phar3504 schlindwein

8/3/2019 phar3504 schlindwein

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PHAR3504 -Practitioner and

Patient

Preparing to Undertake

Research as a ScientistTutor: Dr W SchlindweinE-mail: [email protected]

Module Leader:Mr J Waterfield


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Why learn about research?

Your research project next year!

Evidence-basedpractice much in vogue

Lifelong learning Rate of change in Pharmaceutics & Practice

CriticalSkills

Self/Career Development


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What is Research?

The dictionary definition:

ResearchSystematic investigation into

and study of materials, sources, etc., in orderto establish facts and reach new conclusions.


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WHAT Methods/Approaches to

Research in Pharmacy Experiment (trials) Survey - a description/ quantitation

Observation (Case-study) (Focus groups)

Similar to methods & approaches used in other

human-centred research (e.g. psychology)


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Philosophy:What is the scientific method?

Method implies a systematicprocedure:

How knowledge is acquired

How knowledge is recordedand transmitted How the truth or falsity of the knowledge is

evaluated.


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The Basic Elements ofa Research Investigation

1Setting your aims:

ASKING THE QUESTION

2Background research and literature survey:

WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE?

3

Planning your research:

HOW WILL YOU ANSWER THE QUESTION?

4Carrying out the research:

GETTING RESULTS

5 Analysing and evaluating the results.

6 Conclusions.

7 Recommending any further work.


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Literature Search

Why is a Literature Search so Important?

Write down why you think carrying out aliterature search might be fundamental toa research project.


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Questions you should be asking:

What have other people done in a similarsubject area?

What techniques have other people used?

Were the methods used by other peopleappropriate/ successful?

How have other people tested whether their

aims have been achieved?


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Evaluating Other Peoples Work

What factors do you think affect the reliability

of information in for example, an academicarticle?


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The questions you should beasking include:

Is the purpose of the research clearly defined? (Thisshould be stated early on in the report/ article.)

What are the links with previous studies, if any? (Theauthor(s) of the report/ article should have done theirown literature review!)

Why was the specific method of study chosen?(Have the authors explained their reasons clearly?)

Do the conclusions of the report relate back to thestated initial aim/ problem?


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Citation

The importance of citation, or referencing, materialcannot be over emphasised.

Publication details:

Author(s)

Year of publication Title of article

Journal/book title

Publisher

Volume and part number Page numbers


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Citation People sometimes get confused about the difference

between a bibliography and a reference list.

The bibliography will list more general literaturesources (such as textbooks), which have been used

for background reading.

The reference list will contain details of specificarticles and reports.

Both will use either the Harvard or the Numericcitation system.


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The Function of a Literature

Review

1The results of your literature review have to

justify your project aim.

2

The literature review should include yourrevaluation and critical assessment of other

peoples work.

3Later on in your dissertation, you will need to

relate your results back to existing knowledge.


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Source Type of Information

Books. General background, not necessarilyup to date.

Student

Dissertations.

Other peoples research methods and

results.

First HandExperience.

Personal knowledge.

QuestionnaireSurveys.

Opinions and experiences of otherpeople.

Academic Journals. Other peoples research methods andresults.

Popular Journals -(e.g. New Scientist).

Edited versions of other peopleswork.

LaboratoryExperiments.

Scientific and technical data.

Patents. Technical developments.

Newspapers. Evolving topics.

The World WideWeb

Vast amount of information onvirtually all subjects.


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Secondary Sources of Information

Examples of secondary sources are books,

databases, directories, and abstracts.

The information contained in secondary sources hasbeen edited and structured by someone other than

the author.

The information may be true, but is not necessarilythe whole truth.


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Project Preparation

Identifying the Research ProblemFormulation of question or hypothesis

Development of experimental design

Carry out experiment

Data collection

Analysis of results

Interpretation of results


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Asking Questions

Based on your past experience, what factorsdo you think must be considered whenplanning your research project?


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Factors to consider when planning aresearch project:

Has the research been carried out before byother workers?

How much time is available for the work?

Is the aim of the research achievable in thetime available?

What is the most efficient way of achievingthe project aims?


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Factors to consider when planning aresearch project:

What resources will be needed for the work?

What are the potential sources of error andhow can these be identified and minimised?

How will the results of the work be evaluated?


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Articulating the Problem

Formally, once we have established theresearch problem, it is necessary to write

down a clear statement of our aims andobjectives


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Validity of Information

It is important that you learn to distinguishbetween different ways of acquiring

knowledge. Tenacity

Intuition

Authority


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Tenacity

A willingness to accept ideas as valid due tothe fact that these ideas have been acceptedfor so long that they have acquired an aura ofunquestioned truth

e.g. advertisers use this technique byconstantly repeating a message in the hopethat consumers will eventually accept it as

truth.


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Intuition

A method of acquiring information thatrequires no intellectual effort or use of our fivesenses

e.g. extra sensory perception. We mayintuitively feel that an idea is correct but with

no way of substantiating our gut feeling.


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???

All of these methods of acquiring knowledgeinvolve an uncritical acceptance of

information.

Clearly, such approaches are non-scientific,


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Scepticism

Anyproposition or statement irrespective ofsource or authorityis open to:

doubt - onus of proof

question/analysis - explanation, qualification,how? why? when? how much?

to what extent? how often?


