Single subject research designs for disability research

Purpose : The objective of this article is to offer an overview of single subject designs and provide clinicians with information regarding the components of single subject designs and how they can be used in clinical and other rehabilitation environments. Method/Result : Three basic designs in single subject research are presented, with corresponding examples illustrating each design. A review of visual and statistical analysis techniques commonly used in single subject designs is provided, and the advantages and limitations of each are noted. Conclusion : Single subject designs are ideally suited for research in the rehabilitation practice environment. If properly applied, these designs can help establish the efficacy of rehabilitation practice and contribute to rehabilitation science.     

Career pathways in research: clinical research

This article, the second in a series on career pathways, informs readers of the knowledge they require to conduct clinical therapeutic trials to recognised standards. Many nurses start their careers in research as clinical research nurses. The skills and knowledge they develop through conducting multi-centre studies gives them an excellent grounding in the discipline, organisation and management of research.     

Clinical and research databases in healthcare research

How reliable are databases as a source of potential participants for research? Jill Firth and Naomi Reay suggest that caution is required.     

Utilizing research assistants and maintaining research integrity

The appropriate use and supervision of research assistants is essential to the success of a research study and the avoidance of academic misconduct. The focus of this article is to provide guidelines for the new principal investigator regarding hiring, contracting, orienting, monitoring, and evaluating research assistants. Particular attention is given to techniques that will avoid academic misconduct resulting from research assistants being uniformed or unsupervised.     

Single subject research designs for disability research

Purpose: The objective of this article is to offer an overview of single subject designs and provide clinicians with information regarding the components of single subject designs and how they can be used in clinical and other rehabilitation environments. Method/Result: Three basic designs in single subject research are presented, with corresponding examples illustrating each design. A review of visual and statistical analysis techniques commonly used in single subject designs is provided, and the advantages and limitations of each are noted. Conclusion: Single subject designs are ideally suited for research in the rehabilitation practice environment. If properly applied, these designs can help establish the efficacy of rehabilitation practice and contribute to rehabilitation science.     

Clinical research 6: writing and research

This six-part research series is aimed at clinicians who wish to develop research skills, or who have a particular clinical problem that they think could be addressed through research. The series aims to provide insight into the decisions that researchers make in the course of their work, and to also provide a foundation for decisions that nurses may make in applying the findings of a study to practice in their own Unit or Department. The series emphasises the practical issues encountered when undertaking research in critical care settings; readers are encouraged to source research methodology textbooks for more detailed guidance on specific aspects of the research practice.     

Enhancing research use through online action research

BACKGROUND: Many health professionals, including occupational therapists, have difficulty utilizing research findings in daily practice. PURPOSE: To determine if an online action research project could enhance research use among occupational therapists working in similar practice areas. METHODS: Four groups of 12-14 occupational therapists met online for approximately one year. They discussed barriers and facilitators to research utilization, defined practice questions, and attempted to search for, synthesize and apply relevant research findings. Online communications and post-group interviews were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Only half of the participants who began the project were still online with the research project at completion. These participants believed that their involvement in the group led to increased personal awareness, motivation and confidence regarding the use of research evidence in practice and knowledge to be used in practice. Time to review, critique and synthesize research evidence continued to be a major barrier to enhanced research utilization. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Online meetings designed to enhance research use among occupational therapists appear to hold some promise, but refinements are needed to ensure their ultimate success.     

A comparison of action research, participatory research, and participatory action research and their applications in nursing research

Action research, participatory research, and participatory action research methodology adopting critical theory as epistemology for knowledge development have been applied in diverse nursing specialties. They share similar research principles and values, and employ the same data collection methods. For these many scholars use the terms interchangeably. However, their developmental origins and ideological backgrounds are different, as are their expected outcomes and research methods. The terms have therefore been misused. This paper is intended to enhance researchers' ability to distinguish between the similar methodologies and to apply research methodology and related terms appropriately to the relevant issues of health care.     

护理研究文化的研究现状及启示

该文对护理研究文化的内涵与要素、测量工具和建设策略进行综述,并提出对我国今后临床护理研究文化建设的启示,包括护理管理者应形成正确的护理研究文化建设理念,强化护理管理者的护理研究文化建设意识和能力,加强护理院校与医院的学术合作,医院应为护理科研人才设置合理的岗位,为国内临床护理研究文化的建设提供借鉴。     

Interruption to research design: substance driven research

When adolescent women, readers of YM, Seventeen, and Teen, met individually and in a series of four or five focus group meetings to talk about the health messages in teen magazines, their surprising responses did not fit the feminist, critical theory, and media reception analysis methods used to guide the study. The undisputed acceptance of research methods as the sole means to knowledge and truth was interrupted by the voices of the adolescents that resisted methodological codification. Hermeneutics or interpretive inquiry transformed my study to one that became substantively driven and contributes to the qualitative approaches in the human sciences.     

Facilitating research students in formulating qualitative research questions

One of the initial and challenging processes that research students and students undertaking research modules encounter is the formation or appraisal of the research question. Research questions acquire significance as the rigor and validity of the research project rests on the extent to which the conclusions of the study have answered the research question. For qualitative studies the research question acquires even greater significance since the notions of audit trail, which commences from the research question is considered as an indication of a valid or not research. Hence, the formation of a qualitative research question requires to be based on a framework as to have specific content, coherence and structure. The content takes the form of a declarative statement that provides focus on a specific issue, but at the same time allows enough flexibility as for variables to emerge from the data. The coherence should smoothly bridge the philosophical/theoretical propositions of the qualitative paradigms with the practical execution of the study and this is achieved by the use of specific verbs, nouns and phrases. Lastly, the structure needs to adequately answer to the who, when, where, what, how and why of the study.     

Placing empowerment research within an action research typology

The focus of this paper is to use three action research typologies to consider retrospectively, and understand, the processes of an empirical study. The typologies are used to plot the changing emphasis of collaborative action research with a primary health care team that addressed their health promotion practice. The study implemented self-efficacy theory into the health promotion practice of a primary health care team and developed a self-efficacy framework for smoking cessation. The framework had some success in aiding practitioners in their work despite the patients' disinterest in smoking cessation. Two action research types can be identified within the study, a technical/experimental approach which surrounded the use of a researcher-led theoretical agenda, whereas the research facilitation was informed by critical theory and was classified as an enhancement/empowering action research type. This paper demonstrates the conflicting natures of these types which, in this study, resulted in positive outcomes associated with the experimental/technical approach but only at the expense of professional empowerment. The findings of this study imply that theoretically-led empowering action research was an incompatible combination in this instance and this potential conflict needs to be addressed by researchers engaging in collaborative research relationships with practitioners.