Research Methods Flashcards
Definition of Health Research
A systematic and principled way of obtaining the evidence (data/information) for solving health care problems and investigating health issues.
Systematic means that researchers follow a sequential process
Principled means that researches are carried out according to explicit rules
Rules and Principles constitute de Method
Define anecdotal evidence
Evidence collected in a casual or informal manner and relying heavily or entirely on personal testimony. Driven by emotion and presented by individuals who are not subject area experts.
What are the characteristics of research ?
- clear statement of problem
- requires a plan
- builds on existing data, using both positive and negative findings
- new data should be collected as required and organized in such a way that they answers the research question.
Describe the philosophy of knowing
- Considering different perspectives
- framework of a set of philosophies : qualitative, quantitative and the academic discipline in which you have benne trained
- use of procedures, methods and techniques that have been tested for their validity (correct procedures have been applied to find answers to a question) and reliability (quality of a measurement procedure that provides repeatability and accuracy)
- is designed to be unbiased and objective : take each step in an unbiased manner, draw the conclusion to the best of your abilities and without introducing your own vested interest
What are the 3 Research options ?
- Explanatory : usually quantitative to establish relationships and / or to make predictions
- Descriptive : case reports, large scale surveys (what instead of why)
- Exploratory : usually qualitative to find out what the issues are
Define Triangulation
We know that something is true when a fact is agreed by a number of stakeholders, or research approaches or studies
How can you trust an evidence ?
All evidence must be assessed for :
- Its applicability to the situation
- Service user
- Clinical decision
What are the 5 steps of Evidence Based Medicine
1) convert the need for information into a relevant answerable question
2) find the best evidence to answer the question
3) appraise the evidence for its validity and usefulness
4) apply the evidence to clinical practice
5) evaluation and disseminate
What is the hierarchy of scientific evidences ?
From weakest to strongest :
- case reports, opinion papers and letters
- animal trials and in vitro studies
- cross sectional studies
- case control studies
- cohort studies
- randomized controlled trials
- meta analysis and systematic reviews
What is efficacy ?
Extend to which intervention produces beneficial outcomes under ideally controlled/laboratory circonstances.
-> can it work ?
What is efficiency ?
Extend to which the balance between input (costs) and outputs (outcomes) on interventions represents value for money.
What is effectiveness ?
Extend to which an intervention produces a beneficial outcome under day to day circumstances.
-> does it work ?
What is experience ?
What is the experience of people receiving/delivering the intervention /living with a certain condition/situation. Perspectives
Describe the development of trials of complex interventions
- Theory, explore theory, what questions should be asked ?
- Modeling, underlying mechanisms, components of the intervention and interaction between them
- Exploratory trial, intervention protocol, describe the components and develop a feasible protocol to test them
- Definitive RCT, test intervention, rigorously compare the fully defined intervention against another
- Repeatable long term, reliability, can others replicate your study and come up with the same results
Define internal validity
A study or measure tests what it is supposed to test
