Research Exam 1

Basic Research

Basic Research

Goal is advancement of knowledge for its own sake - we do the research because we like to know the answer

focuses on answering important questions or deciphering laws of nature

Applied Research

Specific problem leads us to look for a specific solution

employs answers to basic questions of further research to practical problems

RP: clinicians have no understanding of the importance of scientific basis

CP: Research does not attend to relevant issues pertaining to day to day needs of clinicians

Researcher’s perspective vs. clinician’s perspective

Research

Gathering information that you need to answer a question or solve a problem

1. Descriptive

2. Correlational

3. Experimental

(survey research)

3 Categories of Research Methods

Descriptive Research (aka. normative or developmental)

Systematically describe situations/events as they naturally occur

change over time (cross-sectional, longitudinal, semilongitudinal)

Exploratory Research

Examines how one event or events relate to other factors

• Find relationship

Correlational Research (type of exploratory)

Used to determine possible relationships among factors

- 2 variables may be related; one does not cause the other

Experimental Research - Most Powerful

Independent variable is controlled to measure its effect on the dependent variables

used to examine possible cause and effect relationships

Survey Research

Used with other research

The most powerful type of data w/in this research is collected through personal interviews

Manipulation, Control, randomization

Characteristics of experimental research

Variables

Any observation that can take different values

Changes to one item cause something else to vary in a predictable way

Qualitative Variables

Attributes/descriptions

ex. sex of indiv, disorder of indiv, type of clinical management

Quantitative Variables

Number based

ex. IQ, height, age, weight

Discrete Quantitative Variables

Not expressed in decimals or fractions

Ex. number of subjects, number of times treatment administered (25 participants; 20 sessions)

Continuous-quantitative Variables

Expressed in any numerical value including fractions

Ex. subjects age, height, weight data

Dependent variables

Effect of unknown etiologies

“outcome” variable

Independent Variable

Explains the dependent variable

“predictor” variable

Variable: observation that can take diff values (sex/gender)

Attribute: A specific value on a variable (male/female)

Variable vs. Attribute

Extraneous Variables

Any factor not directly related to the purpose of the study, but may affect the dependent variable

Double Blind Studies

Neither subjects or investigators are aware of the identity of treatment groups until after data is collected

Single Blind Studies

Participants do not know the purpose of the study, but the researcher does

Topics

When selecting research, _________ provide a general foundation to determine which area may be researched

Single

A research question is usually answered in a ________ study

Review of literature

Process of narrowing the research question can be facilitated by ____________

PICO

P: Patient/population

I: Intervention/Treatment/exposure

C: comparison

O: outcome

Method for how to make a research question

Null hypothesis

states that there is “no statistically significant difference or relationship” between groups/variables

Working hypothesis

May simply ask a question: “is there a difference/relationship?” between groups/variables

Literature review

An account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers

• be organized around and related directly to research question

• Synthesize results into summary

• Identify areas of controversy

• Formulate questions

A literature review must…

1. limit research problem

2. seek new lines of inquiry (what research has already been done)

3. gain methodological insights (measurements of variables)

4. Recommendations for further research

Purpose of a literature review

Textbooks, encyclopedias, review articles

useful bc they combine knowledge from many primary sources into single publication

Types of secondary sources

Meta-analysis

systematic review in which a statistical summary is provided (combining studies about the same problem to determine efficacy)

Peer review

a board of scholarly reviewers in the subject area of the journal, review materials they publish before articles are accepted for publication

a. sample size

b. type of sample

c. geographic area

The sampling procedure should include

Sampling

The process of selecting a sample from the defined population with the intent that the sample accurately represents that population

Population Validity

the extent to which the result of an experiment can be generalized from the sample to a large group of individuals

Simple random sampling

a group of individuals drawn by a procedure in which all the individuals have an equal and independent chance of being selected

Systematic random sampling

Every other person is picked - used if the sample to be selected is very large

Stratified random sampling

A sample selected so that certain subgroups in the population are adequately represented in the sample - from all strata, we take randomly selected individuals

Clustered Sampling

Take all individuals from a randomly selected cluster

Convenient sampling

The researcher selects a sample that suits the purpose of the study

• correlational research: minimum of 30

• Causal-comparative: minimum of 15

• Survey: minimum of 100

Minimum #s for selecting a sample size

1. subgroup analysis

2. Attrition (observing participants over many years)

3. Reliability of measures (consistency)

3 factors you need to consider in determining sample size

Reliability

The consistency of a measure - getting same results repeatedly

generally…

• better educated

• higher social class

• more sociable

• more females than males

Characteristics of research volunteers