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Scientific, Rigorous Methods of

Acquiring Information

Rationalism

Empiricism


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Rationalism

Knowledge is developed through reasoningprocesses.

Information is clearly stated and then anacceptable conclusion is reached by followinga series of logical rules.


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Example:

All tyres are black (major premise). This is a tyre (minor premise). Therefore this tyre is black (conclusion).

Using the major and minor premises we have logically derivedthe conclusion. However, if we apply the same logic in thefollowing way we would have to reject the conclusion:

All tyres are black

This is black Therefore this is a tyre.

Rationalism


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So, we can see, that although a rationalisticapproach is essential to the process ofscientific enquiry, it clearly has limitations.

In order to arrive at the correct conclusions,the premises must have been determined tobe true by other supporting evidence.

Rationalism


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Empiricism

Knowledge is acquired through theobservation of real events.

Scientific enquiry involves a continuous and

systematic interchange of rational thoughtand empirical observation

Our experimental observations are not sufficient in themselves,we need to apply a rational process of abstract thought in order

to understand, explain and construct general principles


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Empiricism

Enquiry is to be:

conducted by observation (s)

verifiedthrough experience (s) an iterativeprocess

several (7??) stages


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The seven stages of scientificinvestigation (not necessarily in this exact order)

1- Observation; description; measurement

2- Generalization and induction

3- Generation of hypotheses4- Formulation of theories

5- Deduction

6- Controlled observation (experiment

trial)

7- Support/verification or falsification


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Generic Factors

Accuracy of measurement Precision of measurement

Detection levels

Repeatability of measurements Equipment considerations

Samples


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Accuracy & Precision

Accuracy:The closeness of the agreement between the resultof a measurement and the true value of the quantitybeing measured.

Precision:

The closeness of a series of replicate measurements

to each other


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Designing an Experiment

Independent variable

Dependent variable

Experimental procedure

Experimental group Control group


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Experiment The manipulation of one or more variables, and the

measurement of the effects on other variables.

Independent Variable The variable that is being manipulated.

Dependent Variable The variable that is being impacted by manipulation of the

independent variable.

Confounding variables

Those uncontrolled/unrecognized variables which mightgive/contribute towards giving a similar (or expected/hopedfor) result


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Experimental Procedure The manipulation of independent variables.

Experimental Group The group exposed to experimental manipulation.

Control Group The group not exposed to experimental manipulationbut used as a basis against which to measureexperimental effects.


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Levine MI, Sackett, MF (1946)Results of a Trial of BCG Vaccine

Ann. Rev. Tuberculosis53: 517

No.Children Number of deathsfrom tuberculosis

Number %Vaccinated 445 3 0,67Controls 545 18 3,30

Table 1 Self selected parents


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No.

ChildrenNumber of deaths

from tuberculosisNumber %Vaccinated 556 8 1,44Controls

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Table 2 Alternate allocation by parent


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The Importance ofMethodological Rigour

Experimental procedures must be relevant,appropriate and justified.

You will need to ask yourself the following

questions: Is the method systematic?

Is the method valid and verifiable?

Are the observations empirical?

Will the method withstand critical evaluation?


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Calibration

The validity of your results is dependent onwhether or not they are obtained within thecalibration range of equipment

Calibration improves the comparability ofmeasurements and may be carried out periodically(every few days or weeks) to check the performanceof an instrument, or may be necessary before each

sample run.


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Experimental Methods

Observation is the empirical process of using our senses to

recognise and record factual events.

Scientific observation tends to be quantitative,although you should be aware that qualitativestatements also make a significant contribution toan investigation


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Experimental Methods

Description Observation leads to description

In science, precise definitions have been formulated in order to

ensure universality of meaning.

This means that when writing the description, or record, of ourexperiment, we can communicate with other scientists byusing universally accepted definitions of terms.


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Cause and Effect

One event is the cause of the other only ifsuppression of it also suppressed the effect.

if we want to establish that two variables are causally

related we will need to ask the following questions:

Is there a relationship between the two variables in yoursample?

If the variables are related in the sample, are the variablesrelated in the total population?

If the variables are related, did the independent variablecause the changes?


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Correlation

A correlation describes the relationship between

variables and is represented by an index known asthe correlation coefficient.

The correlation coefficient can vary from1.00 to

+1.00.

The sign of the correlation coefficient indicates the

type of relationship that exists between 2 variables. Positive correlations

Negative correlations


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Analysis and Synthesis

When we observe an event, we need to break down

and study separately those factors that have aninfluence on that event.

In other words, we must analyse the problem. Wecan ask the following questions:

What are the influencing factors?

Are the factors independent of each other?

Are the factors mutually interacting?

e.g. human body


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Hypothesis and Deduction

Theory An integrated set of principles that explain observations and

can be used to deduce hypotheses.

Hypothesis A specific prediction that can be tested.

Law A thoroughly documented relationship between 2 or more

variables.

Recognise that a theory is not a fact or law.


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Laboratory experiments -I

Much simpler than in communities Reasons why:


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Laboratory experiments - II

But lab experiments are not as easy as youmight think.

What kind(s) of response do you observe

when you vary the concentration of an activemolecule in a biological system?

List the practicals in your MPharmcourse inwhich you have done this.


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Summary

Undertaking research as a Scientist

Undertaking research as a Practitioner

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