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Presented at Alfaisal University Scholar Program in Research Excellence (ASPIRE) on October 8, 2021, by Dr. Omar Hasan Kasule Sr MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) Professor of Epidemiology and Bioethics King Fahad Medical City.
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The task: Think
of a simple and common problem/disease (dependent variable) and write a research
proposal to find a causal link to its probable cause (independent variable). You
have to include sociodemographic factors in your research because of their association
with the variables under study (confounding variables). The research should
be of short duration and data collection must be by interview or questionnaire.
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1. Research Title: (The
title should be concise, descriptive, and clearly indicate the independent and
dependent variables. It should contain the keywords that describe the
research and should be limited to 10-20 words ( |
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2. Abstract: (This is a summary in
200-250 words of the whole proposal and is considered the research in a nutshell.
The abstract should mirror all sections of the proposal. The abstract is
written during the process of writing the proposal and is not completed until
the end).
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3. Keywords: (3-6 keywords or
phrases are the core ideas of the research and are used to categorize the
research in engines,
indexes, directories, and catalogs. They are used to search for literature
and as many of them as possible should appear in the title)
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4. Background / Introduction: (The Background or problem statement
provides the context of the research that an ordinary reader may not be aware
of. It must be supported with evidence of recent publications on the research
problem and could include data and reports from personal experience).
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5. Literature
review: (The literature
review summarizes current knowledge about the problem/disease as well
as the hypotheses and objectives of the study. It highlights the gaps in knowledge
that will be covered by the research. The literature review helps avoid repeating
research already done except if the aim is validation or getting a local experience.
It also helps identify confounding variables. Use the keywords to identify
articles from Pubmed in the last 5 years. Check the titles and read the abstracts
to select the 5-20 most relevant articles. You may use additional keywords after
reading the abstracts. Writing the literature review is not a laundry list of
points from the articles; it involves summarizing,
comparing, contrasting, explaining as well as critiquing the articles. End by
relating the review to the research problem and the research hypotheses).
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6. Materials and Methods:
This section should be written with enough detail that another
person can carry out the research. It has 7 sections. 6.1 Study design: (Choose and select the design that
will lead to answering your hypothesis/research questions from 6 alternatives:
cross-sectional (including health surveys), case-control, follow-up, randomized
community, and randomized clinical). 6.2 Study Setting and duration of study: (Mention the
site of the study (hospital, school, community, etc) and its anticipated start and
end).
6.3 Study population and study sample: (Identify
the target population (to which study results will be referred), and the study
population (from which the sample will be selected). Describe the method of
recruitment ie how will you approach the study subjects. Describe the type of
sample you will use and the method of sampling: 100%, random, convenient, quota,
cluster, etc. Describe your inclusion and exclusion criteria. Provide the
formula you use for sample size computation).
6.4 Intervention: (Describe the intervention that
will be carried out: clinical, educational, etc. Include equipment and
supplies that you will use).
6.5 Data collection: (Define the variables you
will use: quantitative (discrete vs continuous), qualitative (nominal,
ordinal, ranked). Categorize the variables: independent, dependent, and confounding.
Start and end of data collection. Sources of the data: primary or secondary.
Method of data collection (record review, interview, questionnaire, observation,
clinical measurement, laboratory or radiological, environmental sampling). If
you use a questionnaire explain how it was/will be validated and provide a
copy).
6.6 Data management: Decide self-coding vs
pre-coded questionnaire, method of data input, data editing to correct
errors, checking validity and consistency of data)
6.7 Data analysis: Descriptive analysis uses frequencies,
percentages, means, etc). Association between dependent and independent variables
is tested by the test for continuous data and the chi-square test for
discrete data).
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7. Management plan, budget, and time chart: (The
main consideration is time and costs. Estimate the time commitment of each
researcher and assistant to compute personnel costs. Estimate costs of
research equipment and supplies. Draw a time schedule (Gantt chart) showing the month
of start and month of the end for all tasks of the research).
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Ethical issues: (Explain how you will
deal with the following issues: informed consent, confidentiality, data
protection, and IRB submission).
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References: (You must provide a citation for
each statement that is not yours. Use one of the reference software such as
end-notes to organize your references).
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