Introduction To Research Methods PDF 2023 UCCSMS

D. A. Tuoyire, Ph.D  Lateness  Mobile Phones – WhatsApp???  Informal conversations in class  Exiting class  Deadlines  Tolerance Students should be able to:  Define research and explain its importance in the field of health and allied sciences  Distinguish between types a...

D. A. Tuoyire, Ph.D  Lateness  Mobile Phones – WhatsApp???  Informal conversations in class  Exiting class  Deadlines  Tolerance Students should be able to:  Define research and explain its importance in the field of health and allied sciences  Distinguish between types and approaches to research  Understand the basic research process cycle  Appreciate and apply research design, particularly the survey research design  Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyse information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue.  The scientific, systematic, rigorous investigation of a situation or problem in order to generate new knowledge or validate existing knowledge.  Basically 3 steps:  Pose a question.  Collect data to answer the question.  Present an answer to the question  Research Adds to Our Knowledge  contribute to existing information about issues (like a brick wall)  fill a knowledge gap  Research Improves Practice  new ideas to improve  evaluate approaches  Research Informs Policy Debates  weighing various perspectives Ontology Epistemology Methodology Methods Sources What’s out there What & to know? how can How can we know we go about it? about Which acquiring precise that procedures knowledge can we use ? to acquire it? Which data can we collect?  Positivism Critical Relativism realism (Interpretivism/C onstructivism)  Single vs multiple realities? Reality ‘out there’ vs socially constructed?  Is knowledge generated only by observation of facts and/or by meanings people make of reality and how they make it?  Research as analysis of facts vs as generation of working hypotheses?  Researcher influence over subject of investigation? Positivism Relativism Social science Epidemiology/Clinical science Reality is constructed by actors drawing on There are a set of their contexts facts to be gathered (different parallel (one reality) realities)  Driven by a scientist's curiosity or interest in a scientific question.  The main motivation is to expand man's knowledge.  There is no obvious commercial value to the discoveries that result from basic research.  For example, basic science investigations probe for answers to questions such as: How did the universe begin? What are protons, neutrons, and electrons composed of? What is the specific genetic code of the fruit fly?  Scientificstudy and research that seeks to solve practical problems.  Applied research is used to find solutions to everyday problems, cure illness, and develop innovative technologies, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake.  Forexample, applied researchers may investigate ways to: Treat or cure a specific disease Alternative sources of fuel Quantitative Research Qualitative Research Mixed Methods Research  Other Aspects Other Aspects Methods Methods Data Data Quantitative Research Qualitative research  Quantitative Research Qualitative Research  Refers to the systematic  Deals with phenomena empirical investigation of that are difficult or any phenomena via impossible to quantify statistical/mathematical mathematically, such as or computational beliefs, meanings, techniques experiences, and symbols  Predetermined  Emergent  Instrument based  Open-ended questions questions  Interview, observation,  Performance, attitude, document and audio-visual observation and census data data  Text and image analysis  Statistical analysis  Themes, patterns  Statistical interpretation interpretation I want to understand the world from your point of view. I want to know what you know in the way that you know it. I want to understand the meaning of your experience, to walk in your shoes, to feel things as your feel them, to explain things as you explain them. Will you become my teacher and help me understand?  Advantages Limitations  Draw conclusions for large  Impersonal, dry numbers of people  Do not have the words of  Efficient data analysis the participants  Demonstrate relationships  Limited understanding of context of participants  Examine probable cause and effect  Largely researcher driven  Bias controlled  People like numbers  Advantages Limitations  Detailed perspective of a  Limited generalizability few people  Soft data, not as hard as  Can hear voices of numbers participants  Few people studied  Understand participants experiences within  Highly interpretive context  Reliance on participants  Built from views of minimizes researcher‘s participants, not expertise researcher (more realistic)  People like stories  Refers to the systematic empirical investigation of any phenomena via statistical/mathematical or computational techniques  Aims to measure, test, describe and predict phenomena by searching for regularities and causal relationships  Deterministic – causes determine effects/outcomes  Investigates questions such as  How much?, How often?  What is the relationship?  