A Research Primer: Basic Guidelines for the Novice Researcher

Abstract

Research can achieve many objectives, primarily by establishing a supportable, verifiable basis for clinical decisions. An evidence-based practice can streamline patient care, improving safety through consistency of care and making health care more affordable for patients. By cultivating research skills, osteopathic physicians and trainees can begin to forge a reciprocal relationship with medical literature and current findings, approaching research as active contributors as well as consumers. Many challenges, however, potentially hinder osteopathic physicians, residents, or medical students who wish to develop research skills. In the present article, the authors summarize research concepts and terminology that will enable novice researchers to interact effectively with more experienced researchers, statisticians, and methodologists.

Common Problematic Scholarly Activity Project Planning Expectations of Project Novices

“…3,9,13,21 Conclusions were that many SAPNs may be less familiar with the value of replicating published project articles, possibly due to pressure towards producing SA projects from more "established" (i.e., more readily recognizable) types of studies, e.g., randomized clinical trials (RCTs), etc. 25,26,[29][30][31] • "My project must be an entirely new design. "…”

“…9,10,32 For example, the authors have heard from the SAPN, "I thought it would be interesting to study individuals with condition x." Although this type of orientation may eventually lead to useful descriptive pilot (i.e., more exploratory, descriptive) projects, 5,31,33 the authors have generally concluded that this may comprise an unrealistic desire to study especially terribly complex healthcare topics in initial projects.…”

“…Ideally, the SAPN can be first steered toward appealing topics related to their compelling clinical experiences. 21,31,32 A well-written project description statement (PDS) will describe overall project aims and specific project questions, sampling and data collection plans and prospective post-project ways to disseminate final results. 29,32 Two examples of actionable SA project questions include: a) "What office visit patient characteristics (age, sex, etc.)…”

“…This can compound the scope of project question(s), suitable project measures, and number of hypothesized relationships for projects using pre-existing data as well. 29,31,35 For example, if a hypothetical project used pre-existing data to investigate the prevalence and incidence of Alzheimer's dementia during a specified time period, the SAPN could experience substantial difficulty confirming when and how the diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's have changed. In addition, comparing different forms of diagnosed Alzheimer's remains difficult due to the ongoing lack of understanding exact causal mechanisms.…”

“…An inadequate understanding of the theoretical or conceptual dimensions of a SA project topic may come from: a) only considering the conceptual dimensions of more "interesting" clinically compelling variables, or b) not considering additional possible confounding (i.e., factors that are both related to an "exposure" and "outcome" of interest) influences. 3,5,18,30,31 A SAPN can end up with ambiguous or incomplete results from failing to consider the theoretical/conceptual assumptions underpinning their project topic. 27,31 Again, this is an important reason to ensure that your SA project topic has been thoroughly researched (i.e., literature review) early on, so that the SAPN can delineate all relevant covariate and potential confounding variables.…”