Exam Study #1 Flashcards
What is Research?
Organized study or gathering of information about a specific topic.
* Systematic investigation of a topic that produces new knowledge or
uses existing knowledge in new and innovative ways.
Scientific method
a systematic body of procedures and techniques
applied to carry out an investigation or experimentation targeted at
obtaining new knowledge.
What do we mean by practice?
The practice side of research relates to implementation
* How the word ‘practice’ is applied might vary but includes moving
research into action or decision making
What are the 8 stages of the research cycle?
- Questioning
- Planning
- Gathering
- Sorting
- Synthetizing
- Evaluating
- Reporting
Reflexivity
- Exploring personal beliefs, bias, and judgements; assessing how this
impacts your research - Personally – positionality, social identity/location, lived experiences,
professional history - Methodologically – how your knowledge and preconceptions affect your
decisions about research design and processes - Every stage of the research cycle
- BUT, depending on your research approach you may embrace or mitigate
reflexivity
Characteristics of a literature review in health
- Written for academic/practitioner audience
- Evidence is gathered from peer reviewed,
scholarly sources - May broaden evidence to non-traditional
sources of information (grey literature) - Unbiased
Types of practice
- Policy development at various levels
- Development of practice guidelines (e.g., in a clinical setting)
- Development of strategies to address health problems (e.g., health promotion
strategies) - Education programmes
Importance of health research
*Disease trends, risk factors and behaviours
*Outcomes of treatment or public health interventions
*Patterns of health care, and health care costs and use
*Social-environment causes and patterns of health
Types of health research
*Behavioural
*How people and groups act in different ways (and why)
*Clinical
*Testing new medicines and devices (e.g., clinical trials, medical treatments)
*Genetic
*Examines the role of genes and different health diseases and health conditions
*Public health
*Focus on prevention and treatment of illness in communities/populations (SDoH, prevention policies)
*Also explore disease trends of populations (epidemiology)
*Systems and Policies
*Exploring patient feedback and experiences
Step 1 of the research cycle
Literature review
-Find gaps in the research
-Things to consider when reviewing the literature and formulating research questions:
o Has the question been asked before?
o How did they research it?
o Are there any research methods & instruments you
can use?
o What findings did they get?
o Are there any lessons to be learned
Step 2 of the research cycle
Research Purpose and Question
-Drawing on theory, individual beliefs, knowledge, previous research & literature
Step 3 of the research cycle
Hypothesis and Propositions
-Primarily useful for quantitative research; however, in qualitative, we can ‘test’ propositions
-A suggested (hypothetical but with a solid foundation) link between two (or more) variables
-Research problems are broken down into a number of hypotheses
Step 4 of the research cycle
Methods and Methodology
* How do we plan to measure/investigate the relevant concepts?
* Method and methodology are often used as though they were synonyms – they are not
* Methodology is the study of methods and refers to the strategy or design to research
Step 5 of the research cycle
Sampling and Recruitment
Selection of a subset of a population for research
* Quantitative:
* Representative
* Qualitative:
* Purposive
Step 6 of the research cycle
Data Collection
* Explicit details about how you are collecting your data
o Paper or online surveys
o Interviews or focus groups
o Observations
o Visual methods
o Documentation review
o Social media
Step 7 of the research cycle
Data Analysis and Interpretation
* Depends on your design and research question(s)
* Interpretations are guided by the chosen theoretical approach
Step 8 of the research cycle
Disseminate Findings
* Process of communicating knowledge to target audiences
* Vital to ensure that the conducted research has a health, social, political, or economic impact
* Knowledge mobilization/translation strategies
o Know your audience & setting
o Target messages
o Right tools (written, oral, visual)
Pros and cons of quantitative research
Pros
Test hypothesis
Replication
Can be quicker
Contributes to answering the WHAT and HOW
Generalizable
Cons
Lack of context
Unnatural environment &findings
Less rich/detailed insights
Pros and cons of qualitative research
Pros
Flexibility and innovation
Naturalistic settings
Meaningful, deep insights
Contributes to answering the WHY & HOW
Cons
Subjectivity*
Limited generalizability
Resource Intensive
Post-positivism
*Positivism contains the underlying philosophical assumptions of research in most of the natural sciences
*Based around the development of general laws/truths that can be used to understand the world
*Testing of theories (deductivism – more on this later!)
*Research approach is governed by the Scientific Method
*Positivism is based on ideas of:
*Objectivity (i.e., the objective reality of the physical world)
*Deterministic (i.e., causes determine effects or outcomes)
*Empiricism (i.e., observation and measurement)
Interpretivism/Constructivism
*Rejects the view that scientific empiricism can be applied to the social world.
*Does not use predefine variables, but explores human sense-making in naturalistic settings
*Theories and methods for interpreting human action and understanding how individuals make sense of the world
*Assumption - social reality can only be understood through social constructions such as language, consciousness and shared meanings
*Relativity and context
What is a purpose statement?
*Establishes the goals of the entire research study
*Ultimately the most important statement in the entire study
*Explains WHY you want to conduct your research and WHAT you hope to accomplish
*Can also be called study aim or objective
*Suggests how it’s adding to scholarly research/literature or practice or policy
Qualitative purpose statement
-Single phenomenon
-Phrases: understand, explore, examine, develop
-Neutral and Non-leading
-Name the participants and site
-*May include methodology