What is the difference? Advantages  Quantitative research allows the researcher to measure and analyse data  Theresearcher is more objective about the findings of the research  Can be used to test hypotheses in experiments because of its ability to measure data using statistics. Disadvantages  The main disadvantage of quantitative research is that the context of the study or experiment is ignored  Does not study things in a natural setting or discuss the meaning things have for different people A large sample of the population must be studied for more accurate results  Deals with phenomena that are difficult or impossible to quantify mathematically, such as beliefs, meanings, experiences, and symbols  Relativististic and can only be understood from the view point of the individual directly involved  Aims to gather an in-depth understanding and richly describe human behaviour and the reasons that govern such behaviour.  Investigates the WHY and HOW  Not merely the WHAT, WHERE, WHEN Advantages  It enables more complex aspects of a persons experience to be studied  Fewer restriction or assumptions are placed on the data to be collected.  Not everything can be quantified, or quantified easily, Individuals can be studied in more depth  It is naturalistic and interpretive  The participants are able to provide data in their own words and in their own way Disadvantages  There is more subjectivity involved in analysing the data  Itis more difficult to determine the validity and reliability of linguistic data  “Data overload” – open-ended questions can sometimes create lots of data, which can take along time to analyse!  Time consuming Quantitative Research Qualitative Research  Reporting and Identifying a Research Reviewing the Evaluating Problem Literature Research Specifying a problem Locating resources Deciding on audiences Selecting resources Justifying it Structuring the report Summarizing resources Writing the report Suggesting beneficial sensitively audiences f Analyzing and Specifying a Purpose Interpreting Data for Research Collecting data f Identifying the purpose Breaking down the Selecting individuals to study statement data Obtaining permissions Narrowing the purpose Representing the Gathering information statement to research data objectives, questions or Explaining the data hypothesis f = feed back(helps in controlling the sub system  Research problem is typically an issue/problem that needs to be studied.  Research problem is a clear expression of issues, controversies, or concerns that point the need for meaningful understanding and deliberate investigation  Practical research problems  Everyday issues or concerns  Research-based research problem  The need for further research Things to consider in deciding if a Research problem CAN and SHOULD be researched:  Can you gain access to People and Sites?  Do you have the Time, Resources and Skills?  Will studying the problem contribute to Knowledge and Practice? Study the problem if your study:  Fills a gap or void in the literature  Replicates a past study but examines different participants/research sites  Extends past research or examine a topic more thoroughly  Reconciles conflicting evidence  Addresses a methodological flaw A statement which stimulates an issue of concern  What is the size of the public health problem being studied?  Globally,  Regionally  Locally  What are the causes of the problem?  Why does the problem exist?  Is the more than one cause?  What are the effects of the problem being studied?  At the individual level  Public health effect A good problem statement should include the following key components: 1. A concise statement of the situation that need to be changed. What is the problem? What is the scale of the problem What is causing the problem ? What are the consequences of the problem? Who/what is affected? What links the problem to the purpose of the project? 1. Discuss and agree the problem or issue to be analysed Consequences 2. Identify the causes of the focal problem – these become the roots 3. Identify the consequences – which become the branches Problem Causes  What body of knowledge currently exist on the problem you plan to examine?  Who? What? How much?... Importance of literature review  To document how your study adds to the existing literature  To demonstrate that you know and can summarize the literature on your topic  To builds your research skills on info retrieval and how to follows leads in the literature  Helps you learn how others have composed similar research  Helps you find useful examples and models in the literature for your own research 1. Identify key terms 2. Locate literature  Academic libraries  Primary and secondary sources 3. Critically evaluate and select the literature  Is it a good/accurate source?  Is it relevant? 4. Organize the literature  Abstracting or taking notes  Developing a visual diagram 5. Write a literature review  Style manual (citation and referencing)  Strategies (Extent, Thematic vs Study-by-Study review)  A Classification of Sources of Literature Review Materials Low Ideas Standards Appear First to Ensure Early Stage Material Quality Papers posted on Web site, professional association newsletters, drafts of papers for conference presentation Indexed Publications Conference papers, dissertations, theses, professional association papers, college and university publications Journal Articles Refereed, non-refereed, international, national, regional, state Books Research studies, essays Summaries Ideas High Standards Encyclopedias, research reviews, Appear 10+ to Ensure Years After handbooks, abstracts Quality Initiation  This provides critical information to readers about the direction of a research study  It raises questions that the research will answer through the data collection process  Approaches  Purpose statement  Research objectives  Research questions  Research Hypotheses The purpose statement  A statement that