The Research Question

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The Research Question

• 1st step is to identify the problem
• controls the direction of all subsequent planning
  and analysis
• analytic and evolutionary process
• involves a thorough review of literature
• specifies which factor or behaviors will be
  examined and what type of data will be collected

2
Hypothesis

• - educated guess about the outcome of a study.
  Guides the investigation and subsequent analysis
  of data

3
Variable

• A property that can differentiate members of a
  group or set. It must vary or have more than one
  value. (e.g. BP, joint angle )
• (X) Independent Variable (IV) - treatment
  variable that is manipulated or controlled by the
  researcher
• (Y) Dependent Variable (DV) - effect variable,
  one that is measured as a result of IV. DV Is a
  factor of the IV.
• Y f (X)

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Variable

• Extraneous Variable
• Qualitative Variable - variations in a type (e.g.
  treatment US or HP, labels or numbers)
• Quantitative Variable - represents variations in
  amount
• (e.g. time of treatment)

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Identifying the Research Question

• Questions revolve around
• 1.Gap in knowledge
• 2. Discrepancy in the literature

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Identifying the Research Question

• 3 Major sources of starting points
• 1) Clinical Experience
• a) Problem or conflict
• b) Treatment requires documentation
• 2) Professional literature
• a) Replication of existing studies
• b) Inconsistencies in present studies
• c) Authors usually suggest further studies
• 3) Clinical theory
• Therapist use theories to guide clinical
  practice

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Importance and Feasibility of the Research
Question

• 1. Question should be important
• impact on treatment
• theoretical foundations
• policies related to practice

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Importance and Feasibility of the Research
Question

• 2. Question should be answerable
• variables can be defined and measured

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Importance and Feasibility of the Research
Question

• 3. Question should be feasible
• skill
• equipment
• support
• time

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Refining the Research Question

• Narrow the problem to reasonable dimensions
• Clear and concise
• Statement must be manipulated and re-identified
  (Art of Research)
• Target population - refers to group of
  individuals to which the results of the study
  will apply
• Specify what we want to test. Variable of
  interest . (e.g. effect of treatment)

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Research

• Problem - provides the broad framework for a
  study
• Question - is only one specific approach that
  will provide some information toward the overall
  knowledge base that contributes to understanding
  the problem
• Purpose - is the statement that examines a
  specific research question

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Research Rationale

• Question should have a logical rationale that
  supports the specific approach used to test it.
  Reference from previous research.

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Operational Definitions

• Conceptual definition - dictionary definition
• Operational definition - defines a variable
  according to its unique meaning within a study.
  This is when disagreement in literature begins.

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Hypothesis

• - an educated guess about the outcome of the
  study. Declarative statement that predicts the
  relationship between the independent and
  dependent variables and the specific population.
  Must be testable.

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Research Hypothesis

• follows the identification of the problem, review
  of literature

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• Statistical Hypothesis - is the null hypothesis
  which states no difference between variables
• Non-Directional Hypothesis
• Directional Hypothesis
• Simple vs. Complex Hypothesis

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Review of Literature

• Extensive and systematic examination of the
  resources in a specific content area to discover
  what has been studied and to what is known and
  what is not. Gap in knowledge or disagreement in
  the literature

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Scope of the Review of Literature

• Two Phases -
• 1. Preliminary one - to achieve a general
  understanding of the state of knowledge
• 2. Full and Extensive - review of literature that
  will provide a detailed and complete
  understanding of all that has preceded the study

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Review of Literature

• Why ?
• A source of research questions
• Establish a theoretical context and rationale for
  the study
• Understanding what already has been done
• Methods and instrumentation

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Review of Literature

• Why ?
• Determining the potential for successful outcomes
• Assumptions and limitations

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Scope of the Review of Literature

• No magic number of articles
• Includes studies that have looked at that same
  variable
• Up to date
• Review all relevant studies
• (even those with conflicting findings)

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Sources

• 1. Primary Source - is a report provided by the
  person who authored it
• 2. Secondary Source - is a description or review
  of one or more of the studies presented by
  someone other than the original author.
• First step secondary - Internet searches,
  database, computers, library, indexes, and
  abstracts.

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Evaluating Research Reports

• Consumers of Research -
• we must evaluate the research to determine
  whether their findings provide sufficient
  evidence to support the effectiveness of current
  practice or offer alternatives. Original
  research may be misrepresented or inadequately
  described ,we must critically analyze.

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Introduction

• What is the reputation of the journal?
• Read title and abstract first.
• Is the problem important? Has it been clearly
  stated?
• Has the author used the literature to form a
  sound and logical rationale?

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Introduction

• Has the author provided a theoretical context for
  the study?
• Are the references appropriate and comprehensive?
• Is it clear if the study is experimental,
  correlational , or descriptive?
• Is the specific purpose clearly stated?
• Are the hypothesis or guiding questions clearly
  stated?

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Methods

• Who were the subjects?
• Were inclusion and exclusion criteria specified?
• How were subjects selected and from what
  population were they chosen?
• How many subjects were studied?

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Design

• Is the research design identified?
• Is it appropriate for answering the research
  question?
• Were subjects assigned to groups, or were intact
  groups used?
• How many groups were tested?

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Design

• Was a randomization procedure used?
• Was a control group used?
• How many independent variables are being examined
  and how many levels do they have?
• How often were treatments and measurements
  applied?

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Instrumentation

• Is instrumentation described in sufficient
  detail?
• Have the authors documented the reliability and
  validity of the instruments?

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• Procedures
• Are data collection procedures described clearly
  and in sufficient detail to allow replication?
• Are operational definitions supplied for all
  independent variables?
• Have threats to internal validity been
  controlled?

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Data Analysis

• Are the appropriate procedures used to analyze
  the data?
• Has the author justified the use of any unique or
  unusual statistical test?
• Has the authors addressed each research question
  in the analysis?

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Results

• Are results presented clearly?
• Are figures and table presented accurately?
• Has each hypothesis been addressed?
• Are the results statistically significant?

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Discussion and Conclusions

• How does the author interpret results?
• Did the author clarify if hypothesis were
  rejected or accepted?
• Does the author consider alternative explanations
  for the obtained findings?
• Are the discussions supported by the literature?
• Does the author identify limitations to the
  study?

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Discussion and Conclusions

• If results are not significant, does the author
  consider the possibility of Type II errors?
• Regardless of the statistical outcome, are the
  results clinically important?
• Does the author discuss how the results apply to
  practice?
• Does the author present suggestions for further
  study?
• Do the stated conclusions flow logically from the
  obtained results?