Armed and Dangerous A Stockpile of Valid Methodologies for Freshman Researchers HHMRI.ORG Thomasa Sanchez, MA Mänette Monroe, MD MEd FCAP

Agenda Defining Research Scientific Method Getting Started Research Design Steps Validity Funding

Defining Research Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing. Wehrner von Braun Father of modern rocket science

Defining Research Merriam-Webster Studious inquiry or examination; especially Investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts Revision of accepted theories in the light new facts Practical application of new/revised theories/laws

Scientific Methods Scientific Research: 1.Objective inquiry to minimize bias 2.Documentation Required - Sharing all data collected and methodologies used - Available for careful scrutiny and attempts to reproduce/verify 3.Full disclosure: what statistical methods were used.

Scientific Method Steps The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" ("I found it!") but rather "hmm....that's funny.” Isaac Asimov – Biochemistry professor and author Formulating a Research Question Hypothesis Make a prediction Test that prediction / Collect Data Analyze the data Discussion Conclusions – What went right/wrong – Future directions

Getting Started 1.IRB 2.Peer Review 3.Literature Review

Getting Started IRB College, university, or hospital affiliation? Relax or Connect Getting Connected: Departments of college, university, or hospital Why is affiliation important? – Institutional Review Board (IRB) Part of all academic research institutions, the Veteran Administration and hospitals that conduct research Oversees all research that involves human subjects Why is an IRB necessary? No peer reviewed journal will accept your research for publication without this!!

Getting Started Peer-Review Peer Review Publication A process by which a scholarly work (such as a paper or a research proposal) is checked by a group of experts in the same field to make sure it meets the necessary standards before it is published or accepted. – Merriam-Webster We desire to conduct research that is publishable and has practical applications. Examples of peer reviewed journals – Physical Therapy Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association – Rehabilitation Psychology American Psychological Association journal focusing on the science and practice of rehabilitation psychology

Getting Started Literature Review Scientific journals - similar topic Discover the story (background) of topic What have others done to try to answer this question? What will you do to try to find another answer? How will this add to the current body of knowledge? What methods of treatment and data analysis were used in other studies? This information will help you develop your study design

Designing Your Research Project Decisions Will you conduct qualitative or quantitative study? What are you trying to measure? What is going to be your treatment? How to recruit, select, and assign participants? Timeline Expectations

Designing Your Research Project Qualitative or Quantitative? Qualitative Research – Research in which the data are narrative descriptions or observations. – In most qualitative research, there is an emphasis on the influence of context. – Most often used in the social sciences. – Look for themes, trends, etc. Quantitative Research – Research in which the data are numbers and measurements. – In quantitative research, there is an emphasis on control of the variables in the study. – Explaining phenomena by collecting numerical data that are analyzed using mathematically based methods, in particular statistics. (Aliaga and Gunderson, 2000)

Designing Your Research Project Measurement What are you trying to measure? How will you measure it? Use validated methods when possible. Psychological Surveys Beck’s Depression InventoryII Adult Attachment Survey Physical Measurements with normative values – Six Minute Walk test – Sit and Reach

Designing Your Research Project Treatment Therapeutic riding Hippotherapy Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Mounted vs groundwork or a mixture

Designing Your Research Project Participants How will you identify and recruit participants? How many treatment/control participants? Will you offer incentives to the control group? How will you assign participants to either the treatment group or the control group? – Random assignment best-less threat to internal validity

Designing Your Research Project Timeline Expectations Literature review Recruitment of subjects Actual duration of treatment Analysis of data Writing the actual paper for publication Time from submission to publication

Validity Design to ensure maximum validity Internal Validity Approximate truth about inferences regarding cause- effect relationships. The key question in internal validity is whether observed changes can be attributed to your program or intervention and not to other possible causes. External Validity Degree to which the conclusions in your study would hold for other persons, other places, at other times. Can the results be generalized?

Internal Validity - Common Threats Experimenter Bias Occurs when the individuals who are conducting an experiment inadvertently affect the outcome. Confounding Variable An extraneous variable impacts the variables being studied so the results do not reflect the actual relationship between the variables under investigation. (Rival explanations) Selection Bias Refers to the problem that, at pre-test, differences between groups exist that may interact with the independent variable and thus be 'responsible' for the outcome. Mortality/Differential Attrition Occurs if inferences are made on the basis of only those participants that have participated from the start to the end.

Rosenthal/ Pygmalion Effects: phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, the better they perform. Aptitude–Treatment Interaction: Sample has have certain features that may interact with the independent variable, limiting generalizability. For example, volunteer subjects. Situation: All situational specifics (treatment conditions, time, location, lighting, noise, treatment administration, investigator, timing, scope and extent of measurement, etc. ) of a study potentially limit generalizability. Reactivity (Placebo, Novelty and Hawthorne effects): If relationships are found, they might not be generalizable to other settings or situations if the effects found only occurred as an effect of studying the situation. External Validity Common Threats

Funding Private Sources Insurance Providers for Health Services Grants (National Institute of Health - aka NIH, Government, General) University Research Initiatives

Agenda Defining Research Scientific Method Getting Started Research Design Steps Validity Funding

Armed and Dangerous A Stockpile of Valid Methodologies for Freshman Researchers HHMRI.ORG Thomasa Sanchez, MA Mänette Monroe, MD MEd FCAP