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Book Details
Abstract
This popular textbook provides a concise, but comprehensive, overview of health research as an integrated, problem-solving process. It bridges the gap between health research methods and evidence-based clinical practice, making it an essential tool for students embarking on research. Practitioners also benefit from guidance on interpreting the ever-expanding published research in clinical and scientific journals, to ensure their practice is up to date and evidence-based and to help patients understand information obtained online.
- Uses simple language and demystifies research jargon
- Covers both quantitative and qualitative research methodology, taking a very practical approach
- Gives examples directly related to the health sciences
- Each chapter contains a self-assessment test so that the reader can be sure they know all the important points
- Provides an extensive glossary for better understanding of the language of research
Online interactive self-assessment tests:
- Multiple choice questions
- True or false questions
- Short answer questions
Log on to evolve.elsevier.com/Polgar/research and register to access the above assets.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Cover | Cover | ||
| Dedication | ii | ||
| Introduction to Research in the Health Sciences | iii | ||
| Copyright | iv | ||
| Contents | v | ||
| Preface | vii | ||
| Acknowledgements | ix | ||
| Section 1 - Methodological foundations of health research | 1 | ||
| Chapter 1 - Foundations of health research | 3 | ||
| Introduction | 3 | ||
| Knowledge and methods | 4 | ||
| The scientific method | 4 | ||
| Positivist paradigm | 5 | ||
| Post-positivist paradigms | 7 | ||
| Pragmatism: the combined use of quantitative and qualitative methods | 9 | ||
| Summary | 9 | ||
| Chapter 2 - Quantitative and qualitative methods | 11 | ||
| Introduction | 11 | ||
| The social construction of reality | 11 | ||
| Contrasting qualitative and quantitative methods | 12 | ||
| The integration of quantitative and qualitative methods | 15 | ||
| Summary | 15 | ||
| Chapter 3 - The research process | 17 | ||
| Introduction | 17 | ||
| Sequential steps of the research process | 17 | ||
| The structure of a research paper | 19 | ||
| The style of research publications | 21 | ||
| The publication process | 22 | ||
| Research and evidence-based health care | 22 | ||
| Summary | 23 | ||
| Section 2 - Research planning | 25 | ||
| Chapter 4 - The formulation of research questions | 27 | ||
| Introduction | 27 | ||
| Identifying research problems | 27 | ||
| Literature reviews and research | 29 | ||
| Formulating the research question | 29 | ||
| Methodological considerations | 30 | ||
| Ethical issues and procedures | 31 | ||
| Aims and hypotheses | 31 | ||
| Research proposals | 31 | ||
| Summary | 32 | ||
| Chapter 5 - Sampling methods and external validity | 33 | ||
| Introduction | 33 | ||
| What is sampled in a study | 33 | ||
| Basic issues in sampling | 34 | ||
| Representative samples | 34 | ||
| Sample size | 37 | ||
| Sampling issues in qualitative research | 38 | ||
| Purposive sampling | 39 | ||
| External validity and sampling | 40 | ||
| Summary | 41 | ||
| Chapter 6 - Ethics | 43 | ||
| Introduction | 43 | ||
| Philosophical principles | 43 | ||
| Resources | 46 | ||
| Summary | 48 | ||
| Section 3 - Research designs | 51 | ||
| Chapter 7 - Experimental designs and randomized controlled trials | 53 | ||
| Introduction | 53 | ||
| The concept of causality | 54 | ||
| Confounding and bias in research studies | 54 | ||
| The use of control groups in applied health research | 55 | ||
| Assignment of participants into groups | 56 | ||
| Types of experimental designs | 56 | ||
| Randomized controlled trials | 58 | ||
| Controlled research involving human participants | 60 | ||
| The external validity of experiments and RCTs | 60 | ||
| Summary | 61 | ||
| Chapter 8 - Surveys and quasi-experimental designs | 63 | ||
| Introduction | 63 | ||
| Non-experimental research designs | 63 | ||
| Surveys | 64 | ||
| Epidemiology | 64 | ||
| Designs for comparing groups | 65 | ||
| Quasi-experimental designs | 67 | ||
| The internal and external validity of naturalistic designs | 69 | ||
| Summary | 70 | ||
| Chapter 9 - Single case (n=1) designs | 71 | ||
| Introduction | 71 | ||
| AB designs | 71 | ||
| ABAB designs | 72 | ||
| Multiple baseline designs | 73 | ||
| Interpretation of the results for n=1 designs | 74 | ||
| The validity of n=1 designs | 75 | ||
| Summary | 75 | ||
| Chapter 10 - Qualitative research | 77 | ||
| Introduction | 77 | ||
| Research problems and questions | 77 | ||
| Approaches to qualitative research | 78 | ||
| What defines qualitative research? | 79 | ||
| An example of qualitative research | 80 | ||
| Summary | 81 | ||
| Section 4 - Data collection | 83 | ||
| Chapter 11 - Questionnaires | 85 | ||
| Introduction | 85 | ||
| Questionnaire construction | 85 | ||
| Questions and questionnaire formats | 86 | ||
| The overall structure of questionnaires | 90 | ||
