Understanding Of Research Methods Research Articles

Assessing student perceived outcomes for a Methods Television (MTV) video project in a research methodology class

Objectives To (1) assess the outcomes of making a Methods Television (MTV) video on student perceptions, and (2) evaluate how students learn best in a research methods class. Methods Pharmacy students enrolled in a research methods class ( n = 93) were given the option to create an educational MTV video. Teams ( n = 15) were randomly assigned a research methodology topic and three objectives for the video. All students in attendance on the last day ( n = 88) completed an attitudinal questionnaire designed to assess students' perceptions regarding the class and MTV video projects. Results Students indicated that multiple activities helped them learn the most in class (i.e., in-class assignments, homework); 51% stated that videos helped improve their knowledge of research methods and 52% indicated it was entertaining. Conclusion More than half of the students indicated that the MTV videos helped with their understanding of research methods, an indication that the project goal was reached.

Innovative manufacturing readiness levels (IMRLs): a new readiness matrix

The importance of technology readiness and capabilities has been recognised as an important driver for the successful deployment of technological, as well as manufacturing, systems. In the management of micro and nanomanufacturing systems and its innovation, challenges still remain in its practice and implementation, which demand novel or improved approaches. The main contribution of this study lies in the development of a new research method for understanding and/or assessing the maturity of micro and nanomanufacturing technologies using a readiness matrix called 'innovative manufacturing readiness levels' (IMRLs)'. Within the IMRLs matrix, five key phases and five performance measures are proposed for capturing the main attributes that determine the effective implementation and adoption of micro and nanomanufacturing technologies.

Lessons learned engaging Hispanic communities in cancer research

1551 Background: Community involvement is critical to advance cancer education and prevention in minority communities. Researchers must be knowledgeable of the target community's basic cultural beliefs and linguistic needs. This study sought to identify the best approach for conducting community based cancer research in South Texas Hispanic communities. We report our experiences and lessons learned with participants and site recruitment and retention. Methods: We introduced a community based, culturally relevant breast and cervical cancer screening and early detection program, Esperanza y Vida, to address barriers and disparities in four border communities (urban, rural, colonia, and small border town). These areas represent the diverse South Texas Mexican American population in terms of language use, immigration status, and length of time in the US. Within these communities we recruited a grassroots community organization, faith-based health center, rural hospital district, and federally qualified health center. Results: Focus groups were conducted with women and men to assess knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about women's cancers. To successfully recruit participants, we implemented various techniques to engage the community and establish sustainable relationships. These included community health worker recruitment of community members, traditional recruitment (flyers, posters, word of mouth), key community and cultural leader support, and discussions with local groups and health organizations. We and our community partners identified and overcame investigator/community barriers (lack of community knowledge, community integration into the research process, community understanding of research methods, reluctance to develop innovative approaches). Consequently, participants are eager to remain with the program and are individually and collectively mobilizing others to create a sustainable and durable program. Conclusions: 1. Cultural leader engagement worked best for participant recruitment in the small border town and colonia settings, while key community leader engagement was most effective in the small city urban and rural settings. 2. Research/community partners must identify and discuss project barriers regardless of the fear of creating discordance to reach solutions. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Contesting the gendering of methodology: treating methods as text

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critique the argument that research methodology is gendered and present a post‐essentialist understanding of research methods.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual paper which engages with the feminist debate over the gendering of methodology.FindingsThe paper begins by discussing the feminist critique of positivism that quantitative methodologies embody patriarchal assumptions. Then, drawing on contemporary attempts by feminists to rehabilitate quantitative research, and developments in organizational research methods, it counters the argument that methodologies are gendered. Specifically, it argues the idea that methods embody gendered assumptions is founded on essentialist reasoning and treats them as having immutable characteristics. Moving on, the paper offers a post‐essentialist understanding of “methods as text”. Key advantages of this metaphor are that it acknowledges the interpretative flexibility of research methods and illustrates the rhetorical function descriptions of them perform in particular contexts. Finally, the contributions and limitations of this perspective and its implications for future research are summarised.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is needed to understand how research methods are discursively constructed and the rhetorical functions descriptions of them perform in specific contexts.Originality/valueThe paper critiques the view that research methodology is gendered and offers a novel metaphor for understanding research methods. It is likely to be of most value to social scientists with an interest in research methods and/or feminist epistemologies.

