Research Techniques for the Health Sciences

by Neutens, James J.; Rubinson, Laurna

• ISBN13: 9780321596413
• ISBN10: 0321596412
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-02
• Publisher: Benjamin Cummings

Summary

Key Message: Research Techniques for the Health Sciences focuses on pragmatic aspects of health science research. Underlying concepts and theory are explained and illustrated through a common-sense approach utilizing case studies. All of the book's case studies are health-oriented in school, community, and hospital settings involving students, teachers, physicians, nurses, and health science researchers. This edition features an emphasis on the new role of technology in the research methods processes, and includes new Lecture Outlines in PowerPoint reg; slides. Key Topics:What is Research?, Developing the Research Proposal, Critical Review of the Literature and Information Resources, Research in an Ethical Context, Conducting Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research, Data Collection through Surveys and Self-Reports, Sampling Designs and Techniques, Qualitative Research, Evaluation Research, Analytic Epidemiologic Studies, Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Descriptive Analysis, Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Inferential Analysis, Techniques for Data Presentation, Writing a Research Report Market:Intended for those interested in learning the basics of research methods for health.

Author Biography

James J. Neutens, PhD, FASHA is the Dean of the College of Medicine-Knoxville at the University of Tennessee.

                       

Laurna Rubinson, a native New Yorker, received her B.S. from Long Island University.  She taught in the Connecticut public schools while attending Southern Connecticut State University to earn her M.S.  Her Ph.D. was earned at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she continued on as a faculty member.  During her career at Illinois, she was the Director of Graduate Studies and taught courses in health behavior, research methods, and community health organization.  Her research interests focused on the health behavior of college students and young adults.  She has written books entitled: Contemporary Human Sexuality and Foundations for Health Education, in addition to Research Techniques for the Health Sciences.  She was the recipient of grants from both the Federal government and private agencies, and received awards from professional organizations.  She retired as an Associate Professor in 2000 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign after 27 years in the Community Health department. Her most rewarding professional experiences have been working with outstanding students in their efforts to complete their theses and dissertations.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
What Is Research?	p. 1
Health Science Research	p. 1
Using Science in the Quest for Knowledge	p. 2
Summary	p. 10
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 11
Suggested Activities	p. 12
References	p. 13
Developing the Research Proposal	p. 14
Selection of the Problem	p. 14
Sources of Problems	p. 15
Statement of the Problem and Research Questions	p. 17
Subproblems	p. 18
Components Comprising the Setting of the Problem	p. 19
Formulation of Hypotheses	p. 20
Significance and Justification of the Problem	p. 21
Résumé of Related Literature	p. 22
Proposed Research Procedures	p. 23
Budget Considerations	p. 23
Time Schedule	p. 23
Research Proposal Checklist	p. 24
Summary	p. 26
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 26
Suggested Activities	p. 27
References	p. 27
Critical Review of the Literature and Information Sources	p. 29
Purposes of the Review	p. 29
Steps in the Review Process	p. 31
Conducting a Computer Search: Finding the Evidence	p. 35
Determining the Level of Evidence	p. 37
Finding Shortcuts to Determining the Level of Evidence	p. 45
Writing the Section on Related Literature	p. 45
Summary	p. 47
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 47
Suggested Activities	p. 48
References	p. 48
Considering Ethics in Research	p. 50
Case Study	p. 50
General Ethical Dilemmas in Human Research	p. 51
Justification to Experiment on Humans	p. 54
Vulnerable Target Groups: Children	p. 55
Vulnerable Target Groups: Elderly	p. 57
Informed Consent: Truthtelling and Deception	p. 58
Right to Privacy and Confidentiality	p. 60
Responsibility for Harmful Consequences	p. 62
The Duty to Continue a Successful Research Effort	p. 63
Therapeutic and Nontherapeutic Research	p. 64
Sponsored Research	p. 64
Publication of Unethical Research	p. 65
Research or Just a Look-See?	p. 65
Role of the Institutional Review Board	p. 66
Case Discussion	p. 70
Summary	p. 70
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 71
Suggested Activities	p. 72
References	p. 72
