Research: A brief introduction

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Research A brief introduction

• Dr Peter Orpin
• UDRH Coordinator
• Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and
  Development (PHCRED) Program

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• THE PRIMARY HEALTH CARE RESEARCH, EVALUATION AND
  DEVELOPMENT (PHCRED) PROGRAM

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PHCRED PROGRAM

• Funded Department of Health and Ageing
• Aims
• To increase the pool of primary health care
  researchers
• To increase the amount of high quality, policy
  relevant primary health care research
• To disseminate and facilitate the uptake of
  evidence into PHC practice.

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PHCRED Tasmania

• Fund-holders University Department of Rural
  Health and Menzies Research Institute
• Program
• Research workshops and training
• Mentoring
• Scholarships and bursaries
• Annual Tasmanian PHC Research Symposium
• Contact and Detailed Program
• http//www.phcred.utas.edu.au/

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The Anatomy of a Research Project

• The Puzzle
• The Purpose
• THE QUESTION
• THE SAMPLE
• The Methodology
• Ethics
• Data Collection
• Data Management
• Analysis
• Reporting/Dissemination

Methodological Theory
Informed by THE LITERATURE
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THEORY/ THEORIES
DEDUCT I ON
INDUCTION
Existing Knowledge - The Literature
EMPIRICAL GENERALISATIONS
HYPOTHESES/ QUESTIONS
Analysis and Reflection
Curiosity puzzles and gaps
OBSERVATIONS/ EMPIRICAL MEASURES
The Wheel of Science (Adapted from Babbie 1992)
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WHAT IS YOUR PUZZLE?

• All research starts with a puzzle, an unknown,
  and is driven by curiosity the desire to
  understand
• Dont confuse the research puzzle and the
  research question much of the hard work of
  research design lies in the journey from the
  former to the latter.

WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?

• The reason for doing the research what are you
  hoping to achieve with the results determines
  the the sort of data you will need, which in
  turn determines the most appropriate research
  method

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THE RESEARCH QUESTION

• Most crucial determinant of what follows get it
  right and the rest falls into place
• Can you find appropriate measures to answer it?
• Is it answerable with the resources available to
  you?
• Time?
• Money?
• Skills?
• Accessible sample?
• Will it provide the sort of information you need
  to do what you want to do?

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THE SAMPLE

• You will almost always want to say something
  about a wider population by researching a small
  sample (called generalizability)
• Can you access the sample you need?
• One that is representative of the population you
  are interested in?
• That is big enough to support any statistics you
  want to use
• That can provide the information (data) that you
  need?
• That doesnt pose ethical issues
• Will cooperate
• You can access with the resources you have?

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ETHICS

• When in doubt
• DO!
• Going through the process makes you ask the right
  questions of your research process
• Lack of ethics clearance
• Increases your legal risk
• Decreases your publication opportunities

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Methodology

• Flows from
• The research purpose
• The research question(s)
• Available Resources
• Options
• Quantitative
• Qualitative
• Mixed Method

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QUANTITATIVE

• Counting numbers to reveal patterns
• Allow for statistical expression of results
  generally largish numbers
• In most situation, simple descriptive statistics
  (frequencies, means, cross-tabulations) will
  answer most questions
• Inferential statistical issues such as
  significance and power only apply when you want
  to generalise from a sample to a population.
• Well documented approaches to ensuring validity
  and reliability

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Quantitative (cont.)

• Two forms
• Experimental tightly controlled conditions
• Observational count things in the real world
• Gold Standard double blind randomised
  controlled trial.
• For detailed guide see National Health and
  Medical Research Council. How to use the
  evidence assessment and application of
  scientific evidence. Canberra National Health
  and Medical Research Council 2000.

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QUANTITATIVE

• Rich in-depth data to explore meaning, values,
  experiences, understandings, attitudes.
• Smaller sample numbers
• Analysis in terms of themes and categories
• Not suitable for statistics exploratory and
  explanatory
• Methodologies
• Interviews in-depth personal
• Focus groups - interaction
• Participant observation
• Textual analysis

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MIXED METHOD

• Quantitative to reveal the pattern the what
• Qualitative to explore the how and why

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Collecting Managing and Analysing the data

• System
• Rigour
• Safeguard confidentiality
• Lots of free software on the Web for both
  statistical and qualitative analysis

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Reporting/Dissemination

• If it isnt published is wasnt done
• Identify your audience before you start
• Joint authorship a quid pro quo for the help you
  need