Module 01 Flashcards
Origins of Research, Research Questions and Rationales
What is research?
Research is a systematic investigation for the purpose of discovering and explaining new knowledge. Through research, we answer question, explore and refine ideas, and increase understanding about phenomena (i.e. things that can be observed)
What is Epistemology?
Branch of philosophy concerned with answering the question “What is knowledge”
Describe empiricism as a “way of knowing”
focus on observations by the senses
Describe idealism as a “way of knowing”
focus on intuition
Describe rationalism as a “way of knowing”
Combination of observation, theory, and a “system of thinking”
Describe constructivism as a “way of knowing”
Recognition that knowledge is generated from subjective representations of objective realities; it is created from and interaction between people’s experiences and ideas
Which “ways of knowing” dominate laboratory-based research? (2)
Empiricism and Rationalism
Which “way of knowing” is increasingly recognized as key to understanding social determinants of health?
Constructivism
What are the 8 steps of the “cycle of inquiry” (research process)?
(1) Make an observation
(2) ask a broad question about the observation
(3) Review previous research
(4) Ask/Refine a question
(5) Formulate objectives
(6) Design the best way to meet objectives
(7) Make an observation
(8) Analyze Data & Report Results
Where can observations come from?
What one experiences in nature, clinical settings, or from previous knowledge and readings
Why do you need to review previous research?
To know whether or not your question or aspects of it have already been answered
What should be included in your ‘refined’ question?
It should be something more specific which include
- Measurable variables
- Specified population
Describe the “formulate objectives” step in the cycle of inquiry
You put boundaries on the study you are attempting to conduct
- What are your main goals (objectives)
- What observation you want to test (hypothesis)?
What is the contribution of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar on health research?
Conducted the first known semblance of a medical when he ordered youths of royal blood to eat only red meat and wine vs beans/vegetables and water
What is the contribution of Hippocrates on health research?
First recorded rational explanation of disease. Observed that disease occurs at a population level as well as an individual level. He concluded that there must be something in the “air, water, and places” to which populations were exposed that contributed to illness
What is the contribution of John Graunt on health? research?
Routinely collected data on births and deaths to quantify patterns of disease in the population, noting sex differences and seasonal variations.
Considered one of the first experts in epidemiology, for generating many of the statistical census methods used today
Book that generated the first statistical estimation of population health in early modern London
What is the contribution of Dr John Snow on health research?
Observation during his investigation of a cholera outbreak in London in 1854 played a critical role in the development of public health.
Due to his Dot map he was able to pinpoint the problematic “water pump” and took off the handle so people could no longer use it
What is the contribution of Rudolph Virchow on health research?
Work on pathological anatomy revealed that disease manifest itself at the cellular level, not at the organ level. His work launched the field of cellular pathology.
Advocated that the practive of medicine should shift toward systematic clinical observations at the cellular level as opposed to primarily theoretical activity
What is the contribution of Emile Durkheim on health research?
One of the first scientist to thoughtfully document patterns of disease outcomes (his research was on suicide) from careful observations of a large case series from his practice.
His work provided a seed to what would later become disease classification for suicide and related disorders
What are the contributions of Sir Bradford Hill on health research? (2)
(1) Widely known for Hill’s criteria for determining causal association
(2) Published a preliminary report on cigarette smoke and lung cancer
What are three examples of how thinking about health concerns has changed with the acquisition of new knowledge?
(1) autism
(2) AIDS
(3) Palliative care
What is etiology?
cause of a disease or condition
How have views on the etiology of autism changed through time?
1900s: Autism is a term used to describe a subset of schizophrenic patients who are especially withdrawn
1940s: Leo Kanner proposes parental coldness as a cause
1970s: twin studies point to the contribution of genetics to the cause of autism
1990s: Wakefield and colleagues falsely implicate MMR vaccine as a cause
2000s: Research continues to identify rare genetic mutations as wall as complex gene-environment interaction as causes
How have views on AIDS changed due to knowledge?
AIDS was formerly called GRID (gay-related immune deficiency)
Gaetan Dugas was vilified as being Patient 0 who brought the disease to the US in th 1980s
However, research has shown that this disease had been present in the 1970s as well and in California around the same time
