Research Techniques for the Health Sciences Book

Preface xiii

Chapter 1 What Is Research? 1

Health Science Research 1

Using Science in the Quest for Knowledge 2

Summary 10

Critical Thinking Questions 11

Suggested Activities 12

References 13

Chapter 2 Developing the Research Proposal 14

Selection of the Problem 14

Sources of Problems 15

Statement of the Problem and Research Questions 17

Subproblems 18

Components Comprising the Setting of the Problem 19

Formulation of Hypotheses 20

Significance and Justification of the Problem 21

Resume of Related Literature 22

Proposed Research Procedures 23

Budget Considerations 23

Time Schedule 23

Research Proposal Checklist 24

Summary 26

Critical Thinking Questions 26

Suggested Activities 27

References 27

Chapter 3 Critical Review of the Literature and Information Sources 29

Purposes of the Review 29

Steps in the Review Process 31

Conducting a Computer Search: Finding the Evidence 35

Determining the Level of Evidence 37

Finding Shortcuts to Determining the Level of Evidence 45

Writing the Section on Related Literature 45

Summary 47

Critical Thinking Questions 47

Suggested Activities 48

References 48

Chapter 4 Considering Ethics in Research 50

Case Study 50

General Ethical Dilemmas in Human Research 51

Justification to Experiment on Humans 54

Vulnerable Target Groups: Children 55

Vulnerable Target Groups: Elderly 57

Informed Consent: Truthtelling and Deception 58

Right to Privacy and Confidentiality 60

Responsibility for Harmful Consequences 62

The Duty to Continue a Successful Research Effort 63

Therapeutic and Nontherapeutic Research 64

Sponsored Research 64

Publication of UnethicalResearch 65

Research or Just a Look-See? 65

Role of the Institutional Review Board 66

Case Discussion 70

Summary 70

Critical Thinking Questions 71

Suggested Activities 72

References 72

Chapter 5 Conducting Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research 74

Case Study A 74

Case Study B 74

Characteristics of Experimentation 75

Control in Experiments 76

The Hawthorne Effect in Controlling Situations 77

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Experimental Method 78

Internal and External Validity 78

Constructing Experimental Designs to Control Variables 84

The Randomized Controlled Trial: Clinical Trials 88

Case Discussion for Case Study A 94

Case Discussion for Case Study B 95

Summary 95

Critical Thinking Questions 96

Suggested Activities 96

References 97

Chapter 6 Data Collection Through Surveys and Self-Reports 99

Case Study 99

Characteristics of Survey Research 99

Survey Flow Plan 100

Survey Design 103

Data Collection Methods 104

Survey Sampling 111

Questionnaire Design and Construction 112

Attitude Scale Construction 117

Cover Letter 122

Pretesting and Questionnaire Revision 122

Focus Groups 124

The Delphi Technique 124

Case Discussion 126

Summary 127

Critical Thinking Questions 128

Suggested Activities 128

References 129

Chapter 7 Sampling Designs and Techniques 133

Case Study 133

The Purpose of Sampling 134

The Sampling Frame 134

Sampling Techniques 135

Sample Size 141

Sample Size for Studies with Hypothesis: Analytical Studies 142

Sample Size for Studies Without Hypotheses: Surveys and Descriptive Studies 143

Case Discussion 149

Summary 150

Critical Thinking Questions 151

Suggested Activities 151

References 152

Chapter 8 Qualitative Research 153

Case Study 153

Characteristics of Qualitative Research 153

Theoretical Foundations 157

Methods of Qualitative Research 158

Techniques of Collecting Qualitative Data 170

Analyzing Qualitative Data 176

Using Computers in Data Analysis 178

Case Discussion 179

Summary 179

Critical Thinking Questions 180

Suggested Activities 180

References 181

Chapter 9 Evaluation Research 182

Case Study 182

Introduction 182

Purposes of Evaluation Research 183

What Can Be Evaluated? 184

Steps in Conducting Evaluation 184

Evaluation Models 188

Types of Evaluation Research 197

Methodological Approaches in Evaluation Research 204

Case Discussion 210

Summary 210

Critical Thinking Questions 211

Suggested Activities 212

References 212

Chapter 10 Analytical Epidemiologic Studies 214

Case Study A 214

Case Study B 214

The Nature of Epidemiology 215

Analytical Methodologies in Epidemiology 215

Cohort Investigations 217

Case-Control Studies 218

Establishing Causation 220

Problems of Error 220

Control in Epidemiological Research 222

Analysis of Results in Analytic Epidemiology 224

Case Discussion of Case Study A 232

Case Discussion of Case Study B 232

Summary 233

Critical Thinking Questions 234

Suggested Activities 234

References 235

Chapter 11 Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Descriptive Analysis 237

Case Study 237

The Meaning of Statistics 238

Statistical Analysis and Data 238

Descriptive Data Analysis Techniques 240

Personal Computers and Information Delivery Systems 250

Case Discussion 252

Summary 253

Critical Thinking Questions 253

Suggested Activities 253

References 255

Chapter 12 Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Inferential Analysis 256

Case Study A 256

Case Study B 257

Inferential Analysis 257

Estimation of Parameters 258

Hypotheses Testing 259

Inferential Data Analysis Techniques for Comparing Mean Scores 263

Measures of Relationship and Predictions 268

Nonparametric Tests of Significance 269

Meta-Analysis 271

Case Discussion of Case Study A 273

Case Discussion of Case Study B 273

Summary 273

Critical Thinking Questions 274

Suggested Activities 274

References 275

Chapter 13 Techniques for Data Presentation 276

Case Study 276

Table Presentations 276

Table Format 281

Figure Presentations 286

Graphics and the Computer 293

Case Discussion 293

Summary 293

Critical Thinking Questions 294

Suggested Activities 294

References 294

Chapter 14 Writing a Research Report 295

The Report as a Communication Document 295

Preliminaries 296

Text or Main Body of the Report 299

References 306

Appendixes 307

Writing Style 307

Summary 308

Critical Thinking Questions 309

Suggested Activities 309

References 309

Appendix A Common Statistical Procedures 311

Appendix B World Wide Web Research 314

Name Index 317

Subject Index 321