PROSPECT lost: when a pilot project does not look to learn

AbstractIf a development project is destined to reach only a selection of its intended beneficiaries or to give them only momentary or uncertain benefits, there is a strong rationale for making it instead a project of trials from which lessons can be taken for obtaining the impact that it may not otherwise have. Because the fundamental problems and opportunities of development are very complex by their nature, interventions that seek to test practice knowledge and to learn above all else may have the greatest potential for benefit in the long term. A project that wishes to create experience from which others can learn will engage in research, so it must be conceived, led and conducted as such. This means it must be designed with knowledge of research. It must be led with an appreciation and understanding of research method. Specific research activities must be conducted that produce knowledge and promote its up‐take, so that learning is a principle project outcome. The large urban anti‐poverty project, PROSPECT, conducted in Lusaka, Zambia, illustrates this argument. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Postgraduate Diploma in Epidemiology: Principles and Practice (PGDipEpid)

This course is suitable for doctors and other health professionals aiming for a career in epidemiological research. It is also of interest to people requiring an understanding of epidemiology, such as statisticians, medical journalists, and scientific officers in government and industry. I completed my postgraduate diploma in 2001-3 as a part time external student from the University of London/London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I am interested in epidemiology and I hoped that it would help me establish my evidence based practice and an understanding of research methods in a career in either community paediatrics or general practice. The course design and timetable are quite flexible to meet …

Web-Based Puzzle Program to Assist Students’ Understanding of Research Methods

This article documents a Web-based program that aims to aid students’ understanding of research methods and prepare them for an examination question that has a similar style. Twenty sentences were presented at random from a larger pool and each had two missing words that the student had to match from the complete list of words. Students generally agreed that the sentences could not easily be guessed by using grammatical rules and that the puzzle program had helped them to understand the material and prepare for the examination. The program was ranked by students third of the eight support materials supplied to the students with a median score of 7.53 from a maximum of 10.

TEACHING RESEARCH IN GERONTOLOGY: TOWARD A CUMULATIVE MODEL

In this article, we consider different approaches to teaching research methods in gerontology across a continuum of educational program levels. Our goal is to offer a conceptual framework and stimulate productive discussion of key issues and challenges in teaching research in gerontology. It is our belief that education in gerontology should include some level of training in research methodologies across all levels of gerontology instruction. Therefore, we have sought to identify those components of research training most appropriate for each level of gerontological education. Thus, basic understanding of research methods is appropriate at the associate's degree level and introductory exposure to basic issues involved in conducting research with elders provides a necessary backdrop to undergraduate programs. More in-depth understanding of gerontological research methods, particularly those involved in applied research, is a component of quality master's level programs. Finally, in-depth knowledge and the ability to apply distinctively gerontological research methods are necessary for conducting advanced original research at the doctoral level.

Understanding Research Methods: An Overview of the Essentials. Mildred L. PattenEvaluating Research in Academic Journals: A Practical Guide to Realistic Evaluation. Fred Pyrczak

<i>Understanding Research Methods: An Overview of the Essentials</i>. Mildred L. Patten<i>Evaluating Research in Academic Journals: A Practical Guide to Realistic Evaluation</i>. Fred Pyrczak

Best value in public libraries: the role of research

Public libraries, in common with other local government services, are obliged to obtain best value by striving for customer service of the highest quality and greatest efficiency. This article draws on data gathered from the Developing Research in Public Libraries (DRIPL) project, which shows how an understanding of research methods is increasingly required by public library managers to move services forward in strategic and operational terms. Following a description of the principles of best value, research areas are indicated which contribute to the achievement of best value in public libraries. The article notes areas where research could usefully be incorporated and shared more widely, and suggests publicly available resources which could be used by managers for performance measurement and user consultation.

Learning by doing: a case study of qualitative accounting research

The increasing number of master's degrees in accounting as well as specialist MBA's mean that an understanding of research methods is now an important part of the toolkit of accounting educators. In the literature there has been an increasing interest in qualitative accounting research. Whilst this interest has been mirrored by an increase in qualitative methods textbooks, less is known about the experience of undertaking such research. This presents a problem for educators, as they need material for students to work with and analyse before they are able to design their own research projects. This paper presents a case study based upon an extensive piece of qualitative research concerned with the use of accounting information in decision-making processes in banking. Review, exploratory and application questions provide a framework through which the case study can be used as a learning resource for accounting educators, supervisors and students.

