Research proposal

The first step for being a researcher

Dr. Tarek Amin

Professor of Public HealthCairo University

amin55@myway.com

Research proposal…Why?

Purpose of a proposal: The purpose of the proposal is to

help you (as student) to focus and define your research plans.

An indication to your faculty of your direction and discipline as a researcher.

They also help you to prepare your application to the Ethics Committee.

Why

Research proposals must address the following questions:

What you plan to accomplish? Why you want to do it? and How you are going to do it?

The proposal is expected to:1- Show that you are engaging in genuine enquiry;2- Link your proposed work with the work of others, 3- Proving you are acquainted with major schools of thought relevant to the topic;3- Establish a particular theoretical orientation;4- Establish your methodological approach, and5- Show you have thought about the ethical issues

Research proposal “contents”

Introduction and literature review

Research Question

Objectives

Hypothesis statement

Study Design &Setting

ResearchInstruments

Sampling Design and size

Data processing

ProposedChaptersof report

FINER

Variables definition OutcomePredictor

Literaturereview

Research design:functions

Theoretical and conceptual frame

SimpleSpecificIn advance

Validity and reliability of the research tools

Sampling theory and designs

Problems and limitations

Methods of dataProcessing: computers

and statistics

Principles of Scientific writing

Budget

Title/Topic

Ethical issues

Time frame

I- Title and topic

Concise and descriptive. Stated in terms of a functional

relationship indicating the independent and dependent variables.

If possible, think of an informative but catchy title that wins the reader's interest.

II- Introduction

The introduction typically begins with A. a general statement of the problem

area, withB. a focus on a specific research

problem, to be followed by C. the rationale or justification for the

proposed study.

The introduction generally covers the following elements:

State the research problem. Provide context and set stage for

research question (show its necessity and importance).

Present the rationale of study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing.

Describe major issues and sub-problems to be addressed by your research.

Identify the key independent and dependent variables.

State your hypothesis, if any.

Structure of The introduction section

A good introduction has the following elements: (a) a general description and the background of the

problem to be researched; (b) relevant factors influencing the research problem;(c) the state of knowledge relevant to the research

problem as given in the literature; (d) the relevance of your own research; (e) a problem definition or research question and, if

applicable, the expected outcome or hypotheses. The order in which to include these elements is not fixed,

particularly the order of elements b through d. If you use new concepts that are not generally known, you must explain them.

III- Research question: Characteristics of a good research question

“FINER Criteria”.

Feasible

Interesting

Novel

EthicalRelevant

Adequate number of subjects.Adequate technical expertiseAffordable in time and money

Manageable in scopeTo the investigator

Confirms or refuses previous findingsExtends previous findings

Provides new findings

To scientific knowledgeTo clinical and health policy

To future research directions

In Saudi Arabia, reliable studies that tackle the prevalence and pattern of refractive errors among primary school children are scarce, with varied results due to inconsistency in the cutoff used for errors definition form 23% in the high altitude Abha city (Abolfotouh et al.,1993) to 10.7% among pre-school children in Jeddah city at sea level (Wedad et al., 2002). Moreover, the Saudischool health services provided by Ministry of Education do not include adequate vision screening facilities (Wedad et al., 2002). In accordance with WHO’s global initiative “Vision 2020” The right to sight(http://www.vision2020.org/main.cfm?type=WHATVISION2020), a professional based (optometry) screening program for all school-aged children is recommended to provide an early detection and initiate early treatment.The objective of the this study was determine the prevalence and pattern of refractive errors among primary school children in the age group of 6-14 years of both sexes in Al Hassa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.

To address the existing gap in the literature on smoking among adolescents we have tested the following hypotheses: First, older male adolescents are more likely to smoke tobacco than younger and female adolescents. Second, smoking among close relatives (environmental tobacco exposure) and friends (peer pressure) would increase the likelihood (risk) of being current smoker. Finally, certainmotives (socializing, imitation, outing, rather than relieve of stress and pleasure) and the presence of depressive and/or anxiety disorders may represent potential predictors for the current smoking status among adolescents. To the best of theauthors’ knowledge, there are no previous studies in Saudi Arabia that address the psychosocial predictors of smoking status among this age group. In this study, we attempted to provide baseline information on the psychosocial determinantsand prevalence of smoking among adolescents in secondary schools in Al Hassa, KSA, for proper design of practical and effective intervention strategy.

Sometimes the literature review is incorporated into the introduction section.

