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Presented at the Mission Academy Research Summer School on July 15, 2025; by Dr Omar Hasan Kasule Sr MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard), Professor of Epidemiology and Chairman of the Institutional Review Board at King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Princess Noura University.
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 conducted through interviews or questionnaires.
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.
2. Abstract:
This is a summary of 200-250 words that encapsulates the entire proposal, providing a concise overview of the research. The abstract should mirror all sections of the proposal. The abstract, as written during the process of writing the proposal, is not completed until the end.
3. Key Words:
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.
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.
5. The 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 local experience. It also helps identify a confounding variable. Use the keywords to identify articles from PubMed in the last 5 years. Check the titles and read the abstracts to select 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, and critiquing the articles. End by relating the review to the research problem and the research hypotheses.
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.), its anticipated start and end).
6.3 Study population and study sample: (Identify the target population (to which study results will be referred), the study population (from which the sample will be selected). Describe the method of recruitment ie how you will approach the study subjects. Describe the type of sample you will use and the method of sampling: 100%, random, convenience, quota, cluster, etc. Describe your inclusion and exclusion criteria. Provide the formula you use for sample size computation.
6. Materials and Methods, con’t.:
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).
7. Management plan, budget, and time chart:
The main considerations are 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 start and month of end dates for all tasks of the research.
Ethical Issues:
Explain how you will deal with the following issues: informed consent, confidentiality, data protection, and IRB submission.
References:
You must provide a citation for each statement that is not yours. Use one of the reference software, such as endnotes to organize your references.
Thank you…