Reading Guide 1 - HSC 201

What teaching approach is used in HSC 201?

• atypical classroom approach (not normal)

• Team-Based Learning approach (TBL)

How does this teaching approach differ from other teaching approaches typically used in the college classroom?

• Heavy group oriented

• Most information learned outside of class and is applied within class

What is health research?

examines a broad spectrum of biological, socioeconomic, environmental, and other factors that contribute to the presence or absence of physical, mental, and social health and well-being

What is the difference between routine practice of health practitioners and health research?

health practitioners —> treat patients to help them get better; Care (Present)

health Research —> help improve or find something new; obtain knowledge (For Later)

What four reasons does Jacobsen give for conducting a health research study?

1. Needs assessment

2. Risk assessment

3. Applied practice

4. Outcomes evaluation

Give an example of where health researchers can get inspiration for a research topic/question

arise from observations made during applied practice

Identify two activities researchers can use to help identify research topics.

brainstorming & concept mapping

What are Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and how can they be used to refine a research topic?

• a database developed by the US National Library of Medicine

• used to help identify the full extent of a research area and to NARROW the scope of topics

What does “EDP” stand for? Define each term and provide an example. How can this acronym help refine a research topic?

• Exposure, Disease, Population

• breaks a big, vague topic into clear, focused parts

Exposure

What might cause the problem?

Disease

What is health problem?

Population

group of individuals, communities, or organizations that will be examined

What does “PICOT” stand for? Define each term and provide an example. How can this acronym help refine a research topic?

Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Time

• helps by making a topic specific instead of broad

Give examples of informal sources that can guide the development of a research topic. What is their role? Why must researchers be cautious about any claims made in these sources?

Examples: social media, blogs, news stories, videos, podcasts, and conversations

• Help researchers by giving them ideas

• Are not always accurate

What is an abstract?

is a paragraph-length summary of an article, chapter, or book

What is PubMEd?

• A database

• Provides accès to more than 25 million abstracts

Where are the “most important” results of a research article typically located?

Abstract

What is an annotated bibliography? What is the goal of the annotated bibliography?

Used to track the articles identified during a literature review

• includes, at minimum, a full reference for the document being reviewed and a brief summary of the article or report

Goal —> is to summarize the content most pertinent to the new investigation

What is meant by “original research?” What makes a research study “original”?

Needs to have only one substantive difference from previous work

• could be a new exposure of interest

• a new disease of interest

• a new source of population

• a new time period

• new perspective on a field of exploration

Research projects can contribute to advancing a field of research by addressing _______ and building upon _________?

1. Gaps in the literature

2. previous work

What is the difference between a primary study (primary research), a secondary study (secondary research), and a tertiary study (tertiary research).

primary → New data will be collected from individuals

Secondary → An existing data set (or data extracted from existing records) will be statistically analyzed

Tertiary → The existing literature will be reviewed

What are the major components of a study goal (purpose statement)

includes the specific exposure, disease, and population

• should also identify three or more specific objectives, specific aims, or hypotheses

Be able to identify examples of a study goal (purpose statement), and be able to differentiate between the study (goal) and study objectives (aims, hypotheses).

Study goal → the big picture of what the study wants to achieve (overall purpose)

Study objectives → the steps or questions that help achieve the study goal (narrow)

A good research project is said to be “FINER.” What does the acronym represent?

• Feasible

• Interesting

• Novel

• Ethical

• Relevant

Describe each of the major components of the research proposal.

• Title

• Structured Abstract

• Specific Aims

• Background and Significance (Literature Review)

• Methods

• Appendices

• References

What are the 4 S’s typically covered in the methods section of a research article?

1. Study Design

2. Sample and Setting

3. Survey

4. Statistics

Define variable.

something that can change or be different from person to person or situation to situation

Describe the difference between variables and categories. Provide some examples of variables and their corresponding categories.

Variable —> what you measure (Ex. Gender)

Categories —> groups inside a variable (Ex. male, female, nonbinary)

Define independent variable.

what the researcher changes or compares

Define dependent variable.

what the researcher measures as the result

Describe the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

Independent variable affects the dependent variable

Describe how independent variables differ in non-experimental versus experimental research.

Experimental → The researcher controls and changes the independent variable

Non-experimental → The researcher does not change anything, just observes what already exists

Define conceptual definitions of variables. Provide an example of a conceptual definition for a term in health science.

explains what a variable means in general

• Ex: stress is the feelings of mental or physical tension caused by difficult situations

Define operational definitions of variables. Provide an example of an operational definition for a term in health science.

Explains how the variable is measured in the study

• Ex: Stress is measured using a 10-questions survey with scores from 1 to 5

Describe research limitations.

Are factors (usually beyond control) that may affect the results of the study or how the results are interpeted

Why is it important to identify limitations of research studies?

Provide a method to acknowledge possible errors or difficulties in interpreting results of the study