IV-Literature Review:

Literature review (functions)

Ensures that you are not "reinventing the wheel". Gives credits to those who have laid the

groundwork. Demonstrates your knowledge of the research

problem. Demonstrates your understanding of the

theoretical and research issues related. Shows your ability to critically evaluate relevant

literature information. Indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize

the existing literature. Convincing that proposed research will make a

significant and substantial contribution to the literature.

In Saudi Arabia there has been a considerable change in the pattern of breastfeeding in recent decades due to population transition as a result of advancements in socioeconomic status.7 Breastfeeding in Saudi Arabia has been customary;8 its duration used to exceed the age of 24 months, and solid food would be introduced as late as 12–18 months and complementary to breastfeeding.9 Studies from Saudi Arabia have recorded a progressive decline in breastfeeding practice and duration, especially among young mothers in urban areas,10–12 with early introduction of bottle feeding12,13 and earlier introduction of solid foods.14

The initiation and duration of breastfeeding depend on several determinants, namely, socio-demographic, psychosocial, biomedical, and healthcare-related factors, community attributes, and public policy;15 however, the importance of these factors varies across countries and over time. Few studies14–16 have addressed factors related to initiation and exclusivity of breastfeeding in Saudi Arabia with inherent faults either in samples studied of purely urban mothers14 or using different cutoffs for exclusive breastfeeding.16

Your research competence will be questioned if any of the below applies to

your proposal. Lacking organization and structure Lacking focus, unity and coherence Being repetitive and verbose Failing to cite influential papers Failing to keep up with recent

developments Failing to critically evaluate cited papers Citing irrelevant or trivial references

Organize your literature review

Subheadings to bring order and coherence.

Keep in mind that you are telling a story.

V-Methods: Tells how you plan to tackle the research

problem. Describe the activities necessary for the

completion of your project. Contains sufficient information for the reader to

determine whether the methodology is sound. Should contain sufficient details for another

qualified researcher to implement the study. Demonstrates that “your approach is the most

appropriate and most valid”.

Instructions for writing the Method section

Methodological elements are described

precisely and accurately. Unlike the Introduction, the Method

section is divided into subsections. Each methodological element is described in a separate subsection with its own heading.

Elements of the Method Section

1- Research design (s): this element describes the design - the 'format' - of the study.

Contains information about the

measurements, the test subjects and - if applicable - the period covered by the data.

Elements of methods section

2- Procedure: Describes how the research will be conducted and includes the steps taken to implement the research design, such as the recruitment of test subjects.

Elements of Methods section

3-Research population: Accurate description of the research population (the sample).

Such a sample may involve highly

diverse entities: material (e.g. contact lenses), cells, animals, patients, healthy persons, physicians, and so on.

Elements of methods section

4- Materials: Describes the material collected (the variables included).

Only describe the data that was used to answer your research questions.

Use headings and subheadings to structure the information, so that the reader quickly gets the picture.

Types of sampling

Random/probability Non-random/probability Mixed sampling

Simple Stratified

Proportionate

Disproportionate

Cluster

Single

Double stage

Multi-stage

Quota

Accidental

Judgmental

Snowball

Systematicsampling

Types of study design (I)

Prospective

Cla

ssifica

tion

base

Stu

dy

desig

ns

Number of contacts Reference period Nature of investigation

One Two Three or more

Cross-sectionalStudies

Before and after studies

LongitudinalStudies

Retrospective

RetrospectiveProspective

Experimental

Non-experimental

Semi-experimental

Did the investigator assign exposure “intervention?”

Experimental study Observational study

Random allocation? Comparison group?

Yes No

Randomized Controlled Trial RCT

Non-RandomizedControlled

trial

NoYes

Analytical study

Direction?

Descriptive study

Yes No

Cohort study

Case-controlstudy Cross-sectional

study

Exposure and outcome at the same time

Exposure ←outcomeExposure →outcome

Research designs (II)

Case reportCase series

Ecological

Methods of data collection

Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Documents

oGovt publicationsoEarlier researchoCensusoPersonal recordsoClient historiesoService records

Observation

Participant

Non-participant

Interviewing

Structured

Unstructured

Questionnaire

Mailed

Collective

Animals/Lab.

