Research methodology: research approaches and designs.
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Research Design↗
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Research methodology.
Research aims to reach valid conclusions through scientific enquiry. Valid conclusions can only be reached if bias is minimized or eliminated. Bias can potentially take place in the design, implementation, or analysis of a study. Various study designs reduce bias, and this article reviews some of the more common study designs in orthopaedic sports medicine. We also discuss bias and confounding factors as they relate to these studies.
Bias↗
Sports-related brain injury research: methodological difficulties associated with ambiguous terminology.
A basic premise underlying sound methodological research is that it is based on constructs that have a sound operational definition. Failure to do so impedes comparison with other relevant literature. In sports-related brain injury research, the varied criteria and inconsistent use of the term 'concussion' and its interchangeability with other generic terms such as mild/minor head injury, and mild brain injury exemplifies such a situation. This paper will background the issues involved and provide rationale to support a call for tightening the use of terminology in the area.
Athletic Injuries↗
Behavioral headache research: methodologic considerations and research design alternatives.
Behavioral headache treatments have garnered solid empirical support in recent years, but there is substantial opportunity to strengthen the next generation of studies with improved methods and consistency across studies. Recently, Guidelines for Trials of Behavioral Treatments for Recurrent Headache were published to facilitate the production of high-quality research. The present article compliments the guidelines with a discussion of methodologic and research design considerations. Since there is no research design that is applicable in every situation, selecting an appropriate research design is fundamental to producing meaningful results. Investigators in behavioral headache and other areas of research consider the developmental phase of the research, the principle objectives of the project, and the sources of error or alternative interpretations in selecting a design. Phases of clinical trials typically include pilot studies, efficacy studies, and effectiveness studies. These trials may be categorized as primarily pragmatic or explanatory. The most appropriate research designs for these different phases and different objectives vary on such characteristics as sample size and assignment to condition, types of control conditions, periods or frequency of measurement, and the dimensions along which comparisons are made. A research design also must fit within constraints on available resources. There are a large number of potential research designs that can be used and considering these characteristics allows selection of appropriate research designs.
Behavior Therapy↗
The nurse researcher: an added dimension to qualitative research methodology.
Nurse researchers are increasingly adopting qualitative methodologies for research practice and theory development. These approaches to research are, in many cases, more appropriate for the field of nursing inquiry than the previously dominant techno-rational methods. However, there remains the issue of adapting methodologies developed in other academic disciplines to the nursing research context. This paper draws upon my own experience with interpretive research to raise questions about the issue of nursing research within a social science research framework. The paper argues that by integrating the characteristics of nursing practice with the characteristics of research practice, the researcher can develop a 'nursing lens', an approach to qualitative research that brings an added dimension to social science methodologies in the nursing research context. Attention is drawn to the unique nature of the nurse-patient relationship, and the ways in which this aspect of nursing practice can enhance nursing research. Examples are given from interview transcripts to support this position.
Humans↗
Issues in methodological research: perspectives from researchers and commissioners.
OBJECTIVES: (1) Methodological research has few well-defined tools and processes analogous to those available for reviews and data collection in substantive health technology assessment. (2) This project was set up to obtain researchers' and others' views on the innovative projects on research methodology under the NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme and the usefulness of the research. (3) The study was intended to span both epistemological and management issues. (4) The following issues were explored: (a) the degree to which researchers would feel constrained by the "Cochrane" approach to systematic reviews when undertaking reviews of a methodological nature; (b) whether methodological projects may require exceptional design and management arrangements, in view of their novelty, subjectivity and complexity; (c) whether researchers would seek out other methods, in addition to undertaking reviews of argument, as a means of extending their understanding of methodological issues (there may be three categories of research methods in methodology: reviews of methodological argument, studies that use the literature as a source of data, and research that collects new primary data); (d) whether the Methodology Programme overall can be considered a "success". METHODS: (1) Telephone interviews were carried out on researchers (one senior and one junior per project), resulting in 35 interviews from 19 of the 20 target projects. (2) A qualitative postal survey was sent to 12 people who had played a key role in the development of the Methodology Programme; replies were received from six of them. (3) Analysis was undertaken of the hit