Research Problem Flashcards
What is the general research process? (8 steps)
- Problem identification
- Literature review
- Formulation of research aims, objectives, questions and hypotheses
- Methodology development
- Data collection
- Data analysis
- Report generation
- Findings dissemination
What are the steps in problem identification?
- Identify general and sub-areas of interest
- Develop and refine research problem
- Generate problem
statement - Formulate aims and objectives, questions, and
hypotheses
What are the sources of research problems?
Clinical experience
Existing literature
Specific interest
Personal experience
Theories
Social issues
Folklore
Expert opinions
What are the aspects of a research problem?
- People – Individuals, groups,
communities, organizations
(e.g. Patients with obesity) - Problem – Unmet needs,
contradictions, unclear
relationships, troubling
situation
(e.g. Difficulties controlling
dietary behaviours) - Programme – content,
structure, mode of delivery
(e.g. Behaviour change programs) - Phenomenon – causal effect,
associations, perceptions
(e.g. effectiveness of the behaviour change program on improving diet control)
What are some considerations (of a research problem) according to literature review and other existing information?
Interest
Supported by literature
- Do others share similar prioritisation of the
problem?
- How much has this topic been explored? Any
gaps?
Significant
- What is so important about solving the problem?
Novel
- Original and unique, assesses a knowledge gap?
Timely
- Is it a hot topic now that is currently a need in the field?
Magnitude of the problem
- What is the prevalence or severity of the problem?
Feasibility
- Experience/available knowledge
- Data availability (e.g. access to population, size of accessibility)
- Ethical issues
What is a problem statement?
A clear and concise explanation of issue/challenge that you are targeting (to allow readers to quickly understand your intent).
Components of a problem statement
- Background/context
- identify problem and what is the ideal scenario without the problem?
- What has been done to solve the problem and what are
the shortcomings? - Significance
- How does the problem hinder ideal scenario?
- Problem’s negative impact(s)?
- Who will be most affected by solving the problem?
- What is the consequence of not solving the problem?
- What is the knowledge gap
that will be addressed? - Solution
- Realistic aim and objectives, how will the study contribute to the solution of the problem?
How to formulate aims
Aim: Should be broad, general, long-term
e.g. To develop and implement a novel behaviour change programme that improves weight loss among people with obesity
How to set an objective
Objectives: Should be specific, focused, short-term, measurable
E.g. To test the effectiveness of a novel behaviour change program in improving
weight loss among people with obesity
How to formulate research question
rephrase objectives to focus on variables (PICO/PICo)
E.g. Research question: What is the effectiveness of a novel behaviour change
program in improving weight loss among people with obesity?
How to formulate research hypotheses (if applicable)
E.g. Hypothesis: Patients receiving the novel behaviour change program will have a
higher amount of weight loss as compared to those who do not
Research verbs to use in aims and objective to “UNDERSTAND”
Review
Identify
Explore
Discover
Discuss
Summarize
Describe
Research verbs to use in aims and objective to “APPLY”
Interpret
Apply
Demonstrate
Establish
Determine
Estimate
Calculate
Relate
Research verbs to use in aims and objective to “ANALYSE”
Analyse
Compare
Inspect
Examine
Verify
Select
Arrange
Research verbs to use in aims and objective to “SYNTHESISE”
Propose
Design
Formulate
Collect
Construct
Prepare
Undertake
Assemble
Research verbs to use in aims and objective to “EVALUATE”
Appraise
Evaluate
Compare
Assess
Recommend
Conclude
Select
TesT
Types of Qualitative study designs
- Descriptive
- Phenomenological
- Ethnographical
- Grounded theory
- Participatory action research (PAR)
Types of quantitative study designs
- Experimental (hypothesis testing)
- Randomised controlled trials
- Quasi-experimental trials - Non-experimental (descriptive, correlational)
- Cross-sectional
- Cohort
- Case-control
Example of descriptive qualitative/quantitative study research aims
To explore the experience of
dealing with post-surgical
changes in patients after
bariatric surgery
To examine the level of
academic stress among
nursing year 3 undergraduate
students.
