Exam One - Introduction Flashcards
Why is research important to us?
1 - Evaluate physical therapy practice
2 - improve patient care
3 - PTs are healthcare professionals
4 - NPTE questions
Nature of research
- logical
- self-corrective
- replicable
- controlled
- empiracal
logical
combines personal experience, intellectual faculties, and formal systems of thought
inductive reasoning
specific to general
- development of theories from observations
deductive reasoning
general to specific
- testing or confirming hypothesis
scientific method is ________ and includes both inductive and deductive reasoning
systematic
self-corrective
- continuous, repetitive search for knowledge
- examines theories (unknown) and facts (known)
- process may take time
replicable
anyone with the requisite training should, at least in principle, be able to observe the same thing or perform the same test
controlled
limit influence of extraneous factors on the variables in question
empiracal
- provable or verifiable by experience or experiment
- objective data documented through direct observation or MEASUREMENT
Alternatives to science/ Other ways of “knowing”
1 - tenacity
2 - tradition
3 - intuition
4 - authority
tenacity
cling to beliefs regardless of evidence
tradition
understanding of the world based on precedent )accepted without validation or testing against better alternatives)
intuition
combination of personal experience, intelligence, and reasoning
authority
qualifications based on experiences, success, or reputation
Which alternative to science method is best if scientific evidence is not available?
authority
pyramid of doubt
science
authority
intuition
tradition
tenacity
basic science is…
results lack clear application
application of knowledge for its own sake
animal subjects
laboratories
careful control
applied science is
results directly useful
respond to immediate problems
human subjects
real world settings
limited control
What are the 3 potential scientific goals?
1 - describe populations or processes
2 - establish relationships
3 - establish cause and effect
descriptive research
activities to classify and understand the scope of clinical or social phenomena
What are some descriptive research designs?
developmental research
normative research
descriptive surveys
case reports
historical research
qualitative research
exploratory research
examination of a phenomenon of interest and how it relates to other factors
what are some examples of exploratory research designs?
cohort studies
case-control studies
correlational and predictive research
methodological research reliability/validity
explanatory research
activities intended to test for cause/effect relationships
what are some examples of explanatory research designs?
randomized controlled trials
pragmatic clinical trials
quasi-experiments
single-subject design
Science is ________ and certainty is __________
slow, elusive