rates for 29 projects on the NCCHTA website by the end of February and the end of May 1999, comparing those concerned with methodology (n = 10) and those concerned with other issues (n = 19). RESULTS: UNDERTAKING METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH: VIEWS OF RESEARCHERS: This section summarises the views of 35 researchers who were interviewed by telephone. RESULTS: UNDERTAKING METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH: VIEWS OF RESEARCHERS: (THE NATURE OF METHODOLOGICAL REVIEWS): (1) There was a reluctance among researchers to use the term "systematic review" in the methodological context. (2) Practical problems in undertaking methodological reviews were found at every stage of the research process. (a) In the initial search stage, preplanned strategies were difficult to maintain, owing to the need to respond to the problems of too few or too many references. (b) At the analysis stage, most studies were not formally weighted, but there was implicit weighting in researchers' views of their merits or relevance. (c) It was often only at the synthesis stage that researchers could see clearly what their study was able to do; iteration was frequently necessary at this point. (d) It was difficult to form simple conclusions and recommendations beyond summaries of what was known in the field. (e) Dissemination activities were most often directed to other health service researchers, with some attention to NHS policy makers and research commissioners. RESULTS: UNDERTAKING METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH: VIEWS OF RESEARCHERS (THE NEED FOR FLEXIBILITY): (1) Few researchers had amended their topic or methods once their research was under way, although some had made minor changes to their original plan, generally to refine the topic to fit the time or data available. (2) Changing a topic was seen as inappropriate unless checked with funders, but changes in research methods were viewed as reasonable because questions might be refined in the light of information gained or early thinking. RESULTS: UNDERTAKING METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH: VIEWS OF RESEARCHERS (THE QUESTION OF BIAS): (1) Few researchers considered that this kind of research could be undertaken or presented in a wholly unbiased way because of the need to assess the research studied. (2) Objectivity was nonetheless seen as something that researchers should strive towards. Efforts to do so included presenting data clearly, separating findings from discussion, covering all points of view, setting out their own assumptions and values, and testing their ideas on others known to have differing views. (3) The formal peer-review process was not seen to have made a difference here, primarily because of the stage at which referees become involved. RESULTS: UNDERTAKING METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH: VIEWS OF RESEARCHERS (PROJECT MANAGEMENT--TIMING AND TIME MANAGEMENT): (1) A majority of projects were completed within 3 months of their due date. Those studies completed roughly on time were considered to have efficient junior researchers and good project management, including clear deadlines for different stages of the research. (2) Some studies had severe problems of time management. Too much time tended to be spent on collecting and reading the literature and the writing stage was not always well planned. Referees' comments were also slow in coming. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
Attitude↗
Parse's research methodology and the nurse researcher-child process.
The Parse research method is a human science based nursing research methodology which views young children as partners in research about universal lived experiences. To view children in this way requires a considerable revision of the view of children assumed in many traditional theories of childhood and in research with children. In the human science paradigm, persons of all ages are viewed as human beings who make choices and assign meaning. In accord with the assumptions of the Parse research method, children are considered the experts about their health and capable of contributing to nurses' understanding of the human-universe-health process. The remarkable variation of children's thoughts, feelings and actions testifies to the complex and open nature of human becoming at all ages. Children's thoughts, feelings, and imaginings are made more accessible with the aid of art, stories, and play when offered in true presence.
Art Therapy↗
Research methodology in color research with textiles and clothing applications.
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Clothing↗
[Selection of research methodology. On the selection of methodology in nursing research].
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Humans↗
[Selection of research methodology. Single subject research].
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Female↗
Research methodology: implications for CAM pain research.
The National Cancer Institute's Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine established a series of expert panels to develop the state of the science in research methodologies in CAM cancer research. Panelists from both conventional and CAM research draw on their expertise in their relative fields to apply their knowledge and expertise to specific topic areas within cancer CAM. The first panel is focused on cancer symptom research. The discussion and conclusions raised by this panel primarily address pain research but are applicable to other symptoms as well. This article will focus on the panel presentations that are most applicable to CAM pain research in both cancer and noncareer pain populations, identifying the major challenges and conclusions offered by the panelists.
Clinical Trials as Topic↗
Research methodology search filters: are they effective for locating research for evidence-based veterinary medicine in PubMed?