advances the overall direction or focus for the study  Describes the purpose of a study in one or more succinctly formed sentences  The purpose statement should contain: Research method/approach Central phenomenon Specific participants Specific research location(s) Structure The purpose of this [research method] is to [determine, describe, explain, understand, explore, conceptualize, assess] the [state the specific phenomenon you want to study] among [specific participants] in the [specific research location(s)] Example: Purpose statement OBESITY AMONG WOMEN IN GHANA Structure  Thepurpose of this [research method] is to [determine, describe, explain, understand, explore, conceptualize, assess] the [state the specific phenomenon you want to study] among [specific participants] in the [specific research location(s)]  ….The study therefore employs [mixed-methods techniques] in [assessing factors associated] with [obesity] among [women] in [Ghana]. Research Objectives A statement of intent that specifies goals that the investigator plans to achieve in a study  Types:  Major/main and  Minor/specific objectives  Functions:  Drives the study  Informs research approach  Informs data collection and analysis process  S.M.A.R.T. objectives  Specify variables (dependent vs. independent) Example: Research Objectives OBESITY AMONG WOMEN IN GHANA The major goal of the study is to assess obesity among women in Ghana. The specific objectives are to: 1. Compare the socio-demographic factors associated with obesity between parous and nulliparous women 2. Examine the behavioural factors associated with obesity among women 3. Discuss the perceptions of women about obesity, and 4. Understand the experiences of women regarding overweight and obesity Research Questions  Questions that narrow the purpose statement to specific questions that researchers seek to answer  They relate attributes or characteristics of individuals/organizations  Does the prevalence of obesity vary with the parity of women?  Therelate to the central concept being explored  What does obesity mean for women? Research Hypotheses  Statements which predict or conjecture about the outcome of a relationship among attributes or characteristics  Based on results from past research and literature  Two types of hyes  Null hypothesis  H0:There is no significant difference in the prevalence obesity between parous and nulliparous women  Alternate hypothesis  H1:There is a significant difference in the prevalence obesity between parous and nulliparous women  Distinguishing among Various Forms of Direction in Research Purpose Research Research Research Statement Questions Hypotheses Objectives Intent Questions Predictions Overall Goals to be direction to be about accomplished answered expectations Form One or One or One or more more One or more more objectives statements questions statements Use Quantitative Quantitative Quantitative Typically Qualitative Qualitative Quantitative End of introduction, after literature review, or in Placement End of Intro a separate section of the study GENERAL the broad subject matter addressed by the study. Topic a general educational issue, concern, or controversy Problem addressed in research that narrows the topic. the major intent or objective of the study used to Purpose address the problem. narrow the purpose into specific questions that the Questions researcher would like answered or addressed in the study SPECIFIC A variable is a characteristic (personal aspect) or attribute (feel, behave, or think) of an individual or an organization that:  (a) researchers can measure or observe and  (b) varies among individuals or organizations Type of Variables: Quantitative and qualitative  Quantitative (numerical) variables: They are naturally measured as numbers e.g. age, systolic blood pressure, number of malaria episodes, number of telecommunication companies in a particular district, number of children/wives, height, weight etc.  Quantitative variables are either discrete or continuous.  Continuous variable is a measurement on a continuous scale. It can assume any value within a specified relevant interval of values assumed by the values eg height, weight, and temperature of a patient  Discrete variable can only take a limited number of discrete. values, which are usually whole numbers. That is they are variables that cannot assume any other value between two specific whole number eg number of students in a class, number of deaths recorded, number of accidents in a week etc.  Qualitative (or categorical) variables: The measurement scale consist of set of categories  e.g. political party affiliation, marital status, education level, sex (male/female), disease status (not diseased/diseased), HIV status (Positive, negative), employment status (employed, unemployed), Wealth index (Poorest, poor, rich, richest), quality of life (Excellent, very good, good, bad, worse).  A binary variable is a particular type of categorical variable, which has only two levels of the factor or only two possible values. It is also known as dichotomous.  Nominal variables  Ordinal variables Why???  In order to choose appropriate data analysis and statistical methods, it is very important to distinguish between dependent and independent variables, in addition to identifying the types of each of the variables in the data set.  The dependent variable is the variable of interest, whose variation or occurrence we are seeking to understand.  The independent variable is the variable that may influence the size or the occurrence of the outcome variable.  