Disease-free

Dis

eased

Population

Diseased (cases)

Disease-free(controls)

Exposed to factor(a)

Unexposed to factor(b)

Unexposed to factor(d)

Exposed to factor(c)

Sam

ple

Trace Present time

Starting pointPast time

Basic structure of case-control design

The O

dds “ch

ance

of e

xposu

re

Is calcu

late

d b

etw

een b

oth

gro

ups

Calculate the difference in Odds for the included exposures for comparison.

Calculate the difference in Odds for the included exposures for comparison.

Cohort

Incidence of cancer lung

Incidence of cancer lung

The control group design“the control experimental design”

Study population

Study population

Study population

Study population

Intervention arm

No intervention

Experimental group

Control group

Independent variable

Baseline Data

Measuring dependent variables

“outcome”

The chief objective of the control group is to quantify the impact of extraneous factors“possible confounders”, which help to ascertain the impact of the intervention only.

The placebo design

ExperimentalGroup

Placebo Group

Control Group

ExperimentalGroup

Treatment+

Placebo

Control Group

Placebo Group

Treatment Outcome

Treatment+Confounders

Confounders

Placebo

Treatment

Control

Placebo

Treatment/placebo/confounders

Placebo/confounders

Confounders

(-)

(-)

Type of study

Timing Form Action in past time

Action in present

time

Action in future time

Typical uses

Cross-sectional

Repeated cross-

sectional

Cohort

Case-control

C.T

Cross-sectional

Cross-sectional

Longitudinal(prospective)

Longitudinal(retrospectiv

e)

Longitudinal(prospective)

Observational

Observational

Observational

Observational

Experimental

Prevalence estimatesReference rangeCurrent health status

Changes over time

Prognosis and natural history Etiology

Etiology particularly for rare diseases

Clinical trials to assess therapyTrials to assess preventive measuresLab. experiments

Collect All

information

Define cohort and assess

risk factors

Observe outcome

Collect All

information

Define casesand controls

(outcome)

Collect All

information

Collect All

information

Assess Risk

factors

Observeoutcome

Apply intervention

follow

trace

Phases and indications of basic study designs

follow

Summary: For quantitative studies, the method

section typically consists: Design: What kind of design do you choose? Subjects or participants: Who will take part in your study ? What kind of sampling procedure do you use? Instruments: What kind of measuring instruments do you use? Why do you choose them? Are they valid and reliable? Procedure: How do you plan to carry out your study? What activities are involved? How long will it take?

04/10/23 Dr. Tarek Tawfik 36

VI- Statistical analysis Data analysis was carried out using SPSS 16.0 (SPSS Inc,

Chicago, IL, U.S.A). For categorical data, frequency, proportions and percentage

were used for reporting, Chi square, Z test and Chi square for trend were used for comparison.

Major osteoporotic and hip fractures probabilities were reported using the mean percentage and the range. For continuous data mean, standard deviation, and median were used to express the results, t-test and Mann Whitney test were used for comparison.

Multivariate logistic regression model was generated to determine the possible predictors for receiving osteoporosis screening (BMD) (dependent variable) by inclusion of significant potential independent variables revealed form univariate analysis. Logistic regression analysis was carried out for the subset of population including only women and men aged ≥ 60 (individuals for whom screening is recommended).

P value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significant.

VII- Results:

Obviously you do not have results at the proposal stage.

However, you need to have some idea about what kind of data will be collected, and what statistical procedures will be used to answer your research question or test you hypothesis.

VIII- Discussion:

1. The potential impact of your proposed research.

2. Enthusiasm and confidence without exaggerating the merits of your proposal.

3. Mention the possible limitations and weaknesses of the proposed research, and try to justify them.

04/10/23 Dr. Tarek Tawfik 39

IX- References

Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing 1. Failure to provide the proper context to frame

research question.2. Failure to cite landmark studies.3. Failure to accurately present the theoretical and

empirical contributions by other researchers.4. Failure to stay focused on the research question.5. Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive

argument for the proposed research.6. Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough

detail on major issues.7. Too much rambling 8. Too many citation lapses and incorrect references.9. Too long or too short.10. Failing to follow the APA style (sometimes).11. Slopping writing.

Research questionsSignificance (background)Design time frame epidemiologic approachSubjects selection criteria sampling designVariables predictor variables confounding outcome variablesStatistical issues hypotheses sample size analytic approach

What questions will the study address?Why are these questions important?How is the study structured?

Who are the subjects and how will they be selected?

What measurements will be made?

How large is the study and how will it be analyzed?

Elements of protocol Purpose

Thank you