Lecture 3: Research Process

Question 1

What does disciplinary mean?

Answer 1

• of or relating to a particular field of study

- a branch of a study

Question 2

What does multidisciplinary mean?

Answer 2

combining or involving more than one discipline or field of study

Question 3

What does interdisciplinary mean?

Answer 3

involving two or more academic, scientific, or artistic disciplines

Question 4

What does transdisciplinary mean?

Answer 4

Research is defined as research efforts conducted by investigators from different disciplines working jointly to create new conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and translational innovations that integrate and move beyond discipline-specific approaches to address a common problem.

Question 5

Good questions are…

Answer 5

1) Ones you feel passionate about answering (i.e., they intrigue you!)
2) Are empirical (i.e., you can use observations and measurements to test the question)
• Please brainstorm some examples of both…
• What is an example of a non-empirical question?

Question 6

What is empirical research?

Answer 6

Empirical research is research using empirical evidence. It is a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience. Empiricism values such research more than other kinds. Empirical evidence can be analyzed quantitatively or qualitatively.

Question 7

What is non-empirical research?

Answer 7

Non-empirical research is research that is conducted without data: quantitative data, which is when you analyze numerical data, or qualitative data, which is when you use non-numerical data such as observations and interviews to base claims off of.

Question 8

What is the purpose of background research?

Answer 8

• Help us gain understanding
• Ask better and more specific questions
• Ultimately advance overall knowledge

Question 9

What is a descriptive research?

Answer 9

Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics occurred.

Question 10

What are some information sources?

Answer 10

• Newspaper article
• Websites
• Popular articles
• Government reports
• Books
• Journal articles
• Interview transcripts

Question 11

How to know if a source is reliable? What are the questions that should be asked?

Answer 11

• Current?
• Relevant?
• Accuracy?
• Authority?
• Purpose?

Question 12

What does CRAAP stand for?

Answer 12

• Current?
• Relevant?
• Accuracy?
• Authority?
• Purpose?

Question 13

What is the purpose of popular articles vs scholarly articles?

Answer 13

Popular articles:
• Entertainment
• Current awareness
• Research summaries

Scholarly articles:
• Report original research
• Review previously published
studies

Question 14

What is the audience of popular articles vs scholarly articles?

Answer 14

Popular articles:
• General public

Scholarly articles:
• Students
• Scholars
• Researchers

Question 15

Who are the authors of popular articles vs scholarly articles?

Answer 15

Popular articles:
• Journalists

Scholarly articles:
• Researchers
• Academics

Question 16

What are the characteristics of popular articles vs scholarly articles?

Answer 16

Popular articles:
• Short(er) articles
• Contain advertisements/photos
• Published daily, weekly, or monthly
• Proofread/reviewed by editors
• Sources often not cited, or cited with little detail

Scholarly articles:
• Describe research methodologies
• Contain charts, graphs, tables
• Published quarterly or annually
• Reviewed by editorial board/peer-reviewed
• Sources cited in reference lists/bibliographies

Question 17

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 17

An educated guess, based on observation, about the causes or outcomes of an event (how variables are related); can be disproven but not proven to be truth

Question 18

What is a theory?

Answer 18

summarizes hypothesis (or group of hypotheses) supported with repeated tests; an “accepted hypothesis”; can be disproven

Question 19

What is are the differences between hypothesis and theory?

Answer 19

possible vs. certainty; substantiated vs. not; limited data vs. lots; specific observation vs. general

Question 20

What are the similarities of hypothesis and theory?

Answer 20

testable, falsifiable

Question 21

What are the reasoning strategies in generating hypothesis?

Answer 21

• inductive reasoning

- deductive reasoning

Question 22

What is inductive reasoning?

Answer 22

• Use specific facts to form a general conclusion
• E.g., gather specific information on your patients symptoms and then form a hypothesis
• E.g., gather facts from past research studies

Question 23

What is deductive reasoning?

Answer 23

• Derive a hypothesis from a theory; use a general principle to reach more specific conclusion
• E.g., if you have a stomach ulcer, THEN this additional medical test (e.g., barium swallow) should yield the following result (e.g., ulcer visible on X-ray)

Question 24

What are the strategies in generating hypothesis?