OBJECTIVE: The study examined the effectiveness of research methodology search filters developed by Haynes and colleagues and utilized by the Clinical Query feature of PubMed for locating literature for evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM). METHODS: A manual review of articles published in 6 commonly read veterinary journals was conducted. Articles were classified by format (original study, review, general article, conference report, decision analysis, and case report) and purpose category (etiology, prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment). Search strategies listed in PubMed's Clinical Query feature were then tested and compared to the manually reviewed data to calculate sensitivity, specificity, and precision. RESULTS: The author manually reviewed 914 articles to identify 702 original studies. Search #1 included terms determined to have the highest sensitivity and returned acceptable sensitivities over 75% for diagnosis and treatment. Search #2 included terms identified as providing the highest specificity and returned results with specificities over 75% for etiology, prognosis, and treatment. DISCUSSION: The low precision for each search prompts the question: Are research methodology search filters practical for locating literature for the practice of EBVM? A study examining terms related to appropriate research methodologies for advanced clinical veterinary research is necessary to develop filters designed to locate literature for EBVM.
Animals↗
Phenomenologies as research methodologies for nursing: from philosophy to researching practice.
This paper is concerned with the popularity of phenomenologies and the tensions that arise from their use as research methodologies in nursing. Among these tensions are: the troublesome issues of adapting a fundamentally philosophical means of understanding human being(s) for use as a more pragmatic and robust research approach in a practice discipline; the various types of phenomenology and the confusions that surround these and other interpretive methodologies, particularly within different intellectual and cultural traditions; and the need for nursing to find a space in which it can give voice to aspects of its practice that are silenced in less existentially oriented methodologies. Although phenomenologies are currently popular and possibly fashionable in nursing, there are important issues in relation to their use in a methodological sense that remain to be addressed.
Culture↗
Grounded theory as feminist research methodology.
Feminist research is evolving, and with it new methods of doing science. In this feminist post-positivist era, grounded theory, while less inclusive and descriptive than ethnography, allows for complex analysis of complex questions. While Glaser & Strauss (the originators of this methodology) have written about grounded theory in an esoteric way, others have written extensively about this method in a much clearer and less rigid fashion. In this paper we discuss how grounded theory could be used in a creative and constantly evolving manner for feminist research.
Female↗
Understanding the research methodology: should we trust the researchers' conclusions?
Understanding the methodology section of research articles is difficult for those unfamiliar with research design, but is essential for judging the credibility of the researchers' findings. The methodology section describes measures taken to avoid reaching the wrong conclusions. When comparing two or more treatments, researchers might find a difference in treatments when none exists (type I error) or not find a difference when there actually is one (type II error). Type I errors are minimized by random assignment to treatment and control groups, double blinding, ensuring that the treatment under study is the only difference between groups, and setting the level of significance in advance. Type II errors are minimized by using an adequately sized, homogenous sample, increasing the treatment strength, measuring precisely, and using appropriate statistics. The purpose of this article is to explain these common experimental strategies and statistical terms.
Bias↗
[Selection of research methodology. Qualitative vs. quantitative research or qualitative and quantitative research?].
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Nursing↗
The potential contribution of emancipatory research methodologies to the field of child health.
The knowledge production of researchers interested in improving the health-care of young clients through the employment of emancipatory research methodologies may be limited by the complexity that working with young children presents to the research process. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether emancipatory research methodologies have application within the context of research with children. Critical examination of the challenges inherent in emancipatory research with children reveals that the application of aspects of these approaches presents possibilities for contributing significantly to our knowledge development for the nursing of children.
Age Factors↗
Playing at research: methodological pluralism and the creative researcher.
In its quest for acceptance by the scientific community, mental health nursing research has developed an unhealthy obsession with methodological rigour. This paper draws on the work of several writers from the philosophy of social science to argue that this focus on methodology stifles individual creativity and acts as a gatekeeper to the profession which excludes many of our brightest and most creative researchers. The author proposes a new approach to doing research that facilitates the creative process by encouraging a playful approach that temporarily abandons the accepted rules and methods of the research process in favour of an 'anarchistic epistemology' and a variety of unusual and not necessarily externally validated methods. It is only at the end of the research process that valid and generalizable methods are introduced, and the author calls for journals to open a creative dialogue by being more willing to publish papers describing the early, exploratory stages of research, based on a judgement of their creativity and innovation.
Creativity↗