Overview of Research & Interdisciplinary Research

Systematic Investigation, Increase Knowledge

RESEARCH IS keywords

RESEARCH (Bailey, 1997)

Systematic investigation of a problem, issue or question, Any undertaking to increase knowledge

RESEARCH (Stein and Cutler, 2000)

Rigorous, systematic inquiry or investigation to validate, refine or generate new knowledge

RESEARCH (Stein and Cutler, 2000)

Systematic and objective investigation, as usually carried out by identifying a problem, stating a hypothesis or guiding question, and collecting data

RESEARCH (DePoy and Gitlin, 1998)

Systematic way of thinking and knowing that requires multiple strategies to generate knowledge about human behavior, experience and environments

Theoretical

Research is meant to be: developing, exploring, or testing the theories or ideas on how the world operates

Empirical

Research is meant to be: based on observations and measurements of reality

Critical

Research is meant to be: documented & examined for validity and trustworthiness

Dynamic and creative

Research is meant to be: many different settings & use a variety of measurement tools

Systematic

CONSIDER IT GOOD RESEARCH IF IT IS: requires careful preparation, planning, organization, and critical evaluation

Logical

CONSIDER IT GOOD RESEARCH IF IT IS: thought and all processes are clear, rational, conformed to the accepted norms of inductive (moving from a specific case to a broader topic) or deductive reasoning (moving from a general principle to a more specific case)

Understandable

CONSIDER IT GOOD RESEARCH IF IT IS: make sense to readers; it should be precise, intelligible, and also credible to the consumers

understood

if the research cannot be \____, it cannot be used, confirmed, or replicated

Confirmable

CONSIDER IT GOOD RESEARCH IF IT IS: aka replicable; researchers need to clearly identify all strategies used in the study, letting the reader know so that they can follow the path of data collection, implementation, and analysis, hopefully to find similar data and conclusions

Useful

CONSIDER IT GOOD RESEARCH IF IT IS: inform and improve professional practice and client outcome, it adds to the knowledge of what we already know or don't know

Subjective criterion

based on researcher's judgment on the value of the research

Develop knowledge base that maximizes effectiveness of practice

PURPOSE (WHY DO RESEARCH?): For the profession: Provides evidence that our practices are safe & effective

Research-based theoretical knowledge

PURPOSE (WHY DO RESEARCH?): For the profession: Grounds us as professionals; theories and principles are tested & evaluated so that we know that what we do has good scientific basis

Generate foundational knowledge about processes and outcomes

PURPOSE (WHY DO RESEARCH?): For the profession: Helps us understand our daily practice

To provide interventions that work or be benefit to our clients, Improved methods of practice

PURPOSE (WHY DO RESEARCH?): For our clients

Lifelong learning, Achievement, To leave a "mark" or legacy

PURPOSE (WHY DO RESEARCH?): Personal reasons

Consumer (readers)

ROLE OF THE OT, PT, OR SP IN RESEARCH: Read research and use findings to guide practice, Identify practice knowledge gaps, complete/ present & publish critical appraisals

Advocate

ROLE OF THE OT, PT, OR SP IN RESEARCH: Serve in professional organizations that fund/ support research, Lobby policymakers & legislators, Ask employers for resources, Donate money : Fund research endeavors, encourage/ support colleagues involved in research, Comment on research priorities or goals

Producer

ROLE OF THE OT, PT, OR SP IN RESEARCH: Identify original research questions/ design/ methods, Secure funding, Oversee implementation (from recruitment, to data collection, to analysis & writing the manuscript), Work with statistical consultants, collaborators, Prepare research reports & present

Collaborator

ROLE OF THE OT, PT, OR SP IN RESEARCH: Refer and screen potential subjects/ participants, Collect data , Help negotiate politics & administrative processes, Help planning, honing, refining, and identify research questions and interpret results, Work with other researchers who don't have the same discipline as you

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

Collaboration of researchers from various disciplines to solve a common problem, Draw on the perspectives of the other disciplines & integrate their insights to create a more comprehensive and holistic picture or perspective

Interdisciplinary research

is any study or group of studies undertaken by scholars from two or more distinct scientific disciplines. The research is based upon a conceptual model that links or integrates theoretical frameworks from those disciplines, uses study design and methodology that is not limited to any one field, and requires the use of perspectives and skills of the involved disciplines through-out multiple phases of the research process"

Doctors, PTs, OTs, SPs, Nurses, Public health professionals, Engineers, Computer software developers, psychologists/ psychiatrists, Nutritionists, Architects

What sort of research projects allow us to collaborate with the ff. Professionals?

