Research Proposal Writing and Survey Design

Flashcards on Research Proposal Writing and Survey Design

Research proposal

A written document that organizes/ describes a planned process of research to address the research problem or answer a question.

9 qualities of a good writer

Anticipates reader questions, grounded in data, strives to explain, tells a full story, comes on the rewrite, has logic/ structure, simple, but not simplistic, doesn’t get hung up on what’s been said before, and is not smug.

Why OTs need to know how to write a research proposal

Effective writing skills for documentation, to advocate for DME and other equipment needs, to summarize quality improvement or committee findings, and to create proposals for new services or client/ department needs.

Literature review

Written summary that establishes EXPERTISE on the topic to design a study

Manuscript

A paper that is prepared for submission to a journal or other publication venue detailing project & findings

Typical manuscript structure for peer review

Abstract, intro/ abbreviated lit review, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, references.

Elements of a proposal

Statement of the research problem and questions, aims and hypothesis, background and significance, methodological approach, data analysis approach, timeline, key personnel, budget.

Literature Review (in a proposal)

Demonstrates your expertise and establishes the importance of the topic

Methodology (in a proposal)

Describes a plan for exactly how the research will be completed; Clear and detailed enough to repeat by reading the content

Appendices

Includes copies of any detailed supportive documents (Lit. matrix, letters of support, survey of assessment, recruitment materials)

Role of the introduction

Acts as a bridge to transport the reader from their own lives into the “place” of research

Components of the BACKGROUND section

Brief overview of facts- should grab attention or interest; Effectively explains historical facts of the topic, briefly and concisely; Essentials only - most supportive and convincing references and ideas; Sequencing - describes a general topic, then quickly gets to the point of your project

Questions to ask in significance or gaps

Asks why the work is important, what are the implications, how it links to other knowledge, how it informs policy-making, why it's important to understanding the world, and identifies the 'gaps' that the research will fill.

Purpose statement

A single sentence or two that provides the 'BIG PICTURE' of what will be addressed/ accomplished in the research

Primary Aims

2-4 objective statements with a logical sequence; Explicitly states desired outcomes or specific intentions of research; More specific than a purpose statement, MEASURABLE; Emphasize what will be accomplished, not how it is to be accomplished; Must be focused and feasible

Conclusion of the project

Where you assess whether or not you met your aims. If not, why not?

Methodology

Accounts for EXACTLY how research will be completed; It should be clear and detailed so that another researcher can repeat it; Describes the ethical approval process

Research Design

The state's choice of a particular research strategy is appropriate for answering the research questions or achieving the purpose/ aims; Broad overarching methodological statements

Participants (section of methodology)

Describes the people taking part in the study; ID sampling procedure; Access to participants is a key consideration; Explain the process of participant recruitment; Proposed sample size; Identify any inclusion or exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria

Criteria for including a person in the study; Clearly defined in an objective manner; Provides the ability to reproduce inclusion decisions precisely.

Exclusion criteria

Criteria for excluding a person from the study

Data Collection (section of methodology)

Describes the means of collecting data; Two parts: instrument and process/ procedures

Data collection procedures

How the data collection occurs

Instrument (in data collection)

Questionnaires/ surveys, standardized assessments, existing databases; goniometers, structured or semi-structured interviews

Process and procedures (in data collection)

Outlines what will happen in the study; The order in which it will happen; General timeline in which it will happen

Data collection approaches in OT

Observation, Interviews, Self-report measures, Standardized tests, contextual/ environmental assessment, Focus groups, Biometric measures, document/ record reviews

Variable

A means of labeling or giving meaning to a set of characteristics that are expected to vary among clients being studied

Nonstandardized questionnaires

Created for preliminary studies about a novel variable or population; No instrument exists to meet the need; Typically limited to descriptive studies; Not used in experimental/ outcome studies; No or limited reliability/ validity background; Commonly used with Student OT projects

Data Analysis (section of methodology)

What program will be used for data entry? How will the data be analyzed once collected? Maybe one or more analysis procedures are utilized; Should be clearly linked to the research design, purpose, and primary aims

Limitations (section of methodology)

Explains factors that might reduce the generalizability of study results; Discuss potential weak points or criticisms of the study

Survey Research

A method of inquiry characterized by collecting data using structured questions to elicit self-reported information from a sample of people; 'Allow for systematic collection of information from a sample to generate an understanding of the population from which the sample was drawn.'

