Understanding Research

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UnderstandingResearch

• Grace Thacker
• Pharm. D candidate, May 2009
• gthacker_at_xula.edu

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What is research?

• Research is a systematic,
• organized way of finding
• answers to questions.

http//linguistics.byu.edu/faculty/henrichsenl/res
earchmethods/RM_1_01.html
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What is research?

• Systematic
• Set of procedures
• Follows certain steps
• Organized
• Planned ahead of time
• Allows the researcher to keep records of data
• Allows the researcher to control for variables
  that could affect the results

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This guys research was not systematic or
organized.
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What is research?

• Answers
• The purpose of research
• The way answers are found must be examined
• Null hypothesis
• No difference
• Research hypothesis
• There is a difference

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Which is a research hypothesis?

• I. There is no difference in symptom relief
  comparing cimetidine to ranitidine.
• II. OTC generic Zyrtec (cetirizine) doesn't
  improve allergy symptoms as well as Rx Zyrtec
  does.
• III. Administration of large volumes of fluid to
  sepsis patients improves survival.
• a. I only
• b. III only
• c. I II
• d. II III
• e. I, II,  III 

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What is research?

• Questions
• Central to research
• The research problem
• Purpose
• Generate more research
• Test theories
• Apply them to real life

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Types of research

• Qualitative
• Based on observation
• Surveys, discussions, audio-recording
• Subjective
• Small sample sizes
• Gain insight in one particular area
• Applicability
• Foundation for further research
• Understand one group better

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Types of research

• Quantitative
• Based on numerical data
• Objective measures
• Large sample sizes
• Generalizeable
• Applicability
• Make discoveries
• Prove things
• Apply to a population

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Qualitative vs. Quantitative

• Qualitative
• Use to generate ideas for more research
• Use to understand perspectives
• Use to obtain a description
• BUT
• Cannot be generalized to a population.

• Quantitative
• Use to obtain measurements
• Use to find casual explanations
• Use to make predictions
• BUT
• Requires time, lots of money, and impeccable
  statistical methods.

http//uk.geocities.com/balihar_sanghera/ipsrmehri
giulqualitativequantitativeresearch.html
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KEYWORDS
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Qualitative or Quantitative?

• Select A for Qualitative and B for Quantitative
• 1. 700 people with newly-diagnosed diabetes are
  divided into two groups. One is given
  metformin 500 mg BID for three months the other
  group receives a strict diet and exercise
  program. At the end of three months their HgA1C
  this tests long-term glucose control is
  measured and the groups' mean scores are
  compared. It is found that the average HgA1C was
  1.2 points lower in the metformin group.

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Qualitative or Quantitative?

• Select A for Qualitative and B for Quantitative
• 2. After failing first-line therapy for their
  disease, 17 patients from a cancer center in
  Oregon were given a questionnaire asking how they
  coped with the news. The coping methods were
  divided into three basic groups Relying on
  family, using recreation or work as a
  distraction, and prayer. The majority of patients
  relied on their family during this time.

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Qualitative or Quantitative?

• Select A for Qualitative and B for Quantitative
• 3. A new teaching tool using remotes for in-class
  question and answer is being tested at Xavier
  University College of Pharmacy. One month after
  introduction, students were polled and asked to
  rate the new system for effectiveness on a scale
  of 1 to 5.

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The importance of research

• Why is research
• important and
• when will we
• use research?

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The importance of research

• Journal club
• Verifying information
• New information/drugs
• Presentations
• Treatment decisions
• Policies, procedures, guidelines

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The importance of research
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The importance of research

• QUICK POLL
• Who has done any of those things we just
  discussed in the past year?
• (A for yes, B for no)

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The importance of research

• QUICK POLL
• Who thinks you will do any of those things we
  just discussed in the NEXT year?
• (A for yes, B for no)

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Parts of a research study

• Title, authors, publication
• Abstract
• Introduction / background
• Research problem
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusion
• Discussion
• References

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Title, authors, publication

• Who wrote it
• What it is about
• Who published it

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Title, authors, publication

• Does this title tell us what this research is
  about?
• Investigating Bactrim for infection
• This title leaves us with a lot of questions.
• What kind of infections?
• How are we investigating?
• What did you find? Did people get well or drop
  dead?!

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Title, authors, publication

• Is this title biased?
• Propofol is superior to etomidate in reducing
  post-operative nausea and vomiting
• What do you think?
• Oreos, by improving mood, prevent suicide
• This title leaves us with a lot of doubt.
• Seriously?

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Abstract

• Concise summary
• Single paragraph
• Should include major parts of the research study
• Rationale
• Research problem
• Pertinent data
• Important conclusions

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Introduction / Background

• Rationale behind the research
• Allows reader to understand objectives
• Contains references to current knowledge or
  treatments
• May mention prior research on the same subject

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Introduction / Background

• What can you tell from this background?
• Many staph infections are now resistant to
  Vancomycin, so some infections can be lethal
  because there is no treatment. We are testing a
  new antibiotic for staph infections.
• Why are we doing research?
• What is the current treatment?
• What is our research problem?

