1. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY,
BIOSTATISTICS &
DISSERTATION WRITING
workshop at
Regional Centre Abbottabad
14 – 17 Sep, 2013

2. WHAT IS
RESEARCH?

3. Origin of the Word “Research”
 From the French word "recherche" which
means to travel through or survey

4. Research is
A Process of Systematic,
Scientific Data
 Collection
 Analysis &
 Interpretation
So as to find Solutions to a
problem.

5. Types of Research
 Qualitative
 Quantitative

6. Research - Types
Qua L itative
Descriptive
Numbers not the
primary focus
Interpretive,
ethnographic,
naturalistic
Qua N titative
N for
numbers
Statistical
Quantifiable
9/16/2013

7. 9/16/20137
Steps of
Research

8. 8
Steps in Designing & Conducting Research
Matching the Research Design to research objectives
Thinking about topic formulating research question/ objective
Defining and clarifying the research Variables/ Analysis plan
Drawing the Sample
Developing the tools & defining the methods of data collection
Monitoring and Carrying out the research
Preparing the Data for Analysis
Analyzing Data
Writing the Research Report

9. Title of The
Study

10. Title
 Title should be short, concise and informative
• Crispy, that catches the eye
• Accurate, that tells what the paper is about and the
problem studied
• Method by which problem studied, if possible
• Should excite rather than stifle interest
• Title should almost never contain abbreviations,
chemical formulas, proprietary names and the like
• It would neither be in negative or interrogative form
10

11. The first 7 words are redundant. It is clear that it is a
research study so words like “an enquiry entitled.” or
“A study to--------”are SPACE TAKERS.
11
Examples
1. The scheme for the investigation into the basic
factors responsible for the development of resistance
in malaria patients under chloroquin therapy.”

12. 2. “ Research in Experimental Surgery”
too vague and gives no information on the line of
work.
3. “Neuro chemical studies on experimentally induced
convulsions in relation to normal and anaesthetised
animals and survey of epileptic patients and certain
neuro chemical studies on the cerebrospinal fluid of
preclassified epileptic patients.”
12

13. 4. “Further studies on Eczema and Dermatitis”
not better than “Eczema and Dermatitis”
5. “Assessment of the susceptibility of mosquitoes of
public health importance to insecticides and
investigation of other related problems.”
The last 6 words do not add any information.
13

14. 6. “Investigation of etiology of urolithiasis
with special reference to malnutrition and
dietary factors etc.”
‘ etc’. Should never be in the title . It has no
meaning . The title could have been
“Role of mal-nutrition and dietary factors in
the etiology of urolithiasis.”
14

15. 7. “Study of management of extremely low
birth weight neonates at Sheikh Zayed Hospital
Lahore for evaluating the problem in Pakistan”
A study conducted at Sheikh Zayed Hospital
cannot be generalized for Pakistan
15

16. 16
Selecting a
Research
Topic

17. 17
Criteria for Selecting a Research
Topic
 Relevance
 Innovation
 Feasibility
 Acceptability
 Cost-effectiveness
 Ethical consideration

18. 18
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Proposed Topic Relevance
Innovation
Feasibility
Acceptability
Cost
Effectiveness
Ethical
TOTAL SCORE
How big is the problem?
How important is it to look for relevant solutions to it ?
ns to it available, if so how effective have they been proved? ?
Is this the problem of importance in our local set up?
Priority Ratings for Research Proposals

19. 19
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Proposed Topic
Relevance
Innovation
Feasibility
Acceptability
Cost
Effectiveness
Ethical
TOTAL SCORE
In case the topic has
been researched
what new are you
looking at
Priority Ratings for Research Proposals

20. 20
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Proposed Topic
Relevance
Innovation
Feasibility
Acceptability
Cost
Effectiveness
Ethical
TOTAL SCORE
Consider the resources
that are required to carry
out the project
Priority Ratings for Research Proposals

21. 21
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Proposed Topic
Relevance
Innovation
Feasibility
Acceptability
Cost
Effectiveness
Ethical
TOTAL SCORE
research a topic which
has the interest and
support of the authorities
Priority Ratings for Research Proposals

22. 22
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Proposed Topic
Relevance
Innovation
Feasibility
Acceptability
Cost
Effectiveness
Ethical
TOTAL SCORE
Whether the
resources of time,
money and manpower
being invested in the
study are worthwhile
Priority Ratings for Research Proposals

23. 23
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Proposed Topic
Relevance
Innovation
Feasibility
Acceptability
Cost
Effectiveness
Ethical
TOTAL SCORE
Priority Ratings for Research Proposals
• Cultural sensitivity
must be given careful
consideration.
• Informed consent
ensured.
• Will treatment be given
to individuals identified
during study who
require treatment?