Conducting Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research	p. 74
Case Study A	p. 74
Case Study B	p. 74
Characteristics of Experimentation	p. 75
Control in Experiments	p. 76
The Hawthorne Effect in Controlling Situations	p. 77
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Experimental Method	p. 78
Internal and External Validity	p. 78
Constructing Experimental Designs to Control Variables	p. 84
The Randomized Controlled Trial: Clinical Trials	p. 88
Case Discussion for Case Study A	p. 94
Case Discussion for Case Study B	p. 95
Summary	p. 95
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 96
Suggested Activities	p. 96
References	p. 97
Data Collection Through Surveys and Self-Reports	p. 99
Case Study	p. 99
Characteristics of Survey Research	p. 99
Survey Flow Plan	p. 100
Survey Design	p. 103
Data Collection Methods	p. 104
Survey Sampling	p. 111
Questionnaire Design and Construction	p. 112
Attitude Scale Construction	p. 117
Cover Letter	p. 122
Pretesting and Questionnaire Revision	p. 122
Focus Groups	p. 124
The Delphi Technique	p. 124
Case Discussion	p. 126
Summary	p. 127
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 128
Suggested Activities	p. 128
References	p. 129
Sampling Designs and Techniques	p. 133
Case Study	p. 133
The Purpose of Sampling	p. 134
The Sampling Frame	p. 134
Sampling Techniques	p. 135
Sample Size	p. 141
Sample Size for Studies with Hypothesis: Analytical Studies	p. 142
Sample Size for Studies Without Hypotheses: Surveys and Descriptive Studies	p. 143
Case Discussion	p. 149
Summary	p. 150
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 151
Suggested Activities	p. 151
References	p. 152
Qualitative Research	p. 153
Case Study	p. 153
Characteristics of Qualitative Research	p. 153
Theoretical Foundations	p. 157
Methods of Qualitative Research	p. 158
Techniques of Collecting Qualitative Data	p. 170
Analyzing Qualitative Data	p. 176
Using Computers in Data Analysis	p. 178
Case Discussion	p. 179
Summary	p. 179
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 180
Suggested Activities	p. 180
References	p. 181
Evaluation Research	p. 182
Case Study	p. 182
Introduction	p. 182
Purposes of Evaluation Research	p. 183
What Can Be Evaluated?	p. 184
Steps in Conducting Evaluation	p. 184
Evaluation Models	p. 188
Types of Evaluation Research	p. 197
Methodological Approaches in Evaluation Research	p. 204
Case Discussion	p. 210
Summary	p. 210
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 211
Suggested Activities	p. 212
References	p. 212
Analytical Epidemiologic Studies	p. 214
Case Study A	p. 214
Case Study B	p. 214
The Nature of Epidemiology	p. 215
Analytical Methodologies in Epidemiology	p. 215
Cohort Investigations	p. 217
Case-Control Studies	p. 218
Establishing Causation	p. 220
Problems of Error	p. 220
Control in Epidemiological Research	p. 222
Analysis of Results in Analytic Epidemiology	p. 224
Case Discussion of Case Study A	p. 232
Case Discussion of Case Study B	p. 232
Summary	p. 233
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 234
Suggested Activities	p. 234
References	p. 235
Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Descriptive Analysis	p. 237
Case Study	p. 237
The Meaning of Statistics	p. 238
Statistical Analysis and Data	p. 238
Descriptive Data Analysis Techniques	p. 240
Personal Computers and Information Delivery Systems	p. 250
Case Discussion	p. 252
Summary	p. 253
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 253
Suggested Activities	p. 253
References	p. 255
Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Inferential Analysis	p. 256
Case Study A	p. 256
Case Study B	p. 257
Inferential Analysis	p. 257
Estimation of Parameters	p. 258
Hypotheses Testing	p. 259
Inferential Data Analysis Techniques for Comparing Mean Scores	p. 263
Measures of Relationship and Predictions	p. 268
Nonparametric Tests of Significance	p. 269
Meta-Analysis	p. 271
Case Discussion of Case Study A	p. 273
Case Discussion of Case Study B	p. 273
Summary	p. 273
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 274
Suggested Activities	p. 274
References	p. 275
Techniques for Data Presentation	p. 276
Case Study	p. 276
Table Presentations	p. 276
Table Format	p. 281
Figure Presentations	p. 286
Graphics and the Computer	p. 293
Case Discussion	p. 293
Summary	p. 293
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 294
Suggested Activities	p. 294
References	p. 294
Writing a Research Report	p. 295
The Report as a Communication Document	p. 295
Preliminaries	p. 296
Text or Main Body of the Report	p. 299
References	p. 306
Appendixes	p. 307
Writing Style	p. 307
Summary	p. 308
Critical Thinking Questions	p. 309
Suggested Activities	p. 309
References	p. 309
Common Statistical Procedures	p. 311
World Wide Web Research	p. 314
Name Index	p. 317
Subject Index	p. 321
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.