a starter to enter into medical research....a lazy professor"s workout....!!...lol

3. *

7. *Development of scientific attitude -
Evidence based medicine
*Learning research methodology
*Curricular requirement
*publication
*

10. *

16. *It Is a systematic and
organised scientific
process
*To find answers to
questions

17. * Research is to see what everybody else has
seen, and to think what nobody else has
thought……….
----Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

27. *is an important and complex part
of the research process
*You will need to do some research
and reading
*

28. CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE
RESEARCH TOPIC
Dr. V. Sathyanarayanan M.D.,
Professor of Pharmacology

29. *To know the processes involved in
choosing the appropriate research topic
*To formulate a research question ( aim and
objectives )
*To assess the quality of the research
question effectively
*To formulate a hypothesis for testing the
research question
*OBJECTIVES

30. *First and foremost, it must be interesting
*You should learn something of value to you
*It should be productive
*

32. * Choose a mentor
or guide

37. and then…
1. Develop a research question
* Do a thorough search of medical literature
* Identify the edge of knowledge related to that
question and gaps in knowledge
* Be certain that your question has not already
been answered AND that filling the gaps is
important
2. Develop a testable hypothesis
*

44. *The man with a new idea is a crank until the
idea succeeds…..
*

48. *Not necessarily Archemedes or edison

49. *as you go about your daily clinical practice
* observe with curiosity and enquire…..
* Sometimes it is the result of having a disagree
ment with a colleague
*Define the problem well
*

50. *Etiology and *Elucidate mechanisms
pathogenesis
*Pathophysiology
*Diagnosis *Diagnostic approaches
*Therapeutic
*Treatment interventions
*prognosis *Research into the
prognostic factors
*

60. *Consider personal interests
*Engage in conversations with the
mentor, colleagues, teachers and experts
*Read articles
*Browse recent issues of journals or magazines
*Browse the shelves for books on your subject
*Identify the research question area
*Aware of overuse of ideas

70. *Concluding sections in the critically examined
individual studies, systematic review
*Remaining gaps in literature
*Further define the research question
*MEDLINE, PUBMED, SCIENCEDIRECT,
* MEDSCAPE
*

75. *From standard text books
*Use article databases to scan current
magazine, journal or newspaper articles on the
topic
* Use Web search engines to find Web sites on
the topic
*

79. *Keep it manageable.
*Be aware if a topic is
very recent
*discuss your topic with
your guide
*

83. * Look for words that best describe your
topic
*Find synonyms, broader and narrower terms
for each keyword you find
*Keep a list of these words to use later as
you search
*

88. * it is common to modify your topic during the
research process
* Be aware of the depth of coverage needed
and the due date.
*Your guide will probably provide specific
requirements
*

93. *You will often begin with a word,
*develop a more focused interest in an
aspect of something relating to that word,
* then begin to have questions about the
topic.
*Significance of the research question must
be identified
*

98. *Use the key words you have gathered to
research in the
* catalog, article databases
* and Internet search engines.
* Find more information to help answer your
research question.
*

105. * To steal from one is plagiarism.to steal from
many is research…
---Steven Right

106. * This may be the answer to your research question
* and/or a way to clearly state the purpose of your
research.
* Your thesis statement will usually be one or two
sentences
* that states precisely what is to be
answered, proven, or what you will inform your
audience about your topic.
*

111. * Trying to turn a statement
into a real question
*

112. *Possibly the most difficult part
* is to come up with a reasonable question
*and focus it to the point
*where it can be answered
*

114. * defining the goal of your research,
* identifying objectives,
* refining and refining it some more and
* refining it even more until
* you have a neat and simple question
* that is feasible to answer.
*

115. * stated in broad terms
* and covers the topic that
interests you
*

117. * more focused
* There could be more than one
*but all would contribute to the overall goal
*Define it
*

120. * one of the on going topics in recent years is
* whether medical marijuana has any place in the mains
tream medical world.
* The goal of research in this area would be
*to assess whether medical marijuana is
a useful treatment
*

121. *What is the population I want to study?
*How do I describe it – age, sex, background?
*What is the intervention I want to study?
*Do I have all the details of the intervention?
*What is the outcome I want to achieve?
*How am I going to measure the outcome?
*

122. *PICO
*P ‐ Population
*I ‐ Intervention
*C ‐ Comparison
*O – Outcome Measured
*

123. *Population ‐ children with cerebral palsy
* Described ‐ ages 6 to 16
*Intervention ‐ Medical marijuana
* Details of intervention – dose and given orally
*Outcome – frequency of spasm by 50%
* Measure of outcome – Tic spasm score.
*

124. *Medical marijuana, given orally X mg q.i.d will
*reduce the frequency of spasms by 50%, as me
asured by the Tic spasm score, in children with
*cerebral palsy between the ages of 6 and 16 ye
ars.
*

125. * single statement that contains
sufficient information that
it can be tested using
*statistical methodology

126. * are procedures for making rational
decisions about
*what is real and what is opinion
*

130. *F – Feasible
*I – Interesting
*N – Novel
*E – Ethical
*R ‐ Relevant
*

131. *Number of subjects
*Alter inclusion and exclusion criteria
*Equipment
*cost
*

133. *To you
*To the guide
*To the peers
*Editors of the journals
*Reviewers
*

138. *Newer topic or idea
*Not duplicated
*Duplicated Will have a lower rating
*

146. * Should follow existing guidelines like
* ICMR code of Ethics in biomedical research
* Clinical trials should follow  Good Clinical
Practice Guidelines published by Government of
India
* Get the IEC approval
*

149. *Addresses certain community needs
*Addresses issues that will have an
impact for policy making
*

151. Questions to ask yourself Yes No Vague
Is the question asked in a single sentence?
Is the question simple?
P Does the question specify the population?
I Does the question state the intervention?
C Is there a comparison group?
O Is there a clear outcome in the question?
O Has the measure for the outcome been specified?
F Is the question FEASIBLE?
I Is it INTERESTING ? to you? to others?
N Is it NOVEL? ‐‐ new? Innovative?
E ETHICAL? ‐‐ is there a state of equipoise between comp
eting therapies? Will your investigations  harm?
R RELEVANT? To policy makers? To patients?

157. * What is the sample size you are looking for ?
* would you have access to the population you wanted?
* Would the selected population agree to participate?
* Would you be able to obtain the drug samples?
* Think through what budget you might need?
* Will the ethics committee approve of your project?
* How novel are the questions? ( not repeated )
*

158. * Generating a good research question is an iterative
process
* that requires you to develop new
conceptual schemes for the problem
* the generation of “Concept Maps” a very useful
technique for keeping our thinking straight
* MindManager (www.mindjet.com)
* Inspiration (www.inspiration.com)
*

167. * you can write the one page description required for the assi
gnment.
* should write the goal of the research,
* what the general objective of the research is,
* try to formulate specific aims which can be your refined que
stion(s) and then,
* if you have a hypothesis that can be tested,
write that down.
* summarize your thinking on the feasibility
* and general plans you have for conducting the research.
*

168. * Hulley SB, Cummings SR. “Designing Clinical Research: An
epidemiological approach.
* Centre for Health Evidence: “Users’ Guides to Evidence
Based Practice”
* http://www.cche.net/usersguides/start.asp#Questions
* Guidelines for graduate students: “Choosing and refining a
research topic”
http://www.fiu.edu/~kowert/topic.html
* How to write Specific Aims:
http://www.theresearchassistant.com/tutorial/4‐4.asp
*

170. Even thousands of miles of journey
starts with a single step……..
lao tzu a chinese mystic