24. Medical Ethics: Four Principles
 Respect for autonomy
 informed consent
 communication
 confidentiality
 Beneficence (Provide the benefits)
 Non-maleficence (Do no harm)
 Justice
 fair distribution
 respect for people's rights
 respect for moral values

25. Ethical Issues
 Informed Consent.
 Respect for privacy.
 Confidentiality and anonymity of data.
 What is permissible to ask?
 No harm to researchers or subjects.
 No deceit or lying in the course of research.
 Consequences of publication.

26. 26
Proposed Topics
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
Relevance
Innovation
Feasibility
Acceptability
CostEffectiveness
EthicalConsideration
Total Score
Complications of AIDS 1 3 1 1 1 1 08
Smoking & Birth
Weight 2 2 2 2 3 3 14
Lead in Blood 3 3 3 3 3 3 18
………….
Priority Ratings for Research Proposals

27. 27
Literature
Search

28. 28
 Allows one to search in a purposeful and
systematic manner, through a range of
literature or information relevant to one’s
particular field, and to hone in on material
relevant to ones interest and objectives.
What is Literature Search?

29. 29
Why do Literature Search
 To keep up with the latest developments in your
field.
 To learn more about some topic.
 To document important facts and ideas you wish
to research in light of previous work done on it.
 To understand your data in the context of what is
already known.
 To provide your readers with sources they can
consult on their own.

30. 30
Means of Literature Search – Internet
 Access to a massive pool of information related to
biomedical and clinical source.
 Can link with library catalogues, online databases, like
MEDLINE and direct access to ever increasing number of
biomedical journals.
 Retrieval of data from a range of organizations
universities, research establishments and hospitals.
 Many services are available free of charge.

31. 31
Search Strategy on Internet
Summarize your topic in one or two sentences.
Identify the unique ideas or concept associated
with your topic.
Choose appropriate keywords for each concept.
Establish the relationship between each keyword
and concept.

32. 32
Example Pub Med Sources
 PubMed is derived from two words, Publications,
and Medical.
 It is a project of the National Institute of Health,
National Library of Medicine.
 Available on the internet, there are thousands
medical journals on this list.
 It searches for you from millions of papers.
 For more details of PubMed, you may visit.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/

33. Searching Online Medical Resources
For General Info: www.google.com.pk/:
For Research Articles Only:
http://scholar.google.com.pk/
For translating text from any
language:http://translate.google.com.pk/
For Google Images:
http://www.google.com.pk/imghp?hl=en&tab=ii
To get answers for your questions: www.ask.com/
Pakistani local Journals: www.pakmedinet.com/:

34. Free Medical Journals: websites
http://www.lau.edu.lb/libraries/research-
tools/free-journals-list.php.
www.freemedicaljournals.com/
http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/freeart.dtl
DOAJ(Directory of open access journals):
http://www.doaj.org/
MedIND (http://medind.nic.in/)

35. Use of the Internet
General Purpose Search Engines
 Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
 Altavista (www.altavista.com)
 MSN (www.msn.com)
 Google (www.google.com)
 Copernicus (www.copernicus.com)
 Metacrawler (www.metacrawler.com)

36. Use of the Internet
Medical Search Engines
 MedHunt (www.medhunt.com)
 MedNets (www.mednets.com)
 HealthAtoZ (www.healthatoz.com)
 DoctorNet (www.doctornet.com)
 MedConnect (www.medconnect.com)
 OMNI (www.omni.ac.uk)
 and many more…. Get a complete list by typing
“medical search engines” in any good browser.

37. Use of the Internet
Some Good Medical Websites:
 www.medscape.com : an excellent site for medical
professionals. Free registration, access to specialty
and subspecialty pages, full-text articles and the
latest medical news and events. Includes CME
content.
 www.who.int : the website of the WHO. Provides
the latest activity of the WHO, annual reports,
bulletins,monographs, research funding reports and
forms, global vital statistics and trends.