Key dimensions of the survey

ID population of interest & how to sample; ID research purpose/aims and generate appropriate survey questions; Develop statistical estimates to generalize to the population under study

Main advantages of survey research

Large # of respondents; minimal expenditure; Collection of data on numerous variables; Statistical manipulation; multiple uses of the data set

Survey data: collection methods

Questionnaires & interviews

Qualitative questions (in a survey)

Open-ended questions; textual

Quantitative questions (in a survey)

Forced-choice questions; Counts

Scientific Rigor

Investigators carefully follow rules, procedures, and techniques that have been developed and agreed upon by the scientific community; Representative sampling

Nonresponse bias

Respondents selected for the sample who elect not to respond

Response bias

Respondents were unable to recall info accurately; Respondents interpret the meaning of the question differently from the meaning intended by the researcher; Response choices do not accurately express respondents’ experiences or opinions

Cross-sectional surveys

Used to gather info on a population at a single point in time

Longitudinal surveys

Gather data over a period of time; may analyze changes in the population and attempt to describe and/or explain them

Steps to building a questionnaire

Defining and clarifying SURVEY VARIABLES, Formulating question, Formatting the questionnaire, Piloting and revising

Pilot survey

Test survey on a few people; Similar to the 'real' sample to take the survey; Eliminate remaining problems that may have been overlooked; Encourage critique; Solicit opinions on length, instruction/ question clarity, attractiveness, problems, or adverse reactions

Three recall problems

Memory fades over time; Individual episodes or occurrences of regular and mundane events are generally not precisely remembered; People usually do not categorize information of a precise month or year

Three parts of questions

Questions stem, Additional instructions, Answer choices or spaces

Nominal

Categories not inherent order

Ordinal

Category & order - has ranking

Interval

Category, order, equal intervals - spacing; no O

Ratio

Category, order, equal intervals, has a zero

Closed questions

Structured so that participants answers are constrained

Open questions

Allows research participants to answer in their own words; Used in followup to closed question

Partially closed questions

Hybrid of closed & open; Closed ended with “other” response

Dichotomous questions

Only permitted to answer yes/ no; Useful for very factual questions; May allow for “don’t know” option

Scaled questions

Series of ordered steps used as a standard of measurement; Provide numerical scores to compare individuals and groups

LIKERT SCALES

Comprises 5 points; Strongly agree to strongly disagree

Tick Lists

Provide participants with a list of items to choose from regarding the topic; It should be as exhaustive as possible; May wish to LIMIT to a certain number of responses; Categories should NOT overlap; Lose some detail and data manipulation ability

Matrix (grid) questions

Asking 2 or more questions at once; Often formatted in a table or box to visually help the reader

Filter questions

Used to determine whether or not the questions that follow are relevant to the research participant

Funnel questions

Seek more detailed information on one particular topic

Writing good questions involves avoiding…

Leading, Double-barreled, Ambiguous, Assuming, Irrelevant, Full of jargon, Phrased in the negative

confidentiality

Only the investigators or individuals of the research team can identify the responses of the individual subjects; however, the researchers must make every effort to prevent anyone outside the project from connecting individual subjects with their responses

anonymity

Providing this information collected from research participants means that either the project does not collect identifying information of individual subjects, or the project cannot link individual responses with participants’ identities

Nuremburg code

Written during the nazi doctors trials; 10 ethical human subject research priniciples

Principles of belmount

Respect for persons, Beneficence, Justice

IRB/ institutional review board

A mechanism for regulatory oversight in which one or more committees of informed indidviduals review research proposals to ensure the proposed study is safe and ethical for all participants; Comprised of a group od diverse individuals with both scentific and nonscentific interests

Recruitment and retention methods

Refers to means by ehich the authors were able to locate, access, enroll, and retain theri sample over time and through the course of the study

Steps of designing a recruitment plan

Locating the sample, Ensuring the sample representatives, Creating links to sample sources, Developing recruitment materials, Funding recruitment efforts

Informed consent

The priniciple requires prospective research subjects be given enough information, before they choose to participate in a research study, to make an informed decision as to whteher or not they wish to participate; A process that begins with inital contact and ends at some point after the study is complete

Two central components of consent

Well-written informed consent document; Process for obtaining consent

consent

Refers to the process whereby competent adults give the permission

Assent

Utilized for minors to express willingness to participate, in additional parental permission must be obtained