Research activity among trainees on Merseyside

An active interest in research aids understanding of research methods helps in the reading of scientific papers, and is rapidly becoming a prerequisite for career progression in psychiatry.

The New Zealand Report of the cervical cancer inquiry: significance for medical education.

The New Zealand Cervical Cancer Inquiry has elicited considerable interest in Australia as well as in New Zealand. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the future practice of medicine with regard to the relevance of the Inquiry's findings for medical education, although it did recommend the incorporation of ethics teaching into all stages of the medical curriculum, and also urged that attention be paid to communication skills within the curriculum. In this article, I argue that medical ethics teaching should be seen as an essential part of the medical curriculum, with the teaching being integrated closely with the other disciplines that comprise the medical course. To illustrate one possible approach, I have outlined elements of current ethics teaching at the University of Otago. I also have raised what I regard as wider issues for the medical curriculum. These include the need for students to develop a critical facility and an ability to handle conflicting data and attitudes (fostered principally by an understanding of research methods), to appreciate the importance of accountability (fostered in part through group learning activities) and to be aware of the impact of community concerns on the practice of medicine. Another issue which I consider is raised indirectly by the Inquiry concerns the procedures that are used for the selection of students into medical courses.

Some Problems in Jazz Research

Jazz research seems to be coming of age in the academic world. While many non-academics have been researching this music since the 1920s, we are now beginning to find a larger percentage of music professors engaged in these activities. During the past twenty years or more, many colleges and universities have had a jazz history or jazz ensemble course, but the impetus for such courses often came from a faculty member who had some interest in jazz as a sideline. More often than not, there was no institutional support for jazz, only the luck of having a faculty member who wanted to teach it. Recently, however, colleges have been actively seeking jazz scholars. There is a growing commitment to jazz as an academic subject, and colleges are actively seeking qualified teachers. The positions always require teaching other subjects in addition to jazz, but progress is clearly being made. To date, most jazz research has been done by individuals who are neither musicians nor academics. These efforts have been very much appreciated by all concerned with the field. All the while, we recognize the fact that non-musician non-academics usually have several handicaps as jazz researchers. First, they are not performers of the music. Second, they vary greatly in their understanding of research methods. The discographers as a rule are the most successful researchers, having over the years established their own methods and standards. Many discographies contain remarkable and indispensable findings. But jazz biographies, on the other hand, range from documents that are thoroughly researched to those based merely on hearsay. Finally, non-musicians are severely limited by their inability to analyze the music, which is after all the subject and inspiration of our study. Obviously, there are many types of research-discographical, biblio-

Human Experimentation: A Guided Step Into the Unknown

When medical practitioners are faced with critical decisions to make, they may turn to clinical research to help them decide if new drug or treatment regimen surpasses the old or if newly developed diagnostic test is safe as well as accurate. Thus, to decide whether to critique published research article or to design clinical or preventive trial in special area of interest, the physician needs to understand research methods. This new book on scientific investigation will help the clinical researcher acquire the perspective needed to understand research principles and design. a literate and thought-provoking presentation of what can be dry topic. In concise and lucidly written volume, Dr William Silverman presents persuasive case for the need for clinical trials in medical research. The author asserts that the randomized clinical trial is necessary to evaluate the efficacy and safety of medical innovations before

Introductory Sociology: Course Objectives and Their Consequences

There seems to be some general consensus that Introductory Sociology students should be exposed to basic theoretical concepts, basic research methodologies, and the characteristic subject matter of the discipline. Although sharing these goals, we felt the need to develop them into more precise statements of exactly what we wished to accomplish and to develop ways of telling whether or not these goals were being reached. We carefully thought through the introductory course and developed behavioral objectives on the course level, combining techniques already used by others in developing smaller content objectives. Our course objectives include: (1) presenting the sociological perspective so that students become aware of social factors and see the interrelationships between parts of a social system; (2) developing an understanding of research methods in both conceptual and operational terms; (3) eliciting abstract, analytical, and critical thinking; and (4) developing student knowledge about culture, social structure, socialization, the major institutions and their interrelations, stratification, and deviance. For each objective we developed operational indicators of success. Developing course objectives had an unintended consequence. We were generally dissatisfied with the usual survey format since