Examples of Descriptive correlational studies aims
To examine the relationship
between self-efficacy and
self-care proficiency among
patients with heart failure.
To examine the association
between hospital length of
stay, disease severity, anxiety
and depression among
patients with chronic kidney
disease
Examples of experimental studies aims
To examine the effectiveness
of a mindfulness-based stress
reduction (MBSR) program on
improving health-related
quality of life (HR-QOL)
among breast cancer
survivors.
To examine the effectiveness
of the Screen for Life program
on improving diabetes
screening rates in Singapore.
Types of research questions
Effectiveness of intervention/therapy/program
Accuracy of diagnosis/ assessment/evaluation
Etiology/causation
Prognosis/long-term effects of condition
Meaning
How to use PICO to craft quantitative RQ
P: Population/problem (characteristics of target group of people)
e.g. Nurses
I: Intervention/exposure
(what do you want to do to the people?)
e.g. Knowledge, attitude and practice of malnutrition care among inpatients
C: Comparison
(not applicable for qualitative studies)
O: Outcome
(what is being measured to indicate effect of intervention/exposure?)
e.g. Prevention of malnutrition among hospitalised patients
Research aim: To examine the knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses in malnutrition prevention among inpatients.
RQ: What is the knowledge, attitude, and practice of nurses towards malnutrition prevention for hospitalised patients?
How to use PICo to craft qualitative RQ
P: Population/problem
e.g. Patients with Type 2 diabetes
I: Interest
(phenomenon of interest, such as experience, behaviour, event)
e.g. Experience with diet restriction
C: Context
(what is the setting?)
e.g. To improve blood glucose control
RQ: What is the experience of patients with Type2 diabetes on diet restriction to improve blood glucose control?
What is a research hypothesis?
A statement that predicts relationship between two or more variables in a specific population.
- Between independent variable(s) (influencing factor[s]) and dependent
variable (outcome) - Provides a testable, measurable explanation/prediction of a
research question - Written in present tense, concise and clear
- Only for quantitative research designs
What is a null hypothesis
Null hypothesis: no significant relationship between
independent and dependent variables, no difference between groups
What are the 3 types of research hypothesis?
- Hypothesis of point-prevalence
e.g. The behaviour change program significantly improve weight loss among patients with obesity by 5%. - Hypothesis of difference
e.g. There is significant difference in weight loss
among patients who receive the behaviour change program (intervention group) as compared to those who do not (control group) - Hypothesis of association
e.g. There is significant relationship between
self-efficacy and dietary control among patients with obesity.
Steps for hypothesis testing
- State null hypothesis
* H0: μ = m0 (which means no effect, no relationship, no difference between true
and observed mean) - State alternative hypothesis(es)
* H1: μ ≠ m0 (two-tailed: there is difference between true and observed mean)
* H2: μ > m0 (upper-tailed: true mean > observed mean)
* H3: μ < m0 (lower-tailed: true mean < observed mean) - Set significance level (α)
* Normally 0.05, which means that there is 5% chance that you will reject your H0 when H0 is true - Collect data
- Calculate statistics including p-value (probability of observing a sample statistic by
chance, given that H 0 is true)
* E.g. if p-value=0.03, it means that 3 out of 100 times of your sample observation occurs by chance, given that H0 is
true (meaning that it is unlikely that your observation occurred by chance)
* If p-value=0.90, it means that 90 out of 100 times of your sample observation occurs by chance, given that H0 is true
(meaning that it is very likely that your observation occurred by chance) - Interpret results
Types of errors in hypothesis testing
Type 1 error: False positive
- You reject the null hypothesis when it is actually true.
- You think there is an effect or difference when there actually isn’t.
Type 2 error: False negative
- You fail to reject the null hypothesis (when it is actually false)
- You think there is no effect or difference when there actually is.
What are research paradigms?
“the set of common beliefs and agreements shared between scientists about how problems should be understood and addressed” (Kuhn, 1962)
Guides how problems are solved – a key facet of any research project.