Team Purpose

Attributes of an effective IDR team: Progressive, well-defined, and consensual purpose that they identified as a group, Allows members to develop a genuine interest and remain motivated because they recognize the importance of their individual expertise

GOALS

Team Purpose: Having a set of \___ increases efficacy by increasing the commitment of the members because it allows them to thrive and face challenges

Leadership

Attributes of an effective IDR team: Stable core to promote efficiency and maintain motivation of members, Leader needs to be credible, respected and ability to mediate personalities, goals, and theoretical perspectives, Leader doesn't have to be one person, or the most senior; it could be a core group of members, depends on who the most capable are

COMMUNICATION

Leadership: Good teams need to have good \___, exchanging information and ideas allows the members to share their expertise with one another. Effective \___ facilitates trust and promoting a comfortable atmosphere for members to share their insights and concerns without fear of being judged

Cohesion

Attributes of an effective IDR team: Camaraderie and relationships are built and developed over periods of time working together, Having a cohesive group promotes insights, hunches, risk-taking and experimentation because you trust each other well

MUTUAL RESPECT

Cohesion: Being open to the talents and beliefs is a sign of \__ \___, this is the addition to understanding value of own contributions, could be facilitated by openness and thinking outside the box

Reflection

Attributes of an effective IDR team: Think about events and activities that transpired, Being more aware of your feelings, values, and actions, Considering various solutions to a problem, Understanding the different area of strengths and opportunities to improvement for team enhancement

Curiosity, Objectivity, Competence, Perseverance, Integrity, Intellectual curiosity, Common sense, Self-criticism, Sense of humor, Creativity, Integrity

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE EXPECTED FROM A RESEARCHER

Understands

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE EXPECTED FROM A RESEARCHER: \___ the subject or topic being studied, or tries to unpack and learn about the topic or phenomenon

Good Grasp

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE EXPECTED FROM A RESEARCHER: \___ \___ on the specific methods used to conduct research

work well

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE EXPECTED FROM A RESEARCHER: If part of IDR team, \___ \___ with a variety of other people

Can write and speak persuasively

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE EXPECTED FROM A RESEARCHER: \__ \__ \__ \__ __, when disseminating results or applying for funding

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE EXPECTED FROM A Manage time

RESEARCHER: \___ \___ well and juggle different responsibilities

Cost-effectiveness

OUTCOMES RESEARCH : weighing the benefits of a particular intervention to the cost associated with implementing or using that interventions

Development of questionnaires and tools

OUTCOMES RESEARCH: Assessing meaningful outcomes for our clients

OUTCOMES RESEARCH

Improvements in physical, social, and psychological well-being , Documentation of outcomes

Public policy, healthcare deliver, standardized assessment

OUTCOMES RESEARCH: MAIN GOAL:

healthcare delivery, assists

MODELS OF HEALTH AND DISABILITY: Shift focus of \__ \___ → \___ in assessment and treatment (example is shift from biomedical model to biopsychosocial model)

Biomedical Model

focuses on pathology and impairments, More about treating and identifying a source of condition and treating and curing that condition

Biopsychosocial Model (ICF Framework)

more holistic approach because it focuses on the bigger perspective which includes function and participation in life

EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE

Making choices/ clinical decisions based on best evidence currently available, Series of steps informed by patient's values & preferences, clinical judgment, and relevant scientific evidence

Identify the research problem/ research questions

RESEARCH PROCESS: 1st step

Research problem

issue, broad topic, situation you want to explore

Can be an area of concern in the discipline or need of population

Research question

more focused statement on what you want to explore or investigate, Defines significant area of interest, Core of the research project, it directs the rest of the process and all stages of the research, should be answerable

Identify the research problem/ research questions

Provide a rationale for the study, Identify variables to be investigated, Propose hypotheses

Design the study

RESEARCH PROCESS: 2nd step

Research design

Overall plan or blueprint of the study, how the researchers intend to answer the research questions

Design the study

Mapping out procedures and methodology (allows efficient implementation and analysis), Subject selection (sampling), Testing and measurement, Method for data analysis

Basic Research

Research Purpose: foundational, can generate more questions or hypothesis, to develop, refine or test theory, practical applications of results are not direct goals of the investigation, laboratory studies

Applied Research

Research Purpose: day to day practice/ life, solve immediate practical problems, focused on direct practical application of results, actual conditions or contexts

Translational Research

Research Purpose: moves from basic foundational research to applied research (goes through entire process), usually long term, goes beyond applying it in a small context, aims to reach further than individual context so looking at systems, basic to applied, application of basic scientific findings to clinical use, generated questions based on clinical issues

Quantitative research

Research Methods: numerical, statistical tools, varied purposes, numerical data, standardized conditions, statistical analysis, formal instruments

Qualitative research

Research Methods: more in depth, involved observations notes, and texts, profound understanding of a phenomenon, narrative description, less structured, interviews, observations

