Types of Research
Introductions move your readers from the world they live in to the textual and analytical space of your essay. They establish the issue that your essay will examine and motivate why it is important to consider this issue.
To study means to examine something carefully, usually in order to decide on a course of action: to study an argument.
Exploratory Design
In exploratory research, researchers aim to gain information about a research problem without limiting their search for data. This type of research is conducted to examine a new or unfamiliar research problem and may also help establish what methods will best be used in conducting a more formal study. This type of research can include interviews, surveys, focus groups, and observational studies.
These types of research provide background information on a research topic and can offer answers to questions such as “what,” “why,” and “how.” This research is usually a precursor to more formalized research. It also helps in establishing research priorities and determining what areas need more investigation. It is important to note that this type of research does not produce concrete results.
This is a form of research that requires the researcher to be flexible and willing to change directions as they discover new information. This type of research can be time consuming and is often expensive, especially when using primary research methods like interviewing. It can also be difficult to compare and synthesize the results of different studies.
While the outcome of exploratory research cannot be used in decision making, it provides significant insight into a situation. In a qualitative study, the findings will typically be descriptive rather than causal and will not answer any of the questions about why something is happening. These findings can be useful for identifying possible trends in data, but will not be able to be generalized to a larger population. However, it is essential to have this type of research completed as it will provide a foundation for future research and allow for a deeper understanding of the data. If the results of this research are not interpreted properly, they can be misleading. This is why it is important to choose a reliable platform that can store all your customer research, feedback, and insights in one place. This will make it easier to identify patterns and trends that are impacting the customer experience. Choosing a good platform will also ensure that your research and customer insights are available to the entire team.
Case Study
A case study is a qualitative research design that examines one ‘case’ in detail, often using multiple methods to gather data. It is often used in healthcare, education and social sciences. This study type allows greater depth of investigation in smaller numbers of people than quantitative methods. A case study can be undertaken on a single individual, or it may focus on an organisation such as a hospital, police force, factory or television production company. Occasionally, researchers undertake more than one case study for purposes of comparison, such as private versus public hospitals or the impact of different treatments.
A famous example of a case study was John Martin Marlow’s work on Phineas Gage, who suffered from a railway spike through the head. Other well known case studies include Sigmund Freud’s work on Little Hans and The Rat Man. In healthcare, this study type has long been used to provide insight into rare conditions and is often referred to as a case report or case series.
The first section of your case study must explain the problem you are trying to solve and why it is important to do so. This section is typically longer than the other two and should include the scope of the issue you are tackling as well as a detailed description of how you plan to rectify it. The final section should describe how you will implement your solution, including any anticipated obstacles and how these will be overcome.
It is important to be aware of the limitations of a case study, particularly in relation to its ability to generalise findings to wider groups of individuals or organisations. For this reason, a good case study should have a clear statement of purpose as well as a clearly defined scope and time period (e.g. a specific episode of care). A case study should also have clear ethical considerations, which should be considered in advance of undertaking the study and outlined in the case study protocol. This includes the need for respondent validation (i.e. the opportunity for participants to check emerging findings and the researcher’s interpretations and provide their opinion as to whether they feel these are accurate) and transparency throughout the research process (i.e. ensuring that there are no hidden agendas and that the study is conducted in a way that maximises its benefits to the participants).
Open Cohort Study
A cohort study is similar to a case-control study, but in this design the investigators start with a group of people who do not have the outcome (disease) of interest and then follow them forward in time and identify incident cases as they occur. These types of studies can be prospective or retrospective and they can involve either closed or open cohorts.
A key advantage of this type of study is that it can distinguish causes from effects by examining events in the temporal sequence and comparing those who have been exposed with those who have not. Cohort studies can also be useful for demonstrating the association between a purported risk factor and a disease by calculating relative risks.
One of the disadvantages of this study design is that it can be very expensive and take a long time to conduct. It can also be difficult to get accurate and complete information from participants and it is often necessary to use methods such as mail questionnaires, telephone interviews or laboratory tests. Depending on the nature of the study, it may be possible to address missing data by using statistical methods such as single or multiple imputations. It is important for the investigator to discuss how they have addressed the problem of missing data with a statistician before beginning the study.
This study design can be more likely to produce reliable results than a cross-sectional or case control study, as the investigators can ensure that the sample group is representative of the general population and that all potential risk factors for the outcome have been identified (e.g. circumcised men should not be included in a study designed to examine the relationship between paraphimosis and smoking). However, if the primary aim of the research is to investigate associations between predictor variables and the outcome of interest, the size of the sample must be carefully considered. A small sample will not be able to detect significant associations and a large group might not be economical.
As with other observational study designs, a major concern is the possibility of confounding. This can occur when the same factor influences both the exposure and the outcome of interest, or when there are differences in how the outcome is measured in the two groups. Investigators should always attempt to account for known, measured confounders by using appropriate design and analysis techniques.
Systematic Review
A systematic review is a method of reviewing and summarizing empirical evidence on a specific question using clearly defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. This method involves the identification and systematically selection of all relevant studies, the careful appraisal of the quality of each study, data extraction and synthesis of results, and the presentation of findings in a clear and concise manner. It is considered the gold standard in medical research and has a major impact on the practice of evidence-based medicine.
The key to conducting a successful systematic review is the thorough planning of the review in the form of a protocol. This should include a statement of the problem, the key questions, the methodology and a detailed plan of how the review will be undertaken (i.e. how the literature will be retrieved). This will ensure that the research is carried out in a consistent and reproducible manner.
A protocol will also detail how the research is to be published. This may involve a ‘full’ systematic review that is published in a peer-reviewed journal or it might be included as an appendix to another publication such as a conference paper or a book chapter. It might also be published as a ‘protocol’ on a website such as the Cochrane Library where it can be seen and shared by anyone interested in the subject area.
As a research method, systematic reviews are highly rigorous and can be extremely time consuming. They can take up to six months of full-time work for the lead author of a professional systematic review. They also require a substantial amount of computer software, including bibliographic, word-processing and spreadsheet programs.
A recent study of the definitions of SRs in nine different sources of information found that all but one of the manuscripts/books used a definition of SR that differed from the Cochrane Handbook in at least one respect. This suggests that there is a need for a standardized definition of SR, including details such as the number and type of databases/sources searched and whether key methods (screening titles and abstracts, screening full texts, risk of bias assessment, data extraction and synthesis) should be done by two authors independently or be done by one author and verified by another.