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Research problem

• The question the research is trying to answer
• Interesting (real) research problems
• Does listening to country music increase
  metropolitan suicide rates?
• How much rectal pressure is necessary for
  penguins to expel feces a distance of 40 cm?
• Is the ultrasonic velocity of cheddar cheese
  temperature dependent?
• What is the overall rate of loss of workplace
  teaspoons and are attrition and displacement
  correlated with the relative value of the
  teaspoons or type of tearoom?

http//www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/331/7531/1498
http//www.oddee.com/item_90683.aspx
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Methods

• Documentation of what was done
• Clear and concise
• Another researcher should be able to
• Understand what was done
• Judge the quality of the study
• Duplicate what was done

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Methods

• Reliability
• Is the study reproducible?
• Validity
• Does the study measure what it is supposed to
  measure?

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Methods

• Is this study valid?
• Weight loss in women on the Atkins Diet
• We looked at participants dress sizes before
  they started the diet, then we let them buy a new
  dress after being on the diet for a month and
  looked at that size.

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Methods

• Statistical analysis
• a-level Usually set to 0.05 or 0.01
• Power Indicates sensitivity. Used to determine
  sample size.
• Confidence Interval Often 95 indicates that
  population mean is within the interval determined
  by the sample mean 95 of the time.
• P-value the smaller the p value, the less likely
  differences between groups is due to chance.
  Often considered significant if lt 0.01.

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Methods

• Ethical considerations
• Balance between ethical design and design that
  allows us to gain knowledge
• KNOWLEDGE
• gt
• RISK

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Methods

• Refer to your handout
• HYPOTHETICAL - The Pregnancy Effect on Alcoholism
  Study
• Rank this study on a scale of 1 through 5
• 1 very ethical
• 5 very unethical

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Methods

• HYPOTHETICAL - The Pregnancy Effect on Alcoholism
  Study
• Refer to discussion
• Rank this study on a scale of 1 through 5
• 1 very ethical
• 5 very unethical

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Methods

• Ethics
• Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Animal rights
• Informed Consent
• Use of deception

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What part of the research study?

• Heart failure is an increasingly common
  diagnosis in the elderly population. Twenty
  percent of elderly people with heart failure
  neglect to take their medications correctly. A
  previous trial suggested that one reason for this
  may be the complicated drug regimens that elderly
  patients find difficult to remember. Other
  reasons experts have considered include high cost
  of therapy and side effects of therapy.
• Abstract
• Background
• Research Problem
• Results

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Results

• Present findings
• Numerical data and results of statistical tests
• May contain
• Graphs
• Tables
• Images

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Results

• Check out those graphs! Whats missing?

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Conclusion

• Results are
• Compiled
• Calculated
• Explained
• No new information
• May be placed after the discussion section

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Discussion

• Authors interpretation of results and
  conclusions
• Applicability of results
• Subjective information
• Author bias

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Discussion

• Select the discussion with author bias
• A. Tigecycline is effective in eradicating gram
  positive pathogens.
• B. Tigecycline should be the drug of choice in
  all gram positive infections.
• C. Tigecycline is more effective than vancomycin
  in gram positive infections.

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Whats the difference?

• Results 400 people were tested. 300 lost
  weight.
• Conclusion 75 of the participants lost weight.
  The mean weight loss was 9 pounds (95 CI).
  Therefore, we conclude that daily exercise
  resulted in weight loss for the majority of
  participants.
• Discussion Most of our patients were already
  dieting, so adding exercise to diet can increase
  weight loss.

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References

• List of references the authors used
• Source of prior research on the topic
• Excellent tool for gaining background information

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Research Recap!

• Research is a systematic, organized way of
  finding answers to questions.
• Research is a the ultimate source for all the
  information you will learn as a pharmacy student
  and use as a pharmacist
• Published research contains an abstract,
  introduction, research problem, methods, results,
  conclusion, discussion, references
• Great pharmacists know the importance of - can
  evaluate - each section of a research study

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Wish Id known

• Start putting a resume or cv together now.
• Save all your notes. Organize them.
• Pay attention in every class because everything
  in pharmacy builds on other classes!
• Make exercise a part of every day, even if you
  have too much to study or a test. Youll feel
  better and focus better.
• Dont work every day during finals.

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Assessment and survey

• Log onto blackboard
• Take the assessment titled Principles of
  Research lecture assessment. Show us what you
  learned!
• Then take the survey titled Principles of
  Research survey. Tell me how I can improve the
  way I teach!
• THANK YOU for letting me teach you today!!!