Answer 24

• Introspection
- what would I do? think? feel? Leverage your biases!
• Focus on the exception to the rule
- Virtually no outcome is true 100% of the time
• Matter of degree
- Gray areas; focus on variables in terms of amounts
(quantity, strength, volume, time, etc.)
• Change the direction
- Chicken or the egg?

Question 25

What are the features of a good hypothesis?

Answer 25

• Justifiable and grounded in observations OR theory (inductive or deductive?)
• Be testable (or, is it possible to gather all evidence to disconfirm it)
• Predict a relationship between two or more variables
• Not vague – concepts should be clearly defined and based on sound reasoning

Question 26

Give examples of casual and associative hypothesis

Answer 26

• Causal: Dieting men who are participating in a formal exercise program will have greater weight loss than those who are not
• Associative: there is a positive relationship between the amount of exercise and weight loss among men who are dieting

Question 27

Give examples of simple and complex hypothesis

Answer 27

• Simple: Infants born to mothers who had iron- deficiency anemia during pregnancy have lower birth weight than infants born to mothers with normal iron levels
• Complex: Infants born to mothers who had iron- deficiency anemia during pregnancy have lower birth weight, are at increased risk of pre-term delivery, and have more neurological complications than infants born to mothers with normal iron levels

Question 28

Give examples of directionality hypothesis

Answer 28

• The incidence of decubitus ulcers (bed sore) is related to the frequency of turning patients
• Patients turned at least every two hours have a lower incidence of decubitus ulcers than patients turned less frequently

Question 29

Give examples of null hypothesis

Answer 29

• There is no relationship between gender and knowledge of the food pyramid among teenagers
• Teenage girls are better informed about the food pyramid than teenage boys

Question 30

What are the types of hypothesis?

Answer 30

• casual
• associative
• simple
• complex
• directionality
• null

Question 31

What is an independent variable?

Answer 31

manipulated; controlled in experiments; explanatory/predictor variable in non- experimental designs; influences the dependent variable

Question 32

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 32

influenced (dependent upon) by IV; is measured; outcome variable; Y-axis

Question 33

What are the steps in testing hypothesis?

Answer 33

1. Key variables
2. Study design
3. Research protocol
4. Analyzing the data

Question 34

What is a research protocol?

Answer 34

• Detailed series of steps on how to conduct the
  experiment
• Proven? Novel?
• Chemicals and equipment? Scripts and surveys?

Question 35

How to analyze data?

Answer 35

• Bring together distinct pieces of information
• Set by hypothesis and experimental design
• Basic features of data –> descriptives –> more complex

Question 36

What is Knowledge Diffusion (KD)? Give examples

Answer 36

• “Passive” dissemination (though we “push” it out)
• Potential users need to seek out (“pull”) information

Examples:
• Publishing scientific peer-reviewed articles
• Present findings in academic meetings (talks, posters)

Question 37

What is knowledge translation (KT)?

Answer 37

• A dynamic and iterative process that includes the synthesis, dissemination, exchange and ethically- sound application of knowledge to improve the health of a population, provide more effective health care services and products, and strengthen the health care system.

Question 38

Why do knowledge translation?

Answer 38

• 1/3 of patients do not get treatments of proven effectiveness
• 1⁄4 of patients get care that is not needed or is potentially harmful
• Up to 3⁄4 of patients do not get the information they need for decision making
• Up to 1⁄2 of physicians do not get the evidence they need for decision making

Question 39

How to do knowledge translation?

Answer 39

• Creating Knowledge (see other slides)
• Applying Knowledge
• Identifying the problem, and identifying, reviewing and selecting knowledge
• Adapting knowledge to local context
• Assessing barriers & facilitators to knowledge use
• Selecting, tailoring and implementing intervention to address barriers to knowledge use
• Monitoring knowledge use
• Evaluating outcome of knowledge use
• Developing mechanisms to sustain knowledge use

Question 40

What are the common problems in getting funding?

Answer 40

• Lack of new or original idea
• Diffuse, superficial or unfocused research plan
• Lack of knowledge in published works
• Lack of experience in the essential methods
• Uncertainty about future directions
• Questionable reasoning in experimental methods
• Failure to discuss potential obstacles or alternative methods
• Absence of an acceptable scientific rationale
• Unrealistic large amount of work
• Lack of sufficient experimental detail
• Uncritical approach