HCR 593: Module #5

1. Understand the relevance of methodology, design, sample populations, and settings as it pertains to research projects.
2. Submit a first draft review of the background (and introduction) of the literature that supports and surrounds your thesis/aim. This synthesis of research demonstrates how the research questions emerge. They highlight how the gap you are filling is a crucial one for attention. It provides evidence of the purpose of a project and outlines clear research question/s that are aligned with the methodology planned to execute this project.
3. Understanding and minimizing bias in research.

To Do

1. Continue to work on your independent applied project
2. Submit your background and introduction review of the literature due this module/week, (Sunday!):
   1. 1. Use the template provided, which provides prompts to help you organize your submission into parts that are important to include in the background of your project.
      2. This submission must include a clear aim at the end of the introduction and research questions.
      3. This submission must be a thorough review of the literature around your aim (again, if there is too much literature, then you must narrow the topic) and have clear themes supporting your thesis/aim. Themes are your method of synthesizing the literature you have reviewed in a way that is unique and comprehensive.
      4. This submission must be approved by the instructors, so take the time to carefully review your submission for clarity, alignment, and thoroughness specific to the topic. 
      5. `This submission provides the gap you are trying to fill, the goals of your research, and the research questions. It introduces the research that currently exists around your specific topic. This literature review logically brings together the purpose of your research with the methods you plan to use. You do not submit your methods section or results but they are clearly aligned with the literature review you submit.

Capstone Goals and Objectives Goals are broad statements of what the applied project hopes to accomplish. They create a setting for the applied project. Specific objectives are statements of the applied project research question(s). Objectives should be simple (not complex), specific (not vague), and stated in advance (not after the research is done). After statement of the primary objective, secondary objectives may be mentioned

Study Design  – **This section may not be applicable to your project

• The scientific integrity of the applied project and the credibility of the study data depend substantially on the study design and methodology. The design of the study should include information on the type of study, the research population or the sampling frame, and who can take part (e.g. inclusion and exclusion criteria, withdrawal criteria etc.), and the expected duration of the study.
• The same study can be described in several ways, and as complete a description of the study as possible should be provided. For example, you may want to describe the study as being epidemiologic or health policy or health and social behavioral research. It may also be described as observational or interventional; if observational, it may be either descriptive or analytic, if analytic it could either be cross-sectional or longitudinal etc. If experimental, it may be described as a controlled or a non-controlled study (this is not a comprehensive list).

Methodology

• The methodology section is the most important part of the protocol. It should include detailed information on the interventions to be made, procedures to be used, measurements to be taken, observations to be made etc.  If multiple sites are engaged in a specified protocol, methodology should be standardized and clearly defined.
• Interventions should be described in detail, including a description of the intervention, education, training etc. provided to groups or individuals.
• Describe the procedures to be conducted.  For example: a questionnaire survey, carrying out a focus group discussion as part of formative research, observation of the participant’s environment, etc.).
• Standardized and/or documented procedures/techniques should be described and bibliographic references, if not provided earlier should be provided. Instruments which are to be used to collect information (questionnaires, FGD (Focus Group Data) guides, observation recording form, case report forms etc.) must also be provided.

Ethical/Safety Considerations

• The protocol should have a description of ethical considerations relating to the study. This should not be limited to providing information on how or from whom the ethics approval will be taken, but this section should document the issues that are likely to raise ethical concerns. It should also describe how you, the investigator, plan to obtain informed consent from the research participants (the informed consent process).
• The safety of research participants is paramount, whether online or in person. Safety aspects of the research should always be kept in mind, and information provided in the protocol on how the safety of research participants will be ensured. This can include procedures for recording and reporting adverse events and their follow-up, for example. It is useful to remember that even administering a research questionnaire can have adverse effects on individuals – think about confidentiality or questions that may upset them.
• The safety of confidentiality and data keeping is also paramount.

Module 5: Producing the Applied Project: Elements of Your Methodology

This week we will review these sections of the methodology chapter.  Certain elements may not apply to your paper.

This section of your paper is a detailed account of exactly what you are going to do or  what you did. The key is to be very specific and not miss anything. What you  will write in your paper will tell your readers whether your results are valid, reliable, and could be used with confidence.

For a capstone, you need to share the rationale behind what you are doing and that each of your choices was a conscious and correct choice.

Remember – when writing this section, everything changes to future tense.  This is what you are going to do!

• Start by restating your aim and research questions
• Design of Study or applied project deliverable (i.e., SOP, comparison of countries, cause and effect, etc.)
  • Remember, always DEFINE your method using a seminal source. For example, Narrative Literature Review should be defined using a source for the reader. Cause and Effect analysis should also have a definition from a seminal source. New SOP creation, must also have a definition. 
• How was confidentiality maintained? 
• How did you verify you were thorough in the literature review search to support your aim?
  • Remember, reliability and validity is important here to describe for your readers, how you maintained these important constructs. That is why thoroughness is essential.
• What is the Setting
• People Involved and All Resources Needed
• Sample, including Access and Recruitment Methods
• Past Tense is used here

• Review of the Literature and Background/Introduction
  • Include what search terms you used and in which databases you found the articles and regulations (precisely, so no use of the words “etc.”).
  • What is your inclusion/exclusion?
  • How did you select the articles that made it into the final deliverable? What criteria were required for the article to include once you found the list of articles that met your search terms?
  • LIST exactly which articles made it into the final list
  • (this must be clear, so tables are often used to identify which articles are used and which articles offer which topic. Again, see the example in Module 4).
  • Clarify which articles offered information for which research question

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