Research Methods Exam 1
What is the formula for a research question
"Is [exposure] related to [disease / outcome] in [population]?"
What is an example of anecdotal evidence
"Wow! I took this purple weight-loss pill and lose 10 lbs. It must work!"
What are the five steps of research
1.Identify a study question 2.Select a general study approach 3.Design the study and collect data 4.Analyze data 5.Write and share a report about the findings
What format are corporate authors put in for citations
Corporate Author: If a group or organization is readily identified by an acronym, spell it out only the first time Example: •First Time: "According to a government study (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2000) ...." •Next Time: "According to a study by NIMH (2000)...."
What are block quotes
Quotations of 40 or more words, double-spaced from the text, single spaced within
What does population mean
a group of individuals, communities, or organizations
What is a case definition
a list of the inclusion and exclusion criteria that must be met in order for an individual to be classified as a person with the disease of interest in a case series, a case-control study, or another type of study
What is meant by anecdotal evidence
informal evidence based on individual experiences or observation
What is tertiary prevention
interventions that reduce impairment, minimize pain and suffering, and prevent death in people with symptomatic health problems
What is replicability
means that a study protocol implemented in a new study population should generate results similar to those of the original study
What are gaps in the literature
missing pieces of information in the scientific body of knowledge that a new study could fill
What are vital statistics
population-level measurements related to births, deaths, and other demographic characteristics
What is the methods section of a research article
presents details about the processes used for data collection and analysis •The study design that was used •The methods for collecting data •How data were cleaned, coded, and analyzed •Ethical considerations
What are primary sources in scientific literature
primary sources get as close as possible to original ideas, events, and empirical studies. Examples of primary sources include: primary peer-reviewed, scholarly, research articles with original research (experimental research results or original qualitative analysis); survey research (e.g. market surveys, public opinion polls); speeches, proceedings of conferences and symposia; interviews with key informants.
What are the three types of prevention
primary, secondary, tertiary
What are replication studies
repeat a study protocol in a new population as part of attempting to confirm that the original findings were not due to chance
What is a tertiary study
review and synthesize the existing literature
What does the term research mean
the process of systematically and carefully investigating a topic in order to discover new insights
Do direct quotations require page numbers
yes
What is an abstract database
§a collection of abstracts that allows researchers to search for articles using keywords or other search terms
What are the components of a title page
•Paper title •Author names •Author affiliation •Course number and name for which the paper is being submitted •Instructor name •Assignment due date •Page number (top right)
How are the authors of an article listed in a citation
•Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work •Authors' names are listed as last name, first initial -Give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular article for up to and including nineteen authors
What do you do for reprints for citations
•Reprints: Cite the original publication date and reprint date if both are known. Example: (James, 1890/1983) or (Kohut, 1972/1978).
What is the format of the journal title in a citation
•Should be italicized •Should be written out in full and not abbreviated -May have to look up abbreviations -IMAJ à Israel Medical Association Journal •Don't change punctuation or capitalization used by journal in its title •Capitalize all major words in journal title
When using direct quotations where does the citation go
•The citation comes immediately after the quote, even when it is not at the end of a sentence.
What is the format for the date of the citation
•The date goes in parentheses and a period follows that •Only the YEAR should be listed for the date; do NOT include a month or day
What is the basic format for the reference page of a paper
•This page should be titled "References" and should be bolded and centered •List references alphabetically by first author's last name • •All references should be single spaced with a double space in between references • •For each reference, the first line is flush with the left margin. Any additional lines should be indented one half inch from the left margin, which is called a hanging indent.
What do you do for translations of classics in citations
•Translations of Classics: Note the date of the translation. Example: (Aristotle, trans. 1931).
When do you use a case series study design
•Unique cases that cannot be explained by already known conditions •Cases show a variation of an already known disease •Unexpected events that may yield new information •Where new issues and ideas emerge and are shared
What is the format for the title of the article in a citation
•Use sentence case -The first word of the title of the article is capitalized. The only other things that are capitalized are proper nouns or first word after a colon
What is the format of the journal volume number in a citation
•Volume number can usually be found on title page of journal article •Volume number should be in italics in your reference •There may be an issue number as well, but not all journals have them. If there is one, it will be found in parentheses after the volume number. If this is available, you should include it in your reference
How do you cite multiple works by the same author
•When citing multiple works by the same author, arrange dates in order. •Use letters after years to distinguish multiple publications by the same author in the same year. Example: (Smith, 1998, 2000a, 2000b).
