Response to the following Problems:
Problem. 1
One of the most difficult tasks confronting the beginner is to select a researchable problem. More often than not, the newcomer has a proclivity to tackle an exotic issue, thus making the problem either too broad or too narrow in scope. Some factors that should be involved in the ultimate selection are listed here (Bailey, 1994):
1. Interest: The researcher should be interested in pursuing the problem area. The problem should be related to the background and career interests of the student, and in pursuing the problem the student should develop useful skills for the future.
2. Operability: The nature of the problem should be such that the researcher has both the resources and the time available to complete the subject.
3. Scope: While the research problem should not attempt to solve all the health dilemmas of the world, neither should it be so small as to negate the variables necessary for adequate results.
4. Theoretical and practical values: The research should contribute to the health field, perhaps through publication, and be of benefit to health practitioners.
5. Health paradigm: This is the school of thought or model employed by the researcher as discussed in an earlier chapter .
6. Values of the researcher: The myth of value-free research is just that, a myth. The student of research should be aware that in addition to being unstable, values may prejudice the research effort to the degree that all objectivity is lost. Note that even the selection of a problem is value-laden.
7. Research methodology: Every researcher has a philosophy of research that affects procedure. Thus, the student must be certain that hypotheses are well written and that appropriate criteria are used to interpret the data to reach conclusions.
8. Reactivity: The method of data collection should be scrutinized for reactivity. That is, a reactive technique brings about a reaction on the part of those being studied in a way that affects that data. The reactive effect is commonly labeled the "Hawthorne effect" from the study of the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago, where it was found that worker productivity increased simply because the personnel were being observed.
9. Unit of analysis: In health research, the unit of analysis may be an individual (such as the health habits of a single anorexic patient) or an entire population (patterns among the hospital anorexic population). The researcher must ascertain which is most appropriate and whether resources are available to collect data.
10. Time frame: This is particularly important to the student because only a limited amount of time is usually available. In a cross-sectional study aparticular population is involved at a single point in time; in a longitudinal time frame, data are gathered over an extended period of time (such as months or years).
11. Budget: To ensure that your proposal is feasible, write up a budget for expensive items. These items may include duplicating costs, travel, and postage. Some universities provide modest financial support for research projects, and you should inquire about these sources.
The student should apply all of these criteria to the potential problem to determine the feasibility of the research effort.
Problem. 2
Now that we have developed some criteria for selecting a problem, the next step is to commence the hunt. At the outset, the beginner should look around at the immediate environment; it teems with researchable problems. Many problems in the clinic, the hospital, or the community lend themselves to investigation. Which technique is most likely to bring about a change in smoking behavior? How does the community feel about the establishment of a wellness clinic at the hospital? Does presurgical education reduce the use of analgesics and the number of days of hospitalization? Should contraception costs be underwritten with government funds?
Technological advances in medicine require continual revision in patient education, as do studies to measure their effectiveness. Similarly, in school health education, the advent of specialized curricula demands research into presentation format, teacher usage, cost benefits, and evaluation. The community health educator can turn in almost any direction to find new drugs, industrial hazards, environmental pollutants, and health fads that need investigation.
The academic experience of college juniors and seniors and of graduate students should serve as a catalyst for a research project. Textbooks, periodicals, seminar reports, and conference proceedings can inaugurate the mind into the research world. Indices and abstracts such as the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Social Sciences Index, Hospital Literature Index, and Dissertation Abstracts provide valuable sources for research ideas.
If possible, the student should attend workshops, national and state conventions, and government-sponsored programs to gather ideas, and more importantly, to meet current researchers in the field. Closer to home, university faculty can be the impetus for health research. Although topics themselves may be provided, consultation with experienced faculty is desirable to check operability, significance, and value.
To stimulate your thinking in the direction of health research, read the following list. It is important to realize that this is simply a list of ideas, not of properly expressed research problems.
1. Educational program for parents of newborns to reduce infant mortality
2. Implementation of a comprehensive tobacco control program at a local industrial plant
3. Community action plan to overcome barriers to childhood immunization
4. Surgical intervention for patients with morbid obesity to see if the weight loss is retained
5. The effectiveness of a new pharmaceutical agent in reducing the frequency and intensity of headaches
6. Opinion of school officials regarding removal of soft drink and snack vending machines from the school grounds
7. Using grant funding to install a walking path in the park to encourage citizens to walk and reduce weight
8. A dental health needs assessment for uninsured children
9. Quality improvement initiative to improve the clinical care to meet the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines
10. Determining the effect of taking a nutritional supplement on body builders
11. Ascertaining the outcome of changing the C-section protocol at a local hospital to reduce the number of C-sections
12. The role of cultural values in implementing a nutritional program
13. The role of the school in reducing bullying
14. Explaining how physician-patient interaction improves patient compliance
15. How peer-group attitudes influence ideas about masculinity, gay friendships, and inequality
16. Student ideas about what contributes to school shootings and other violence
17. The attitudes of selected health care professionals toward specific insurance carriers
18. The level of job satisfaction among emergency medical personnel
19. Meeting the Council for Education in Public Health accreditation requirements for a school of public health
20. Investigating the cause of skin cancer of patients who all worked at the same facility
Problem. 3
The statement of the problem offers focus and direction in the research proposal. The problem statement can be written either as a question or as adeclarative statement. In either case, it must be written clearly and concisely. Each word of the statement should be definitive, indispensable, and expressive. On completion, the statement of the problem should be such that it can be read and understood by anyone without the researcher's presence.
Listed here are some examples of poorly written statements that only imply the actual problem:
• Physician assistants personal and teaching practices regarding wellness
• Health promotion program for better eating habits
• Generic versus brand name drugs for hypercholesterolemia
• Causes of violence in the school
This indicates to the student that the researcher does not have the problem clearly in mind or at least has not expressed it completely. Needless to say, this would be an inappropriate way to start a research report.
These four statements could be refined as a research question to illustrate the problem.
• How do the personal wellness practices of Knox County Hospital physician assistants compare to the wellness practices of the patients they taught?
• Does a health promotion program for junior high school students increase nutritional food selection in the school cafeteria?
• Does generic drug "X" reduce LDL cholesterol levels more than brand name "Y" in patients with an LDL level of 170 mg/dL or more?
• What do parents of high school students believe are the major factors contributing to shootings in the nation's high schools?
These questions are specific as to topic and population. In other words, the parameters have been established within the statement of the problem. The ideas of the researcher must be clearly stated. Clichés, colloquialisms, slang, and professional jargon obscure thought and should be avoided when research is edited.
Sometimes the use of research questions indicates that the research project is not experimental and does not lend itself to the formulation of hypotheses. The latter is particularly true in qualitative research.