Experimental research

Research Designs: comparing conditions or interventions, try and establish cause and effect relationships, and control the variables

Exploratory research

Research Designs: Non-experimental research: describe the populations, examine and explore variables, how variables relate to each other, and perform some associations to try and predict risks or events for exploratory study

Descriptive research

Research Designs: Non-experimental research: aims to describe groups or individuals, characterizes population and sample by describing variables and looking at characteristics

Implement the methodology

3rd step: RESEARCH PROCESS

Implement the methodology

Recruitment of participants, Collect and record data based on data collection plans, Facilitated with the use of data extraction tables or spreadsheets, Reduce and allocate information into a useful form of analysis

Analyze and interpret data

4th step: RESEARCH PROCESS

Analyze and interpret data

Apply procedures to analyze data, Interpret results, Based on identified theoretical framework and in light of the literature, Identify which research hypothesis will be supported or rejected based on results, Draw conclusions, Implications and recommendations

Communicate findings

5th step: RESEARCH PROCESS

Communicate findings

Lets scientific community know of our works, promotes our work and develops our profile as a researcher and develops our profile as experts in the field, facilitates networking and collaboration, In return, you can gain some recognition of expertise among your peers

Presentations in scientific fora/ conferences, Publication in scientific journals, Media release

Different ways of communicating our research:

Peer Review

system used to assess the quality of a manuscript before it being published, Independent researchers in the relevant research area assess the manuscripts for originality, validity, and significance, To help editors of the journal to determine whether the manuscript should be published, After this, manuscripts become robust, easier to read, and more useful

Research completed and manuscript drafted

Publication and the Peer Review Process: 1st Step

Choose a journal

Publication and the Peer Review Process: 2nd Step

Scope of the Journal (purpose)

Journal Considerations: provides information on frequency on publication, readership or circulation size, type of peer review employed, criteria for selecting scholarly work, and types of articles they've published

Impact Factor of the Journal

Journal Considerations: Measure of the frequency to which average articles in a journal has been cited in a year, Measures the importance and rank of a journal, The higher the impact factor, the higher research articles are being sited

Publication fee

Journal Considerations: Impacts the readability of the article, some journals that support open access require article processing fees for publication, open access means it is open to all readers at no cost

Prepare the manuscript

Publication and the Peer Review Process: 3rd Step

Prepare the manuscript

Based on the different journal requirements

Submit the manuscript

Publication and the Peer Review Process: 4th Step

Submit the manuscript

Usually in an online system, Occasionally journals accept through email

Peer review

Publication and the Peer Review Process: 5th Step

Research helps promote what you do to different audiences, both in academic and non-academic network

TANGIBLE PRODUCTS OF RESEARCH

Includes manuscripts, Scholarly Papers, Instruments, Devices, Patents, Conference Presentations, Scientific Meetings, and other Scholarly Activities, Media Releases

Research Proposal/ Protocol

TANGIBLE PRODUCTS OF RESEARCH: Provides an overview of the study: summary of the research, How they plan to answer the research questions, Sets scope and limits , Serves as a "reference document" for implementing the research, Ends with the method section, and particularly in data analysis or reporting results of the study,

Funding agency, Ethics committee

Researches are sometimes submitted for review by a/an:

Research Report/ Thesis

TANGIBLE PRODUCTS OF RESEARCH: Completed when the research is done, Communicate results to professional community or public, so it can be known and used, Contribute to a "body of knowledge", Fulfill and academic requirement, Enhance professional skills & reputation

Introduction

narrative section, tells what research is about and why it is being done, provides rationale & summary, establishes gaps

Methods

sets up the logic of the investigation, confirmability depends on the detail on this sections

Results

shows the finding of the research, straightforward & with no interpretation involved

Discussion

where we make sense of our findings, why we got the results, where our results sit in the literature (does it support or conflict others), no study is perfects so we should acknowledge this, summarizes results and key implications

Title, Authors, Abstract, Introduction/background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Limitations, Conclusion, Acknowledgements & Declarations, References

Parts of a Journal Article

Title

extremely brief summary of research, contains key technical terms, sometimes shows the design of the research

Authors

corresponding author with a special symbol (*): responds to the questions and concerns of the readers

Abstract

Brief summary/outline of the study, under 250 words, can examine and quickly decide if they will need the article

Introduction/ Background

sets the context of the study, why it's being done, includes the aims of the study at the end (sometimes aims are in the form of research questions or statements)

Methods

how the research was conducted, discusses the study design, setting, sample, data source, data collection procedures, variables being explored, and data analysis plan

Results

objective presentation of the findings of the study

Discussion

interpretation of results, compare findings with existing, implications, and further research