What is the results section
•contains key findings presented via text as well as tables and figures •A results section typically starts with a description of the study population that identifies the number of participants and the demographics of the participants (such as their distribution by age and sex) •Additional results of quantitative and/or qualitative analyses are then provided, using tables and figures when possible
What is an unstructured abstract
•is a narrative research summary that does not use section titles to divide the content of the paragraph
What is a table
•is the concise presentation of key findings in a grid
What does coherence mean
•is the quality of being logical and consistent by demonstrating the alignment of the study goals, the selected methodologies, and the featured results and conclusions
What is the discussion section
•usually begins with a brief summary of the key findings of the new study, then compares the new findings to the prior literature on the topic, acknowledges the limitations of the study, and summarizes the implications and conclusions of the study •The key findings presented at the start of a discussion section should align with the aims, objectives, or hypotheses spelled out in the last paragraph of the introduction section •All conclusions must stem directly from the results of the study
What is the definition of medicine
the practice of preventing, diagnosing, and treating health problems in individuals and families
What does sign mean
-an objective indication of disease that can be clinically observed, such as a rash, cough, fever, or elevated blood pressure
How are block quotes formatted
-Indent entire block quote five spaces (one-half inch, 1.25 cm). -The first line of the first paragraph of a block quote is not additionally indented. -The first line of each paragraph after the first paragraph is indented. -Add the citation to the end of the block quote after the final punctuation.
How is analysis done in case series (calculations)
-Most case study reports do not require any numbers beyond simple counts and percentages -Statistical tests may be used to compare subpopulations of cases or to compare before-and-after measures for the same individual participants when the sample size is sufficiently large
What is an experimental study?
An experimental study (also called an intervention study) assigns participants to receive a particular exposure
What is an observational study?
An observational study does not intentionally expose any participants to an intervention or ask any participants to change their behaviors
What ethical considerations must be made fpr case series
Ethical consideration for data collection includes that researchers must be extremely careful about protecting patient privacy
What does MeSH stand for?
Medical Subject Headings
What are secondary sources
Secondary sources analyze, review or restate information in primary sources. They contain commentary on and discussion of evidence. Examples of secondary sources include: review articles and literature reviews; meta-analyses (can be considered primary); scholarly articles that don't present new experimental research results; commentaries; magazine and newspaper articles.
What are tertiary sources
Tertiary sources provide overviews of topics by synthesizing information gathered from other resources. Examples of tertiary sources include: encyclopedias (not Wikipedia); textbooks; government or national organization websites.
How does research affect policy
The findings from research shape the decision making for policy development
What is meant by the study duration
The time required for collecting and analyzing data varies from study to study §Researchers with limited budgets or timelines need to select study approaches that align with their resources and time constraints
What is an abstract
a one-paragraph summary of an article, chapter, or book
What does exposure mean
a personal characteristic, behavior, environmental encounter, or intervention that might change the likelihood of developing a health condition
What is a case series
a report that describes a group of individuals who have the same disease or disorder or who have undergone the same procedure
What is a case report
a report that describes one patient
What is the definition of health
a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
What does symptom mean
a subjective indication of illness that is experienced by an individual but cannot be directly observed by others
What does MeSH mean
a vocabulary thesaurus that can be used for searches of MEDLINE and other health science databasesScra
What is a keyword when doing research
a word, a MeSH term, or a short phrase that can be used in a database search
What does outcome mean
an observed event such as the presence of disease in a participant in an observational study or the measured endpoint in an experimental study
What is a secondary study
analyze existing data
Where does the reference page go in a paper
at the end
What is a primary study
collect new data from individuals
What are ICD codes
diagnostic categorizations based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), more formally called the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems
What is the definition of clinical research
evaluates the best ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat adverse health issues that adversely affect individuals and families
What portion of the citation is hanging
every line after the first
What is internal validity?
evidence that a study measured what it intended to measure
What is the definition of population health research
focuses on the health outcomes and the determinants of health in groups of humans
What is primary prevention
health behaviors and other protective actions that help keep an adverse health event from occurring in people who do not already have the condition
What is a structured abstract
is a research summary that uses subheadings like Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion
What does concept mapping mean
is a visual method for listing ideas and then grouping them to reveal relationships
What is a graph
is an illustration of quantitative results, such as a scatterplot or a line graph that shows the values of a numeric variable over time
What is the introduction of a research article
is the first section of a scientific report, and it provides critical information a reader must know to understand the methods and results of the article, such as presenting the foundational theories that informed the study and defining critical terms
What is end matter
is the information that some journals list between the end of the main text of an article and the start of the reference list, such as: •acknowledgments of people who assisted with the study but who did not meet authorship criteria •a list of all funding sources •disclosures of possible conflicts of interest
What does the term brainstorming mean
is the process of generating long lists of spontaneous ideas about possible research questions
What does transparency mean
is the quality of being open and clear about the methods and results of a research study
What are the two forms of a title page
student and professional
What are CPT codes
the Current Procedural Terminology codes published by the American Medical Association
What does testability mean
the ability of a research question to be answered using experiments or other types of measurements
What is the definiton of public health
the actions taken to promote health and prevent illnesses, injuries, and early deaths at the population level
What is originality in research
the aspects of a new research project that are novel and will allow it to make a unique contribution to the health science literature
What is the definition of determinants of health
the biological behavioral, social environmental, political and other factors that influence the health status of individuals and populations
What is secondary prevention
the detection of health problems in asymptomatic (non-symptomatic) individuals at an early stage when the conditions have not yet caused significant damage to the body and can be treated more easily
What is the definition of health research
the investigation of health and disease or any of the factors that contribute to the presence or absence or physical, mental, and social health among individuals, families, communities, nations, or the world population
What is external validity?
