HSC module 1

what teaching approach is used in HSC 201

team-based learning (emphasizes student preparedness + application)

health research

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

routine health practice vs health research

routine health practices focuses on immediate health concerns

health research focuses on generating new knowledge via investigations

4 reasons for conducting health research study

• risk assessment

• needs assessment

• applied practice

• outcome evaluation

where can researcher get inspo for a topic?

from their values, their skills, gaps in the literature

2 activities to help identify research topics

brainstorming and concept mapping

MeSH

database that helps narrow down research topics

EDP

exposure, disease, population

ex. of exposure: genetics, drinking water, socioeconomic status

this is a good format to use when building a research question

PICOT

patient/[population (that will be studied)

intervention (that will be tested)

compared (to what intervention)

outcome (of interest for intervention)

timeframe (for follow-up)

informal sources examples + what they’re good for + downsides

WHO, CDC, newspapers, magazines; good to get a general knowledge of subject… downside is they aren’t peer reviewed

what is an abstract

a summary that includes: brief description of study population, study design, and key findings

PubMEd

public health science database that contains abstracts

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

tables and figures

what makes research “original”

it only needs one substantiative difference from previous work (ex. new exposure, new disease, new source pop.)

Research projects can contribute to advancing a field of research by addressing _____ and building upon _____

a) gaps in literature b) previous work

primary research vs secondary vs tertiary

primary: collecting and analyzing new data

secondary: analyzing existing data

tertiary: review and synthesize the literature

major components of a study goal

specific exposures, disease, population (EDP)

study goal vs study objectives

the goal is a clear statement about what your goal is, the objectives are very specific action steps to achieve the goal… “to” statements

FINER

feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, relevant

major components of a research proposal (7)

title, abstract, specific aims, background and significance, method, appendices, references

… appendices = definitions for terms

4 S’s in methods section

study design, sample and setting, survey, statistics

variable definition

a trait or characteristic that varies within a population

types of variables

categorical = qualitatives

continuous = quantitative

independent variable

the presumed cause of an effect

dependent variable

the respose/outcome

independent variables in non-experimental vs experimental research

experimental: manipulated by researcher

non-experimental: measured as it exists naturally

conceptual vs operational definitions of variables

conceptual: what a variable means in theory (stress is psychological + physiological…)

operational: how a variable is measured/observed (stress scale)