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GH Study, Design, Ethics
Research Design (T Pierce)
31
Health Care
Graduate
12/10/2010

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Cards

Term
methodology vs. methods
Definition

  • Methodology—blueprint, the plan for conducting your research project.  Scientific method, ethnography, action research etc. 

  • Methods are the actual micro-level techniques used to collect and analyze data.  Methods of data collection include interviewing, surveying, observation etc.
Term
steps of scientific method
Definition

  1. chose a problem
  2. research your problem
  3. develop a hypothesis
  4. design an experiment
  5. test your hypothesis
  6. organize your data
  7. draw your conclusions

Term
strengths and weaknesses of experimental design
Definition

¨
  • Strengths: 
    • Allow you to assess cause and effect 
    • Compare groups 
    • Explore real actions and reactions 
    • Avoid reliance on memory or hypotheticals 
  • Weaknesses: 
    • Hard to control for all influences outside your study design 
    • Need to make sure there is equity 
    • Attrition 
    • External Validity 
    • Not always feasible 
    • Ethical considerations 

Term
types of quasi-experimental designs
Definition

¤
  • Nonequivalent groups design 
  • Regression discontinuity design

Term
non-equivalent groups design
Definition

¨
  • We try to select groups that are as similar as possible so we can fairly compare the treated one with the comparison one.  
  • But we can never be sure the groups are completely comparable.  

Term
regression discontinuity design
Definition

¨
  • In its simplest most traditional form, the RD design is a pretest-posttest program-comparison group strategy.  
  • The unique characteristic which sets RD designs apart from other pre-post group designs is the method by which research participants are assigned to conditions. 
  •  In RD designs, participants are assigned to program or comparison groups solely on the basis of a cutoff score on a pre-program measure.

Term
greatest limitation of descriptive research
Definition
cant infer causality
Term
what threatens internal validity
Definition

1. History, the specific events occurring between the first and second measurements in addition to the experimental variables

2. Maturation, processes within the participants as a function of the passage of time (not specific to particular events), e.g., growing older, hungrier, more tired, and so on.

3. Testing, the effects of taking a test upon the scores of a second testing.

4. Instrumentation, changes in calibration of a measurement tool or changes in the observers or scorers may produce changes in the obtained measurements.

5. Selection, biases resulting from differential selection of respondents for the comparison groups.

6. Experimental mortality, or differential loss of respondents from the comparison groups.
¨

Term
define external validity and what threatens it
Definition

  • threats- person, place, time
  • defined as the degree to which your conclusions would hold for other people in other places at other times

Term
systematic research design: exploratory vs. explanatory research
Definition

 

 

  • Exploratory:  Used to develop hypotheses and make probes for circumscription, description, and interpretation of less well-understood topics 
  • Explanatory:  Involve testing elements of theory that may have already been proposed in the literature or have been informed by exploratory research. Research is designed to eliminate threats to validity

 

 

Term
define systematic research design
Definition

 

Involve searching for causation of phenomena – Theoretically driven requiring objectivity, replication, and control over possible sources of error to increase validity.

Term
interpretive research designs: what are you searching for, purpose, epistemology, concerns, means to diminish concerns
Definition

 

 

In Search of: 

 Understanding 

 Moral Tales 

 Local Rationales 

Purpose: 

 A believable account of story 

Epistemology: 

 Subjective 

 Value mediated or created 

findings 

 

Concern for: 

 Threats to believability 

Means for Diminishing Threats 

 Literary

 

 

 

Term
systematic designs: what are you looking for, purpose, epistemology, concerns, how to diminish concerns
Definition

 

In Search of: 

 Ruling out rival hypotheses 

 Objectivity 

 Possible sources of error 

 Replication 

 Theoretical foundations 

Purpose:  

 Valid assessment 

Epistemology: 

 Objective 

 Findings approximate the truth 

 

Concerns for: 

 Threats to Validity 

Means for Diminishing Threats 

 Methodological 

 

 

Term
usefulness of case study
Definition

 

 Have intrinsic value 

 Can be used to debunk theory 

 Bring new variables to light 

 Provide supportive evidence for a theory 

 Can be used collectively to form the basis of a theory

Term
case studies: advantages and disadvantages
Definition

  • Advantages
    • No need to move from site to site 
    • Access enhanced 
    • Costs reduced 
    • Allows for building holistic understanding through  prolonged engagement
  • Disadvantages
    • Required level of access can be difficult 
    • Demands on those few involved in case study is high 
    • Researcher can have an effect on participant  
    • Immersion can come with emotional costs for all involved 

Term
define case study
Definition

A method of studying elements of the social 

through comprehensive description and analysis 

of a single (or multiple) situation or case (either 

at the individual, institutional or community level).

