Importance of Research in Medicine

Importance of Research

• Research project supervisors come from the Faculty of Medicine, offering diverse backgrounds in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, pathology, microbiology, and more.
• Some projects receive support from the Faculty of Medicine and the Research and Innovation Management Center (RIMC).
• Research topics vary greatly, challenging students to explore unfamiliar areas of medical science.
• Students present research talks and submit hard copies of proposals, final reports, and original papers, some of which are published in scientific journals.

Research Areas (Example)

• Affordable medical care
• Aging
• Pollution
• Alcohol
• Autism
• Cancer
• Child health
• Chronic diseases
• Dietary habits
• Health education
• Health awareness
• Infectious diseases
• Mental health
• Medical Errors
• Nutrition
• Obesity
• Stress
• Tobacco
• Unhealthy

Attention: Plagiarism in Research

• There are ten types of plagiarism in research.
• Some include complete plagiarism, verbatim plagiarism, unethical collaboration, misleading attribution, replication, repetitive research, duplication, invalid sources, secondary sources, and paraphrasing.

Reasons for Plagiarism in Research

• Copying from the internet
• Changing a few words from the original source
• Lack of time
• Not knowing plagiarism is a mistake
• Believing the original source is better written

Steps of Research Process

• Problem identification
• Problem definition
• Research design
• Determining data needs
• Determining data sources
• Sampling design
• Designing questionnaire
• Field staff selection
• Collection and processing of data
• Analysis and interpretation of data
• Project reporting
• Follow up

Learning Outcomes

• Meaning of research
• Objective of research
• Motivation of research
• Types of research
• Research approaches
• Significance of research
• Research and scientific method
• Research process
• Criteria of good research

Definitions

• Research is composed of "re" and "search."
• Dictionary definition: a careful, systematic study and investigation to establish facts.
• Research approaches are plans and procedures for research, starting from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

Research Objectives

• Include extensive definitions early in the research proposal.
• Outline what the research aims to achieve.
• Are closely connected to the research problem.
• Consist of general and specific objectives.
• General objectives define the overall goals.

Specific Objectives

• Break down general objectives into smaller, logically connected parts.
• These objectives methodically tackle various research questions.
• Provide guidance on what the research will do, where, and for what purpose.
• Help meet specific research goals by focusing the study to important criteria.
• Help prevent unnecessary data collection.
• Should be clearly described and realistic.
• Use specific action verbs for evaluation (determine, compare, verify, calculate, describe, establish)

Project Evaluation

• Project results are compared to stated objectives during evaluation.
• Clearly defined objectives are necessary for proper project assessment.

Motivations for Undertaking Research

• Gaining knowledge and a research degree
• Addressing unresolved problems and practical concerns
• Contributing to society
• Gaining respect

Types of Research

• Categorized into three groups: application, objectives, and inquiry mode

Type of Research (Continued)

• Application:

  • Pure research: developing and testing theories and hypotheses.
  • Applied research: focuses on practical applications with specific concepts

• Objectives:

  • Descriptive research: describes a situation, problem, phenomenon, service, or attitude.
  • Exploratory research: explores an area or investigates possibilities for a research study, particularly for a pilot or feasibility study.
  • Correlational research: investigates relationships or associations between two or more factors.
  • Explanatory research: clarifies why and how a relationship exists.

• Inquiry Mode:

  • Quantitative research with a structured approach.
  • Qualitative research with an unstructured approach.

Quantitative Research

• Proposes explanations for relationships between variables.
• Quantifies variations in situations or problems.

Qualitative Research

• Analysis without quantification.
• Describes communities, opinions, and events.

Qualitative Research (Continued)

• Based on different assumptions than quantitative research.
• Does not establish theories or hypotheses before beginning research.

Qualitative Research Methods

• Focus Groups: 6-12 people led by a moderator to discuss a topic.
• In-depth Interviews: Trained interviewers use probing questions to gather data from interviewees.

Qualitative Research in-depth Interviews (Continued)

• Applications: Interviews with professionals, witnesses, detailed probing, sensitive topics, social norms, and competitors.
• Advantages: concentrated issues, maximum probing, free exchange of information, arranging, sensitive issues, flexible
• Disadvantages: expensive, time-consuming, exhausting for interviewer, interviewer errors, respondent bias or reliability

Quantitative Research - Survey Method

• Structured questionnaires given to samples of the population.
• Designed to obtain specific information.

Quantitative Research - Surveys (Continued)

• Survey methods: Telephone, personal (in-home, by appointment, random), mail, mail panel, electronic (e-mail, internet).

Quantitative Research - Surveys (Continued)

• Advantages: Specific research problem, clear variables, high reliability, minimum personal judgment.
• Disadvantages: Limited outcomes due to methods, inability to control environment, expensive, large number of respondents.

Comparison of Qualitative-Quantitative Research

• Qualitative: Discovery-oriented, emphasizes understanding and exploring ideas, usually exploratory, open-ended questions
• Quantitative: Validation-oriented; aims to validate facts, quantify relationships and examine cause-effect, descriptive and causal, often structured questions

Comparison of Qualitative-Quantitative Research (Continued)

• Qualitative
  • Time of execution: short timeframes
  • Sample size: small samples
  • Type of analyses: subjective and interpretive approaches
  • Researcher skills: psychology, sociology, and social psychology
  • Representativeness: limited
• Quantitative
  • Time of execution: usually long timeframes
  • Sample size: large samples
  • Type of analyses: statistical and descriptive approaches, models
  • Researcher skills: decision models, statistics
  • Representativeness: good

This quiz explores the essential roles of research in the field of medicine, highlighting diverse projects supervised by the Faculty of Medicine. Students will delve into various research topics, learn about challenges in medical science, and understand the significance of presenting and publishing their findings. The quiz also addresses the crucial issue of plagiarism in research.