38. Use of the Internet
 www.cdc.gov : the official website of the Centers
for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia,
USA.
 It provides global information on a variety of
diseases, chiefly infectious diseases, epidemiology
and disease control.
 The statistical software Epi Info is available for
download from this site.

39. Use of the Internet
Websites for free full-text articles:
 www.medscape.com : free full-text retrieval for
members, as already mentioned.
 www.freemedicaljournals.com : a major new source of
journals in almost all specialties, that allow free full text
article retrieval.
 Journal Websites: www.thelancet.com,
www.bmj.com, www.nejm.org, : allow free full-text
retrieval of journal articles through their own search
engine as well as an archival catalog.

40. Use Internet wisely
 www.mzb.lv : website of the Medical Research
Library of Latvia. Has an English version of its
browser; lists specialty and subject-wise journals
and websites for free full-text retrieval.
 Both www.who.int and www.cdc.gov allow full-
text article retrieval freely.
 Many other sites, particularly online journal sites,
allow full-text article retrieval after payment or
for journal subscribers.

41. Some useful sites
 Medline www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
 NIH/NLM www.nlm.nih.
 www.pubmed.org
 www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/
 www.gfmer.ch or
 www.gfmer.ch/medical_journals/free_medical.
php (a German foundation for medical research
and education. First go on it, select topic than click
on pub med free full text at the top and get the
search)

42. List of publishers websites
 J-Gate www.openj-gate.org
 www.highwire.stanford.edu/list/freeart.dtl
(1 million full text articles available here)
 www.healthnet.org
 www.biomedcentral.com
 www.plos.org

43. Boolean Search
 Use AND to narrow search and retrieve records
containing all of the words it separates.
 Use OR to broaden search and retrieve records
containing any of the words it separates.
 Use NOT to narrow search and retrieve records that
do not contain the term following it.
 Use ( ) to select a phrase or groups of words
- Phrase - (participatory action research)
- Groups of words – (housing or homelessness) AND
(budget or funding)

44. Scientific Paper
Organisation
l Title
l Authors
l Abstract
______________________________________________________________________________________
l Introduction
l Materials & methods
l Results
l Discussion
l References

45. 45
Research
Objective

46. 46
• To show the extent and the expected
outcome of the study
• To begin with a leading statement followed
by the objectives written in point forms

47. 47
Research Objectives
 An objective is an intent of what the
researcher wants to do stated in clear
measurable terms.”
 summarizes what is to be achieved by
the study.

48. 48
Importance of Research Objectives
1. Brings focus to the study.
2. Avoids collection of unnecessary data.
3. Determines an appropriate study
design.
4. Helps determine analysis plan.

49. A Good Objective should be
SMART…...
S PECIFIC
M EASURABLE
A CHIEVABLE
R ELEVANT
T IME-BOUND

50. 50
A Good Objective ensures that:
What is to be measured
is clearly stated, be it a
measure of frequency, or
Association in the
population of interest.

51. A good objective ensures that:
What is to be measured is clearly stated
be it:
o A frequency measure
o Association between two variables
o Difference between two groups

52. 52
Examples
Objectives:
 1)To determine the frequency of anemia in pregnant
women visiting Tertiary care facilities of Sindh.
 2) To determine association between maternal
smoking and LBW.
 3) To compare the effectiveness of dressing A vs.
dressing B in patients presenting with infected
wounds of the foot.

53. 53
Operational
Definition

54. 54
Operational Definitions
 Is the definition of the exposure and outcome
variables of interest in context to objective in
a particular study and their means of
measurement/determination.
 Examples:
 Anemia
 Effectiveness
 PPH
 Wound healing

55.  The objectives should be followed by some
‘operational definitions’.
 These should be picked from the title and
objectives.
 Include defining your meanings to these terms
as you plan to use in your study. Terms like
‘efficacy’, ‘association’, ‘correlation’,
‘complications’ ‘satisfaction’ may need to be
defined.
 If drugs are to be used, their route, dose, and
duration should be listed.
Operational Definitions

56. Operational Definitions
 Definitions of operational terms used under
the conditions of your research study.
 Examples:
 Define anaemia in a study on anaemic
patients:
< 10 g/dl or < 12 g/dl.
 Define SBP in a study on hypertensive
patients:
> 140 mm Hg or age adjusted values.