| Summary | 90 | ||
| Chapter 12 - Interviewing techniques | 91 | ||
| Introduction | 91 | ||
| Interviewing models | 91 | ||
| Methods of conducting interviews | 92 | ||
| The interview process | 93 | ||
| Methods of recording interview information | 94 | ||
| The analysis of interview data | 96 | ||
| Summary | 97 | ||
| Chapter 13 - Observation | 99 | ||
| Introduction | 99 | ||
| Overview of different approaches to observation | 99 | ||
| Observer roles | 101 | ||
| Observation in qualitative research | 102 | ||
| Observation in quantitative research | 104 | ||
| Summary | 104 | ||
| Chapter 14 - Measurement | 105 | ||
| Introduction | 105 | ||
| Operational definitions and measurement | 105 | ||
| Objective and subjective measures | 106 | ||
| Desirable properties of measurement tools and procedures | 106 | ||
| Standardized measures and tests | 109 | ||
| What makes a good test? | 110 | ||
| Measurement scale types | 110 | ||
| Levels of measurement | 112 | ||
| Summary | 112 | ||
| Section 5 - Descriptive statistics | 113 | ||
| Chapter 15 - Organization and presentation of data | 115 | ||
| Introduction | 115 | ||
| The organization and presentation of nominal or ordinal data | 115 | ||
| Organization and presentation of interval or ratio data | 118 | ||
| Descriptive statistics for discontinuous data | 120 | ||
| Summary | 123 | ||
| Chapter 16 - Measures of central tendency and variability | 125 | ||
| Introduction | 125 | ||
| Measures of central tendency | 125 | ||
| Comparison of the mode, median and mean | 127 | ||
| Measures of variability | 128 | ||
| Summary | 130 | ||
| Chapter 17 - Standard scores and normal distributions | 133 | ||
| Introduction | 133 | ||
| Standard scores (z scores) | 133 | ||
| Normal distributions | 134 | ||
| Calculations of areas under the normal curve | 135 | ||
| Standard normal curves for the comparison of distributions | 136 | ||
| Summary | 138 | ||
| Chapter 18 - Correlation | 139 | ||
| Introduction | 139 | ||
| Correlation | 139 | ||
| Correlation coefficients | 141 | ||
| Uses of correlations in the health sciences | 143 | ||
| Correlation and causation | 145 | ||
| Summary | 146 | ||
| Section 6 - Data analysis and inference | 147 | ||
| Chapter 19 - Probability and confidence intervals | 149 | ||
| Introduction | 149 | ||
| Probability | 149 | ||
| Sampling distributions | 151 | ||
| Sampling distribution of the mean | 152 | ||
| Calculating confidence intervals | 154 | ||
| Confidence intervals using the t distribution | 155 | ||
| Confidence intervals in health research | 157 | ||
| Summary | 157 | ||
| Chapter 20 - Hypothesis testing: selection and use of statistical tests | 159 | ||
| Introduction | 159 | ||
| The logic of hypothesis testing | 159 | ||
| Steps in hypothesis testing | 160 | ||
| Illustrations of hypothesis testing | 160 | ||
| The relationship between descriptive and inferential statistics | 162 | ||
| Selection of the appropriate inferential test | 163 | ||
| The χ2 test | 164 | ||
| χ2 and contingency tables | 165 | ||
| Statistical packages | 167 | ||
| Chapter 21 - Effect size and the interpretation of evidence | 171 | ||
| Introduction | 171 | ||
| Effect size | 171 | ||
| Confidence intervals and effect size | 173 | ||
| How to optimize statistical inferences | 175 | ||
| How to interpret null (non-significant) results | 175 | ||
| Statistical power analysis | 176 | ||
| Clinical decision-making | 177 | ||
| Overview of conducting data analysis | 178 | ||
| Summary | 178 | ||
| Chapter 22 - Qualitative data analysis | 181 | ||
| Introduction | 181 | ||
| Understanding meaning in everyday life | 181 | ||
| Coding qualitative data | 182 | ||
| Content analysis | 183 | ||
| Thematic analysis, ‘verstehen’ and grounded theory | 184 | ||
| Interpretation and social context | 185 | ||
| The accuracy of qualitative data analysis | 187 | ||
| Summary | 188 | ||
| Section 7 - Evaluation and dissemination of research results | 189 | ||
| Chapter 23 - Critical evaluation of published research | 191 | ||
| Introduction | 191 | ||
| Guidelines for critical appraisal of research publications | 192 | ||
| Critical evaluation of the introduction in a research paper | 192 | ||
| Critical evaluation of the methods section in a research paper | 194 | ||
| Critical evaluation of the results section in a research paper | 196 | ||
| Critical evaluation of the discussion section in a research paper | 196 | ||
| Summary | 197 | ||
| Chapter 24 - Synthesis: systematic reviews and meta-analyses | 199 | ||
| Introduction | 199 | ||
| Basic principles | 200 | ||
| Narrative reviews of research evidence | 200 | ||
| Systematic reviews | 201 | ||
| Meta-analysis | 203 | ||
| Validity of systematic reviews | 206 | ||
| The Cochrane Collaboration | 207 | ||
| Summary | 208 | ||
| Glossary of research terms | 209 | ||
| References and further reading | 217 | ||
| Appendix A: z scores and associated areas between z and mean and beyond | 219 | ||
| Appendix B: t distribution | 223 | ||
| Appendix C: Chi-square (χ2) | 225 | ||
| Index | 227 |