Clinical Research in Psychiatry A Practical Guide

by Curran, Stephen; Williams, Christopher J.

• ISBN13: 9780750640732
• ISBN10: 0750640731
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-12-08
• Publisher: Hodder Education Publishers

Summary

Research is a central component in Higher Training in Psychiatry. Methodology and statistics are increasingly topics that appear in postgraduate exams and may well be asked about in formal interview settings.This book is for trainee psychiatrists who are new to the field of research. If youare either overawed or bored by research and feel put of by the terminology involved, this book has been written for you. It is a well structured, jargon free guide to help encourage you to plan, undertake and publish your research.

Author Biography

Curran, Stephen, BSc Hons MB ChB MRCPsych Mmed PhD, Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry, Fieldhead Hospital, Wakefield; Honorary Senior Lecturer in Old Age Psychiatry, University of Leeds, UK
Williams, Christopher J, MBChB BSc MMedSc, Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, University of Leeds, UK

Table of Contents

List of contributors	ix
Foreword	xi
Why do research?	1	(8)
Philip Snaith
Introduction	1	(1)
The place and function of research: the lessons of history	1	(2)
The research cycle	3	(1)
Making research interesting	4	(1)
Beginning to undertake the research process	5	(4)
Overcoming blocks to starting research	9	(17)
Christopher J. Williams
Introduction	9	(1)
Why people do research	10	(2)
Identifying blocks to starting research	12	(3)
Overcoming your blocks to starting research	15	(7)
Starting to do research: practical suggestions	22	(4)
An introduction to research	26	(24)
David Richards
David West
Introduction	26	(1)
The research question	26	(2)
Stakeholders	28	(1)
The project team	29	(1)
Past and current research knowledge	30	(1)
Choosing a methodology	31	(4)
Reviewing the quality of the project	35	(2)
Resources and costs	37	(2)
Ethical issues	39	(3)
Project management	42	(2)
Dissemination	44	(6)
Carrying out the literature search	50	(20)
Julie Glanville
Introduction	50	(1)
The purpose of a literature review	50	(2)
Defining the research question and budget issues	52	(1)
Identifying resources to answer the question	53	(5)
Carrying out the search	58	(6)
Search issues	64	(2)
Data analysis and synthesis	66	(1)
Documenting the search	67	(1)
Conclusions	67	(3)
Writing a research protocol	70	(13)
Stephen Curran
Introduction	70	(1)
Getting started - identifying the research question	71	(3)
Writing the protocol	74	(1)
The detailed content of the protocol	75	(8)
Descriptive statistics	83	(8)
Tom Hughes
Introduction	83	(1)
Descriptive and inferential statistics	83	(1)
The different kinds of data	84	(1)
Properties of different kinds of data	84	(1)
Distribution	85	(1)
The normal distribution	85	(1)
Measures of average or `central tendency'	86	(1)
Measures of spread	86	(2)
Deviations from `normal': skew, kurtosis, more than one mode	88	(1)
Are my data normal?	89	(1)
The normal distribution and the standard deviation	90	(1)
Basic parametric statistics	91	(14)
Amanda J. Farrin
Introduction	91	(1)
General structure of a statistical test	92	(2)
Setting up hypotheses	94	(1)
One sample t-test	95	(1)
Two sample t-test	96	(2)
Paired t-test	98	(2)
Computer software	100	(1)
Conclusions	101	(1)
Appendix	102	(3)
Basic non-parametric statistics	105	(12)
Amanda J. Farrin
Introduction	105	(2)
Wilcoxon signed rank sum test	107	(2)
Mann-Whitney U test	109	(2)
Wilcoxon signed rank test (for paired data)	111	(1)
Computer software	112	(1)
Planning studies	113	(1)
Conclusions	113	(1)
Appendix	114	(3)
Using computers to facilitate research	117	(21)
Patrick Harkin
Introduction	117	(1)
What are computers?	117	(1)
Choosing a computer	118	(2)
Research tasks which can be assisted by the use of a computer	120	(6)
Types of personal computers (PCs)	126	(1)
Computer viruses and other malicious software	126	(3)
Data security	129	(3)
Protecting yourself	132	(2)
Glossary	134	(4)
Maintaining momentum	138	(9)
Anne Worrall-Davies
Introduction	138	(1)
Why you lose momentum	138	(1)
Overcoming obstacles to research: internal factors	139	(5)
Overcoming obstacles to research: external factors	144	(3)
Get it published!	147	(10)
David Yeomans
Introduction	147	(1)
Why do I want to publish research?	147	(1)
Where to start?	148	(1)
Who is my audience?	148	(1)
Where can I publish?	149	(1)
What is a journal style?	150	(1)
How do I structure references?	151	(1)
How do I prepare the work for submission?	152	(1)
How do I get my paper to the journal?	153	(1)
How do I cope with reviews?	154	(1)
The final product	155	(2)
Ethical issues in research	157	(13)
Ann Prothero
Introduction	157	(1)
Why submit research to an Ethics Committee?	157	(2)
Types of research which need to be submitted to an LREC	159	(2)
Issues considered during the review process	161	(1)
Recruitment of subjects	162	(1)
Information for participants	162	(1)
Consent	163	(1)
Confidentiality	164	(1)
Epidemiological research using medical records	164	(1)
Compensation for injury to research subjects	165	(2)
Deception	167	(3)
Obtaining research grants	170	(7)
Julie L. Curran
Introduction	170	(1)
Sources of funding	171	(2)
Targeting your application	173	(1)
Contacting grant awarding bodies	174	(1)
How a grant is procesed	174	(2)
Web sites, postal addresses and telephone numbers	176	(1)
Index	177