l202 research methods in health
Lecture 1
- Research definition: a process which aims to describe phenomena and to develop
explanatory concepts and theories/ it contributes to a body of knowledge.
Research is conducted systematically, it is rigorous,precise,reproducible and
independent.
- Why is it important that research is robust? To have confidence/scientific
certainty in the findings of the phenomenon studied
- Robust means strong
- Rigour and robustness in research go hand and hand.
- Replicability, applicability,validity,reliability,reducing biases etc(criteria
depending on the methodology approach) are related to the robustness of a
piece of research
- Types of research---> research can be basic or applied
- Basic (LABORATORY) -> in a control environment
- In Between basic and applied (BEDSIDE)-> clinical research,important medical
research because it involves patients
- The problem with this continuum is that it doesn consider the multidisciplinary
approach in resolving a research problem
- LABORATORY→ GENETICS, CELL BIOLOGY e.g developing covid vaccine
- BEDSIDE→ CLINICAL e.g what are the treatments for covid 19
- POPULATION→ SOCIAL e.g who will be the population who receives the vaccine
first
,- There is a multidisciplinary approach to do with a population health issue
- Multidisciplinary approach in RESEARCH: it is when a combination of fields and
methods working independently on a common problem or research question
- Not looking only at the person but their environment
- Why is research important? why do we bother doing research?
- There is so much health information everywhere
- Research in health is growing increasingly popular, but some facts presented now
has a reasonable chance of being wrong e.g a man who published a research
suggesting a link between autism and the mmr vaccine therefore resulting in
parents not letting their children get vaccinated, therefore they will be
vulnerable to measles,mumps and rubella.
- For some people research is important because they want to advance
professional training and research skills, these skills will be useful in any path
you do
- Why do we need sound knowledge and research methods?
- To evaluate the evidence
- To absorb new info but critical enough to doubt ‘novel’ findings
- Deliver contemporary clinical practice
- Equipped to find a new answer when it becomes possible
- Objectively if treatments don’t work then people don't get better, we don't
identify what will for them and others miss out on treatments that do work. We
also end up poorer,sicker and often less equitable as a country by paying for
things that don’t work.
,- Subjectively, those who see reality in a different way from those in power can
be overlooked. Socially constructed assumptions of illness, being a patient,
motivation etc are accepted uncritically. The health system ignores things of
value to people and we ignore the range of views & understanding about issues.
- What's the alternative?
- Critically-engaged with stakeholders including health professionals
- A research oriented culture where people carry on looking for answers
- hopefully , a more efficient and more equitable (although probably not cheaper)
health system
- How do we achieve this goal?
- Clinical research-> because it invovles patients
- Health services research (HSR)
- A multidisciplinary scientific field
- Within HSR appropriate research methods might then allow knowledge to be
gathered about health and its determinants and also support and enhance the
performance of health services (and heath system systems more generally)
- Steps in a research proccess
, -
- When identifying the problems, think about what has not been identified
- ethics -> robust and appropriate
- When sampling techniques need to know your target population
- This research process is not always circular and linear it can also overlap and can
work interchangeably
- Research can also be a social activity
-because each stage of doing research involves people undertaking actions
within a community
- critically-engages generators and users of research including health
professionals
- case:scurvy involves research process
Lecture 2
- Research is a journey to discover a truth, like whether a particular intervention
is useful. In order to follow our journey we need a map, which shows us where we
are heading,the route we are taking and how to follow the route
- This map can be compared to a recipe map, we need that map to guide us through
unfamiliar territory to get us where we want. We need to adopt our map,but
sometimes also need to adapt it to things and be adept/competent
Lecture 1
- Research definition: a process which aims to describe phenomena and to develop
explanatory concepts and theories/ it contributes to a body of knowledge.
Research is conducted systematically, it is rigorous,precise,reproducible and
independent.
- Why is it important that research is robust? To have confidence/scientific
certainty in the findings of the phenomenon studied
- Robust means strong
- Rigour and robustness in research go hand and hand.
- Replicability, applicability,validity,reliability,reducing biases etc(criteria
depending on the methodology approach) are related to the robustness of a
piece of research
- Types of research---> research can be basic or applied
- Basic (LABORATORY) -> in a control environment
- In Between basic and applied (BEDSIDE)-> clinical research,important medical
research because it involves patients
- The problem with this continuum is that it doesn consider the multidisciplinary
approach in resolving a research problem
- LABORATORY→ GENETICS, CELL BIOLOGY e.g developing covid vaccine
- BEDSIDE→ CLINICAL e.g what are the treatments for covid 19
- POPULATION→ SOCIAL e.g who will be the population who receives the vaccine
first
,- There is a multidisciplinary approach to do with a population health issue
- Multidisciplinary approach in RESEARCH: it is when a combination of fields and
methods working independently on a common problem or research question
- Not looking only at the person but their environment
- Why is research important? why do we bother doing research?
- There is so much health information everywhere
- Research in health is growing increasingly popular, but some facts presented now
has a reasonable chance of being wrong e.g a man who published a research
suggesting a link between autism and the mmr vaccine therefore resulting in
parents not letting their children get vaccinated, therefore they will be
vulnerable to measles,mumps and rubella.
- For some people research is important because they want to advance
professional training and research skills, these skills will be useful in any path
you do
- Why do we need sound knowledge and research methods?
- To evaluate the evidence
- To absorb new info but critical enough to doubt ‘novel’ findings
- Deliver contemporary clinical practice
- Equipped to find a new answer when it becomes possible
- Objectively if treatments don’t work then people don't get better, we don't
identify what will for them and others miss out on treatments that do work. We
also end up poorer,sicker and often less equitable as a country by paying for
things that don’t work.
,- Subjectively, those who see reality in a different way from those in power can
be overlooked. Socially constructed assumptions of illness, being a patient,
motivation etc are accepted uncritically. The health system ignores things of
value to people and we ignore the range of views & understanding about issues.
- What's the alternative?
- Critically-engaged with stakeholders including health professionals
- A research oriented culture where people carry on looking for answers
- hopefully , a more efficient and more equitable (although probably not cheaper)
health system
- How do we achieve this goal?
- Clinical research-> because it invovles patients
- Health services research (HSR)
- A multidisciplinary scientific field
- Within HSR appropriate research methods might then allow knowledge to be
gathered about health and its determinants and also support and enhance the
performance of health services (and heath system systems more generally)
- Steps in a research proccess
, -
- When identifying the problems, think about what has not been identified
- ethics -> robust and appropriate
- When sampling techniques need to know your target population
- This research process is not always circular and linear it can also overlap and can
work interchangeably
- Research can also be a social activity
-because each stage of doing research involves people undertaking actions
within a community
- critically-engages generators and users of research including health
professionals
- case:scurvy involves research process
Lecture 2
- Research is a journey to discover a truth, like whether a particular intervention
is useful. In order to follow our journey we need a map, which shows us where we
are heading,the route we are taking and how to follow the route
- This map can be compared to a recipe map, we need that map to guide us through
unfamiliar territory to get us where we want. We need to adopt our map,but
sometimes also need to adapt it to things and be adept/competent
