research integrity and experiments Flashcards
what is research integrity?
involves conducting research in ways that allow others to have trust and confidence in methods and findings; researchers meet professional standards
what are the five principles? (h,r,t,i,r)
- honesty
- rigour
- transparent
- independence
- responsibility
what is honesty?
being accurate, open and refrain from fabricating
what is rigour?
using scientific methods, exercising best possible care in designing, undertaking and reporting research
what is transparency?
be clear on how research was based on, data obtained and results achieved
what is independence?
not allowing research to be guided by non- scientific considerations, impartiality
what is responsibility?
researcher does not operate in isolation; conduct a research scientifically that is socially relevant
what is a research ethics committee?
- group of people appointed to review research proposals to assess formally if research is ethical
what must the ethics committee conform to? Give examples
- recognised ethical standards i.e., dignity, rights, safety and well being of participants
what is voluntary participation?
- pts are free to opt in or out of the study at any point in time
what is informed consent?
participants know the purpose, benefits, risks and funding behind study before they agree or decline
what is anonymity?
you don’t know the identities of pts as personal data not collected
what is confidentiality?
you know who pts are but keep info hidden from everyone else so results can’t be linked
what is the potential for harm?
physical, social, psychological and all other types of harm are kept to an absulote minimum
what is results communication?
ensure your work is free of plagiarism or research misconduct ; accurately represent your results
list the scientific process
- think of interesting questions
- formulate hypotheses
- develop testable predictions
- gather data to test predictions
- develop general theories
- make observations
why is research design important?
well planned design helps ensure that methods can effectively test your research questions, that you collect high quality data and use appropriate analysis to answer questions
what conclusions does a well planned design allow?
valid and trustworthy conclusions
what questions should you ask when thinking of design?
- what was the aim of the study?
- if analytic, was the intervention randomly allocated?
- when were outcomes determined?
what are cross sectional designs?
assess a phenomenon at one time to provide a snapshot
- examines trends and changes in societal level by measuring different samples
what is a longitudinal study?
assess a phenomenon at several points in time to provide info on change at individual level
- examines change in same people over time
what is an observational design?
- no intervention is made so it provides info on associations between an exposure an event
what is an experimental design?
- involves an intervention so allows determination of cause and effect
what is the difference between single cross- sectional design and different cross sectional design?
- single only uses one sample of pts recruited from target population once whereas different compares two or more groups at one time
what are case- control designs?
- usually retrospective
- cases have outcome
- controls do not have outcome
what are retrospective cohort designs?
- involves looking back
- examine data that already exists
- try to identify risk factors for particular conditions
what are prospective cohort designs?
- involves forward looking
- watches for outcomes and relates this to suspected risk factors or protective factors
what is the randomised control trial design?
- prospective so forward looking
- involves intervention or treatment
- pts randomised into either a ‘control’ group of ‘ intervention’ group
- follows groups over time to determine any differences in outcomes
what is a quasi- experimental design?
an intervention study that does not;
- randomise pts and/ or have a control group
what is feasibility studies?
- research done before a main study to determine whether the methods are feasible and acceptable
- can the study be done?
what is a pilot study?
- small scale study conducted prior to large scale experiment to test and refine procedures