the likelihood that the results of a study with internal validity can be generalized to other populations, places, and times
What is the format of the page numbers in a citation
• This gives the range of pages for journal articles •Note it is a RANGE so there should be two numbers separated by a hyphen •The first number is the first page on which article appears and the second is the last page of the article's text •Do NOT write "pages or pp" before the page range •If the journal article has an article number instead of a page range, include the word "Article" and then the article number instead of the page range.
What is a figure
• is the visual presentation of key findings in the form of a diagram, flowchart, drawing, map, photograph, or other graphic
What are personal communications and how do you format them in citations
•: Emails and other "unrecoverable data" are cited as personal communications. •These sources do not appear in the References section. Example: (J. Smith, personal communication, November 7, 2016).
What do you do if the author of an article is anonymous for a citation
•Anonymous: If the work specifically carries the designation "Anonymous" in place of the author's name, use Anonymous as the author. -Otherwise the work has no author. Example: (Anonymous, 2016).
What are the parts of a complete reference
•Authors •Date •Journal article title •Journal title •Volume number •Page range •DOI Number
What is the basic formatting of in-text citations
•Citations are important because they allow the writer to introduce scholarly information that supports the purpose and main argument of the paper. •The American Psychological Association (APA) writing style utilizes the author-date or parenthetical system of citation. •This system takes the form of (Author, Date, and Page [if relevant]). •An Author Date citation must agree with the Author Date on the Reference page.
Where are in text citations placed
•Citations to references follow their referral in the text. •If an author's name is mentioned in the text, it is not repeated in the citati
What are the basic formatting components of the title page (font, size, etc.)
•Consistent font and font size throughout paper -Recommended: Times New Roman (size 12), Calibri (size 11), Arial (size 11) •Title is three to four lines down from top of page •Double Spaced •One inch margins all around •Title is written in Heading Capitalization
What is the format of the DOI number in a citation
•DOI stands for digital object identifier •It is akin to a digital fingerprint... each article is assigned one and it can be used to easily identify and locate the article • Ways to identify DOI number -http://dx.doi.org/ (e.g.: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0028240) -Begins with 10 followed by a period (e.g: 10.1037/a0028240) •It should be written in this format and as a hyperlink https://doi.org/xxxxx •This should be included at end of citation •Do not put DOI before it
What are E-documents and how are they formatted in a citation
•E-documents: When quoting electronic documents without page numbers, cite paragraph numbers if given, after the paragraph symbol ¶ or abbreviation para. Example: (Smith, 2017, ¶ 17). (Smith, 2017, para. 17). •If there are no paragraph numbers, cite the nearest preceding section heading and count paragraphs from there. Example: (Smith, 2017, Method section, para. 4).
How do you cite the same citation with multiple sources
•For a citation that uses more than one source, place the authors and dates in alphabetical order separated by a semicolon. •Example: (Glanz et al., 2015; Hoffman & Froemke, 2007; Inaba & Cohen, 2014)
What is the format of listing authors in a citation if there are only two authors
•If only two authors are listed: use an ampersand (&) between the two authors
What do you to if your article doesn't have an author for a citation
•If the author is unknown, use the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title). •Use heading caps in the text when noting a title (sentence caps in references). Example: Study finds that many persons suffering from major depression do not receive treatment (APA Monitor, 2016). Citation: ("Study Finds," 2016).
What is the format of listing authors in a citation if there are three to twenty authors
•If three to twenty authors are listed use an ampersand between the last two authors
What is the format of listing authors in a citation if there are twenty or more authors
•If twenty one or more authors are listed, list the names of the first 19 followed by . . . And then the last author's name
What do you do if the author of a paper is an organization
•In some cases, an organization may be the author. For example the "American Psychological Association". American Psychological Association. (2003). •If there is the same first author for multiple articles list them earliest to latest by year