Research Types: Systematic, Meta, and Scoping Reviews

• The presentation is about types of research

Synthesis of Literature

• Clinicians face the challenge of aggregating information to answer clinical questions, as bodies of evidence grow through research publications.
• Systematic reviews provide a comprehensive analysis of literature on a specific topic, focusing on interventions, diagnostic tests, or prognostic factors.
• Systematic reviews look at the methodological quality of studies to frame the state of knowledge on a topic.

Meta-analysis

• Takes systematic reviews a step further.
• It involves statistically combining the findings from several studies for a summary analysis.
• Inclusion of studies is restricted based on design criteria for rigorous evidence analysis.

Scoping Reveiws

• Scoping reviews are a more recent contribution, incorporating a broader range of study designs and data-gathering methods to comprehensively synthesize evidence
• Scoping Reviews aims to inform practice, programs, and policy and to provide direction to future research.

Fundamental Research

• Fundamental, or basic, research aims to enhance understanding of phenomena.
• This type of research broadens understanding and expand scientific theories and explanations.
• This research provides information and is also knowledge-based.
• Fundamental research generates new knowledge and the understanding of fundamental principles and educational concepts.
• Conducted in universities and research institutions
• Utilizes surveys, experiments, and case studies.
• An example includes a company studying how different product placements affect product sales.

Applied Research

• Applied research, also known as practical research, focuses on solving real-world problems and issues in education.
• Designed to produce practical, useful, and applicable knowledge.
• Often conducted in educational institutions and government agencies.
• Employs surveys, experiments, and case studies.
• Designed to identify solutions to specific problems or answers to specific questions.
• Applied research develops evidence-based practices and policies to improve educational outcomes.
• Helps identify effective strategies and interventions for addressing educational challenges and improving student learning.
• Meant to offer applicable and implementable knowledge.
• Focuses on a defined problem and is solution-based.
• Examples include studies on teaching method effectiveness, interventions for student motivation, assessments of educational programs/policies, and ways to increase student involvement.

Explanatory Research

• Explanatory research investigates phenomena that have not been studied or explained properly.
• Uses experimental designs to compare conditions or interventions.
• Design approaches offer varied control levels to establish cause and effect between interventions and outcomes.
• Trials address both efficacy and effectiveness.

Exploratory Research

• Observational designs are used to examine a phenomenon of interest and explore its dimensions.
• Health researchers use it in populations or communities, examining associations to describe and predict risks or preventive strategies for certain conditions, using epidemiological principles.

Exploratory Methods

• Exploratory methods establish associations between variables.
• It can carry out methodological research to assess validity and reliability.
• Exploratory research includes 6 steps:
  • Define research problem
  • Conduct literature review
  • Formulate hypotheses
  • Collect Data
  • Analyze data
  • Draw conclusions

Descriptive Research

• Aims to describe a group of individuals on a set of variables and document their characteristics.
• Uses questionnaires, interviews, direct observation, and databases.
• Descriptive data allows researchers to classify and understand the scope of clinical or social phenomena.
• Qualitative research is considered descriptive, involving data collection through interviews and observation.

Qualitative Research

• Qualitative research deals with non-numerical data, such as opinions and literature.
• Leads to a deeper understanding of a narrowly-defined group.
• Meanings, motivations, or opinions often emerge from this type of research.
• Examples of qualitative data include focus groups, surveys, participant comments, observations, and interviews.

Quantitative Research

• Quantitative research depends on numerical data, such as statistics, measurements, averages, and percentages.
• Summarises and analyses data using numerical methods, such as averages and percentages.
• Information from a sample population is used to infer information about a larger group.
• A car manufacturer comparing sales of red vs. white sedans is an example.
• Uses objective data to draw conclusions.

Qualitative and Quantitative Research

• Qualitative and quantitative research are often used together, also known as mixed methods research.
• The decision to use qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods approaches needs to depend on the research problem
• A qualitative research might:
  • Interview a small group of people who have bought electric cars
  • Interview another small group of people who have bought nonelectric cars
  • The researchers will ask about their reasons for their car purchase
• A quantitative research might:
  • Survey a large number of buyers of electric and non-electric cars
  • Ask the buyers' age, sex, and type of car purchased
  • Survey may include questions such as 'Which of the following is your biggest concern about buying an electric car?'
  • Then list five reasons from which the respondents can select
  • Survey responses could be analyzed by numerically summarizing the ages and sex of car buyers, looking for relationships between age and whether an electric car was purchased, and reporting the percentage of respondents who select each of the five options of concerns about buying electric cars

Quantitative vs Qualitative

• Purpose
  • Quantitative research type studies relationships, cause, and effect
  • Qualitative research type examines a phenomenon as it is, in rich detail
• Design
  • Quantitative is developed prior to study
  • Qualitative is flexible, and evolves during study
• Approach
  • Quantitative is deductive and tests theory
  • Qualitative is inductive and may generate theory
• Tools
  • Quantitative uses preselected instruments
  • Qualitative uses researchers as a primary data collection tool
• Sample
  • Quantitative uses large samples
  • Qualitative uses small samples
• Analysis
• Quantitative uses statistical analysis of numeric data
• Qualitative uses narrative description and interpretation

Cross-Sectional Research

• Studies a group or subgroup at one point in time.
• Participants are chosen based on shared characteristics like age, gender, or income.
• Researchers examine similarities and differences within/between groups.
• The studied group is often a representation of a larger population.
• Like longitudinal research, participants are observed without altering variables.
• A cross-sectional study analyzes data of variables collected at one point in time across a sample population or pre-defined subset, which is known as:
  • Cross-sectional analysis
  • Transverse study
  • Prevalence study