Term
types of case studies
Definition

Ethnographies 

 Life Histories 

 Long 

 Short 

 Extended/Multi-sited Case Studies 

 Critical Ethnographies 

 Critical Comparative Ethnographies (Hirsch, et al.) 

Term
define ethnography
Definition

A systematic approach to exploring a way of life 

from the perspective of its participants in order to 

learn about social and cultural life of communities 

and institutions  that avoids use of pre-existing 

frames of reference.  

Term
Describe an ethnography
Definition

 

 Is scientific 

 Is investigative 

 Uses the researcher as the primary tool of data 

collection 

 Uses rigorous research methods and data collection 

techniques to avoid bias and ensure accuracy of data 

 Emphasizes and builds on the perspectives of the 

people in the research setting 

 End result is a narrative that informs our interpretation of the culture of a community, group, or setting

Term
when to use ethnographic design
Definition

 

 Defining a problem when the problem is not yet clear 

 Defining a problem when it is complex and embedded in multiple systems or sectors 

 Identifying participants when the study population is not yet known 

 Clarifying the range of settings where a problem occurs 

 Exploring the factors associated with a problem 

 Identify and describe unidentified outcomes

Term
life history: definition, difference between short and long
Definition

 

 Creates a critical humanist perspective on more 

positivist types of research 

 Brings out the voice and experience of the 

individual within the larger social context  

Long Life History:  Gathered over a long period of 

time with gentle guidance from the researcher.  

Short Life History:  Gathered through in-depth 

interviews

Term
requirement for effective collection of life histories
Definition

 

 Must show how individuals respond to social situations 

 Must deal with concrete human experiences through 

their social and economic organization 

 Must show intimate familiarity with such experiences 

 Data should be collected in an ethical manner 

 Espouses an idea that knowing is grounded in 

experience

Term
multi-sited ethnography
Definition

 

Mobile and multi-sited research that lets us trace 

phenomenon by following people, things, policies 

through a society

Term
critical ethnography w/example
Definition

  • Ethnography that aims to examine the influence of unequal political and social structures on the experiences of the participants in order to offer recommendations for positive change to marginalized communities.
  • ex: The Secret: Love, Marriage, HIV

Term
why do critical comparative ethnography
Definition

 

 Distinguish between features of each field site  

 Theorize about how complex social processes 

operate across different cultural arenas  

 Anthropology has a public responsibility to be 

comparative 

Term
distinctions of critical comparative ethnography
Definition

 

 Focuses on processes not cultural traits  

 Argues that the most valid comparisons are not 

based on statistical correlations between societies  

 Aims to generate or modify mid-range explanatory 

theories  

 Attuned to the fact that people are positioned 

differently in different societies 

 Specifically designed so results are comparable.

Term
Describe action research
Definition

 

  • Generates Solutions 
    • Problem oriented 
    • Addresses social problems 
    • Aims to change practice as well as study it
  • Challenges
    • doesn't contribute to theoretical knowledge
    • difficult to generalize

 

Term
purpose of academic research
Definition
generate knowledge
Term
Describe community based participatory research
Definition

 

 Recognizes that health inequalities are caused by 

ecological factors 

 Recognizes that individuals are embedded within 

political, economic, and social systems that shape 

behaviors and access to resources 

 Recognizes that community members are the best 

judges of the causes of their health problems

 A partnership approach to improve public health 

 A research approach that actively engages 

community members, beneficiaries, public health 

program managers, researchers – all stakeholders – 

in all aspects of the research process 

 Focuses on finding ways to remove physical, social, 

and structural environmental inequities that contribute 

to health outcomes 

 Explicit commitment to generating benefits for the 

participants, either directly or indirectly

Term
advantages of systematic literature review
Definition

  • Dynamic- Explores under-researched or new research areas
  • Balanced- Includes broad range of publications, identified via a comprehensive and systematic search strategy
  • Objective- Reduces risk of bias and error
  • Verifiable- Incorporates transparent research process
  • Replicable- Uses a structured methodology
  • Flexible- Can be updated on a regular basis
  • Condensed- Consolidates results of many publications into one
  • Readable- Synthesizes information in an easy-to-read format

Term
steps to systematic literature review
Definition

 

  • STEP 1: Define research question 
  • STEP 2: Set eligibility criteria
  • STEP 3: Search the literature
  • STEP 4: Analyze literature 
  • STEP 5: Synthesize and interpret findings

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