The purpose of statistical analysis is to quantify the magnitude of the association between one or more independent variables and the dependent variable  A number of different terms are used to describe the dependent and independent variables, depending on the context.  Some common examples of the depended and independent pairs are:  Response and explanatory variables;  Outcome and exposure variables;  y and x variables;  Case-control status and risk factors Examples 1: A study was conducted to assess the risk factors associated with diabetes. Example 2: Weekly gross revenue and amount used in television advertising Example 3: Examining the effect of aspirin on myocardial infarction. Example 4: Number of share selling and expected price Example 5: The impact of NHIS on mortality rate in Ghana. In each of the examples above, identify the outcome and the exposure variable (s) being considered  The four measurement scale in Statistics:  Nominal  Ordinal  Interval  Ratio  Nominal Scale: They do not have natural ordering and numbers associated with categories only serve as labels.  They do not have magnitude, no equal interval and no absolute zero e.g. gender, eye color, race, region, religion, lab results e.tc.  VIP: They are all categorical/ Qualitative variables  Ordinal Scale: They have natural ordering and are ranked in some measure of magnitude.  Numbers assigned to group express a “greater than relationship”; however how much greater than is not implied.  They do not have equal interval eg stages of HIV and AIDs, Health condition of TB patients ( very, bad, good, better, best)  VIP: They are all categorical/ Qualitative variables Interval Scale:  It has magnitude and equal interval but does not have absolute zero.  It uses numbers to indicate order and reflects a meaningful relative distance b/n points on the scale.  You cannot construct meaningful ratios or fractions with interval scale variables eg temperature of patients  VIP: They are all quantitative variables Ratio scale  It has magnitude, equal interval and absolute zero.  It uses numbers to indicate order and reflects a meaningful relative distance b/n points on the scale.  You can construct a meaningful ratios or fractions with ratio scale variables e.g. age, height, weight, serum level of patients e.t.c.  VIP: They are all quantitative variables Scale Scale of Scale Qualities Example(s) Level Measurement Magnitude 4: Age, Height, Weight, Ratio Equal Intervals Strongest Percentage Absolute Zero Magnitude 3 Interval Temperature Equal Intervals Likert Scale, Anything 2 Ordinal Magnitude rank ordered 1: Nominal None Names, Lists of words Weakest Primary Data  Questionnaires  Observations  Interviews Secondary Data  Data repositories  Public records and statistics  Historical documents etc WHO/WHAT will be studied?  Unit of analysis (who can supply the needed information)  individual, family, community, multiple levels  Unit of analysis may vary between independent and dependent variable  Population/universe  Similar characteristics  Target population(sampling frame)  Readily identifiable with similar characteristics  Sample  subgroup of the target population  Representativeness  Sample Size Population and sample Target Population Sample Sample Population Random/probability Non- Random/Non- Probability  Simple Random  Convenience  Systematic  Purposive  Stratified  Snowball  Multistage Cluster  Quota  Permissions and Ethical issues in actual data collections Systematic random sampling  “Qualitative inquiry typically focuses on depth in relatively small samples, even single cases, selected purposefully.” Purpose should always be made clear “The logic and power of purposeful sampling lies in selecting information-rich cases for study in-depth.” (Patton, 1990) For example… Stratified purposive sampling: illustrates characteristics of particular subgroups of interest; facilitates comparisons Extreme/deviant case sampling: disconfirming cases (i.e., those who are “exceptions to the rule”) Snowball sampling: identifies cases of interest from people who know people who know people who know what cases are information rich Maximum variation sampling: documents unique or diverse variations that have emerged in adapting to different conditions Data saturation means that no new themes, findings, concepts or problems relevant for the study emerge through the data collection process. Amos Laar, PhD Data preparation  Software for inputting  Coding and inputting data  Data cleaning Themes/Patterns Qualitative Data Data analyses Analysis Process Cut across codes, concepts to give pattern  Descriptive  Inferential Codes  Thematic approach labels for specific segments of data, building blocks of analysis Data interpretation  Report results Text/Raw data  Discuss key findings (Transcripts) Preliminary pages  Title page  Certificate of supervisor  Abstract  Table of contents  Preface  Acknowledgement  Listing of tables  Listing of figures  Abbreviations Main text  Chapter 1: Introduction  Background of the study  Statement of the problem  Research Questions/Objectives/Hypotheses  Significance/justification/relevance of study  Chapter 2: Literature review  Chapter 3: Methodology  Chapter 4: Results and discussion  Chapter 5: Summary, conclusion and recommendations End matter  Bibliography/References  Appendix  Bibliography  Glossary  The title  Background of the study  Statement of the problem  Research Questions/Objectives/Hypotheses  Significance/justification/relevance of study  Methodology  Time schedule  Budget