Notes 3rd year
B. Formulate research objectives
“A question well-phrased is a question
half-answered”
o indicates the direction of the research
o clearly reflects the question that the
researcher wants to answer
o can be expressed in the form of a statement
or a question
✔ To determine the relationship of smoking
and Lung Cancer.
✔ What is the relationship of smoking and
Lung Cancer?
PROGRAM vs. RESEARCH Objective
o A Program objective reflects the
Identify the Research Problem and Objectives purpose or desired output of the
A. Select topics for research intervention being considered.
Criteria for selection o A Research objective reflects
1. Researcher characteristics questions which need to be
o personal interest and inclination answered in order to know if the
o training program objective was attained.
o previous experience ❖ PO: To decrease the prevalence of severe
2. Nature of topic malnutrition among preschoolers by 80%
o timeliness: internet, literature within a 2 year period
o relevance ❖ RO: To determine and compare the baseline
o replicable level of the prevalence of severe malnutrition
o applicability/utizability among preschoolers with corresponding value
o cost-effectiveness 2 years after program implementation
3. Feasibility Formulating objectives
o availability of subjects o use action verbs specific enough to be
o availability of specific equipment measured
o necessity for special working conditions ▪ to determine
o availability of research fund - degree of ▪ to compare
sponsorship / administrative cooperation ▪ to calculate
o hazards to be encountered ▪ to describe
o time requirements / duration o Do not use vague non-action verbs
4. Ethical considerations ▪ To appreciate
o risks involved to investigator and subjects ▪ To understand
5. Significance/ Social Value of the study ▪ To explore
Sources of research problems Objectives
▪ own experiences, communication with o General objective
other people ▪ identifies in general terms what is to be
▪ assessment of needs and practices accomplished by the study
▪ patterns and trends o Specific objective
▪ somebody else’s completed research ▪ identifies in specific details on how to
▪ investigator’s intellectual and scientific accomplish the research by using
interests measurable parameters
▪ critical reading of literature Examples
▪ intellectual curiosity, intuitive hunch General objective
Characteristics of a good research question ▪ To determine the effectiveness of a nutrition
o Feasible –number of subjects, technical education program for schoolchildren
expertise, resources, manageable Specific objective
o Interesting ▪ To determine and compare the prevalence of
o Novel -confirms and refutes previous malnutrition among schoolchildren before
findings, extends previous research, and after the nutrition program
provides new findings ▪ To determine and compare the level of
o Ethical nutrition knowledge among schoolchildren
o Relevant -to scientific knowledge, clinical before and after the nutrition program
and health policies, future research
direction
Notes 3rd year
Characteristic of Research Objectives the capabilities of the participants to plan,
o Phrased clearly, unambiguously and specifically implement and evaluate training programs
o Stated in measurable and operational terms they conduct in the field
o S.M.A.R.T.(specific, measurable, attainable, Formulate the Hypothesis and Define the Study
relevance, time-bound) Variables
Example Formulate the hypothesis
o To study diarrhea o Hypothesis–a proposition or statement
o To determine the role of infant feeding in about the relationship of variables being
diarrhea investigated
o To compare the incidence of diarrhea among o Variables–a characteristic or
bottle, breast and mixed-fed infants measurement whose value differs from
Conduct literature review one individual to another or from one
o Cannot be done overnight period to another in the same individual
o Not a patchwork Type of variables:
o Critical assessment 1. Independent Variable: Presumed to cause,
▪ What is known? influence or stimulate the outcome, can be
▪ What is not known? manipulated by the investigator
▪ How strong is the evidence? 2. Dependent Variable: the output, outcome or
o Be systematic in writing your literature response variable
review. 3. Confounding Variable: differences between
STAGES IN WRITING LITERATURE REVIEW groups that cannot be attributed to the IV ;
1. Literature search sometimes referred to as extraneous or
2. Evaluation and analysis of work intervening variables
3. Drafting CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
o Outline your literature properly. ▪ shows the relationship of the variables being
Structure of a Literature Review studied
I. Conceptual Literature
▪ Present concept 1.
▪ Present concept 2.
▪ Present concept 3.
II. Related Studies
▪ Present study 1.
▪ Present study 2.
▪ Present study 3.
III. Synthesis
IV. Theoretical Framework
o Minimize the use of direct quotation in your
paper.
o Use recent references from ISI/Scopus-indexed
journals. Symbols used in Research Frameworks
Sources of Literature
o Unpublished completed thesis,
dissertation
o Medical and public health journals
o Statistical reports (Phil Health Stat,
Demographic Yearbook)
o Indexes (Index Medicus)
o Publications of Abstracts (Excerpta
Medica)
o Databases (Medline, Ovid, Herdin)
o Academic search engines
Define the actual problem and objectives in clear
specific terms
o Make them more specific or limit the
scope!!
o To determine the impact of continuing
education for health workers
o To determine the effect of continuing
education activities conducted by the DOH for
its staff on their performance
o To determine the effect of the Master
Trainer’s Course conducted by the DOH on
Notes 3rd year
DESIGN THE PLAN FOR DATA ANALYSIS
o should be done before data collection
o construct dummy tables to help you
conceptualize how data is going to be
organized and presented after collection
Collect data
o Use of tools earlier developed
o Permission to collect data(Administrative
concerns)- Meeting with community leaders
o Social preparation: proper orientation of
population to the study prior to data collection
o Training of data collectors
Construct research design Data processing
o “Plan of attack” Phases of Data Processing
o Includes subject selection, sample size, 1. Editing of data collection forms
control and manipulation of variables, o for completeness
outcome evaluation, instrumentation, plan o legibility of entries
of analysis o consistency of responses
o Consider the objectives, feasibility, economy 2. Coding and encoding of responses
and efficiency, ethics o precoding of difficult information
o Important to achieve internal and external o coding the data in analyzable form
validity o encoding the data in the computer
o INTERNAL validity Analyze the data
▪ -extent to which the investigator is able to o Involves quantification, description and
control the different biases that may determination of relationships of variables
affect the study to be able to measure o Statistics play an important role
what he really intends to measure Two methods of statistical data analysis:
o EXTERNAL validity 1. Descriptive statistics
▪ -extent to which the investigator is able ▪ Frequency distributions
to generalize the results of the study ▪ Mean, median, std deviation, range
▪ graphical presentations
2. Inferential statistics
A. estimation of parameters
B. hypothesis testing
▪ tests for means (t-test, ANOVA)
▪ tests for proportions (chi-square)
▪ tests for associations (Prevalence
ratios, Odds Ratios, Relative Risks)
▪ Regression (linear, logistic, Cox
survival, poisson)
Mixed Method Write the research report
o organized presentation of activities and
findings
o make conclusions: answer the research
question and objectives
o follow basic principles of technical report
writing (form and style)
DESIGN DATA COLLECTION TOOLS Disseminate and utilize the results
o Dissemination
▪ publication in scientific journals
▪ news releases
▪ presentation in scientific meetings
o Utilization
▪ basis for determining changes as a
result of intervention
▪ information-based decision-making
▪ clinical trial –therapeutic intervention