Exam 1 - part 1 SG Flashcards
Describe each component of the scientific method and how it is interrelated with the literature review.
Systematic process used in research
1. Review the literature: find out what is already known about the topic, understand the topic
2. Define the problem after gaining knowledge on topic
3. Develop research question and objective, or hypothesis
4. Develop research design and methods
5. Implement study through collection and analysis of data
6. Interpret results, draw conclusions from results
7. Share information collected and disseminate findings (through publications, presentations, press releases, interviews, social media)
8. Review literature – cycle repeats
The scientific method adds to the body of literature
What is a problem statement? Be able to write a statement problem based on previous research
Shed light on a current or potential problem – posing relationship between 2+ variables
* Explains problem at hand and why research is needed
* Based on literature review and prior research
What is a hypothesis? be able to write a hypothesis and identify independent and dependent variable
What the researchers are proposing/predicting the relationship between 2+ variables will be, and must be tested
Describe the differences between primary, secondary, narrative review, systematic review, and meta-analysis.
Primary research
* Original research
* Single study designed and conducted by the researchers themselves
* Could be qualitative or quantitative
Secondary research
* Includes narrative reviews, or literature reviews
* Organizes, interprets, and summarizes evidence from several primary studies in a particular research area
* Consolidating and summarizing the data to draw a general conclusion
Tertiary Research:
Systematic review
* Often a collection of randomized control trials
Meta-analysis
* Takes the systematic review 1 step further including statistical analysis to compare different results of systematic reviews
Identify variables in a study, and distinguish categorical or continuous variable
categorical variables:
* Represent qualitative data with distinct categories.
* Cannot be meaningfully measured on a scale.
* Examples: hair color, blood type, marital status, shirt size.
continuous variables:
* Represent quantitative data that can be measured on a scale.
* Can take on an infinite number of values within a range.
* Examples: weight, temperature, time, distance
Research designs/plans can vary, be familiar with the different models and know the strengths and limitations of the models.
- Molecular analysis - cells
- animal models - mice or other (could be used for preclinical)
- secondary data analysis – NHANES; not cause and effect, but can be a starting point of epidemiological studies that can establish a relationship.
1. Not primary original research, but use for associations. - cross-sectional – collect information at one point in time
- longitudinal – participants are observed and there are multiple measurements over a long period of time. 2 types:
1. prospective -
2. retrospective –
Define research methods and describe the purpose of research methods. Expand on how tools and techniques address the variable in the study.
- takes into account tools and techniques, falls under research design
- Addressing how variables are manipulated, measured, the setting, participant selections, statistical analysis
- Want it to be reproduceable and accurate in addressing research question at hand
Experimental group
recieves treatment or intervention
control group
No intervention, or something infrequent compared to experimental
Confounding (extraneous) variables
- Factors other than the variables being studied that might influence the outcome of the study
- May lead to incorrect conclusions (context is important)
- Results are compared to other studies and overall good research should build on previous studies and contribute to broader knowledge on the topic
Describe the peer-review process.
- Submission: The author submits their article to a journal.
- Editorial assessment: The journal’s editor assesses the article to ensure it meets the journal’s quality standards.
- Reviewer selection: The editor selects experts in the author’s field to review the article.
- Review: The reviewers evaluate the article’s quality, methodology, potential bias, ethical issues, and other factors. They prepare a report and return it to the editor.
- Editor’s decision: The editor decides to accept the article, reject it, or ask the author to revise and resubmit it. If the author resubmits, the editor may ask the same reviewers to review it again.
- Decision outcome: The editor’s decision is accompanied by the reviewers’ reports and commentary explaining the decision. If the author needs to revise, the decision letter and review reports will clearly state the required changes.
Explain and be able to identify the purposes of research (explore, describe, analyze, predict).
Exploratory research
* Trying to understand more about a problem that is not well understood, usually based on qualitative research
* Includes descriptive types of studies
Descriptive research
* Describes a phenomenon at a specific point of time – measure, classify, and compare phenomena
* Does not test hypotheses or examine cause and effect; simply describes a scenario
Analytical research
* IS cause and effect, finding variables that could predict an outcome
* Quantifies relationship between an intervention or an exposure on an outcome
(Intervention or observational)
Quantitative research
- Formal, objective, and systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information/data – the scientific method (standard method)
- Examines cause/effect
- Contains a lot of numerical or statistical results
- Utilizes closed-ended questions
- Can be descriptive (explaining relationship among variables) or analytical (cause and effect relationships, utilizing proper controls)
- Starts with hypothesis, applies statistics to data to gain results, focus on describing and testing relationships among variables, tries to be unbiased toward participant
qaulitative research
- Explores reasons, opinions, and motivations behind human behaviors
- Uses open ended questions, gathers info, and interprets meaning of data
- Centered around discussing trends or themes emerging from focus groups or individual interviews - helps research develop theories
- No hypothesis, no statistics, focuses on words or stories, looking at participant experiences
mixed methods research
Goal: provide a more complete understanding of a research problem; complimentary approach
3 important characteristics:
1. Utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods to answer research questions
2. Analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data
3. Integration of both data sources into the results – numbers for precision, narratives for background context
