important?

Answer 27

Clinical research should have potential impact on treatment, understanding risk factors or theoretical foundations, or on policies related to practice.
Research studies should provide new information.
Confirmation of previous findings may be important, as will variations in subjects or methods or clarification of inconsistencies.

Question 28

Why does a research question need to be ethical?

Answer 28

A good research question must conform to ethical standards in terms of protection of human rights and researcher integrity.
The data must adhere to confidentiality standards. If the variables of interest pose an unacceptable physical, emotional, or psychological risk, the question should be reformulated. Questions about the ethical constraints in human studies research should be directed to an IRB to assure compliance in the initial stages of study development.

Question 29

Why does a research question need to be feasible?

Answer 29

Because of the commitment of time and resources required for research, a researcher should recognize the practicalities of carrying out a project and plan sufficiently to make the efforts successful.
Looks at sample size, available resources, scope of the project, and expertise