Theme 6 - the different types of research and experimental methodologies

Question 1

What are the two types of research?

Answer 1

-qualitative research
-quantitative research

Question 2

give 3 components of qualitative research

Answer 2

-concerned with words, meaning and experiences so no stats
-data generated typically through observations, questionnaires and interviews
-exploratory in nature used to develop an initial understanding rather than provide conclusive evidence

Question 3

give 3 components to quantitative data

Answer 3

-concerned with numbers and stats
-data is generated through rigorous experimental means and through tight control of variables
-results can be generalized to the wider population and may be used to make important decisions

Question 4

give 3 examples of qualitative research

Answer 4

-how happy and content are you with your life choices?
-what colours do you see looking at this particular image
-interview transcripts from patients who suffered an egg-related trauma

Question 5

what would be at the top of the hierachy of evidence? What would be at the bottom?

Answer 5

top: systematic reviews
bottom: background info, expert opinions

Question 6

give examples of quantitative research

Answer 6

-what is the Quality of Life score for patients who are blind?
-what percentage of cell loss occurs in glaucoma with and without treatment with drug X?
-what is the typical VA loss associated with egg related ocular trauma as recorded on a snellen chart

Question 7

in what two ways do clinical and epidemiological research take place in patients

Answer 7

either by doing
-intervention/ trial studies that involve giving something to patients
-observational studies where patients are put into groups and observed rather than manipulated

Question 8

are most epidemiological studies observational or interventional?

Answer 8

observational

Question 9

give an example of how an epidemiological study can be interventional

Answer 9

studying the effects of chlorine in drinking water (its looking at making a big change to a community)

Question 10

what are epidemiological studies for?

Answer 10

looking at:
-frequency
-distribution
-changes over time
-cause of a disease

Question 11

what are the steps involved in clinical trials?

Answer 11

-phase 1 - testing the safety profile of the drug normally done on healthy patinets
-phase 2 - testing efficacy of a drug in a medium sized sample group (50-300)
-phase 3 - testing the efficacy of a drug in a very large sample (almost always a randomised controlled trial (RTC))

there may be a phase 4 - where observational studies look at long term effects of the drug

Question 12

what is a case study? where is it on the hierachy of evidence?

Answer 12

-a descriptive account of a particular patient case or group of cases with no control group for comparisons
-2nd to bottom on the hierachy of evidence

Question 13

what is a cross sectional study and give an example

Answer 13

-a particular observation made at a specific point in time, often used in conjunction with other study types
- example being a survey is given out to your optometry patients after receiving a particular type of care

Question 14

how is a case control study different to a case study?

Answer 14

case control has a control group whereas case does not

Question 15

what is a case control study, give 2 examples

Answer 15

study begins with a particular outcome and then looks back to see what could have led to the outcomes presence or absence so is retrospective
-patients that have glaucoma and patients that dont
-glaucoma patients that responses to IOP lowering drops and those that did not

Question 16

What is a cohort study? Give an example

Answer 16

a group of individuals with a common trait/ exposure are followed up over an extended period e.g. repeatedly following up a group of patients after cataract surgery to study their visual acuity progression or follow up smokers to determine any future health problems

Question 17

what can you calculate using a cohort study?

Answer 17

relative risk

Question 18

what are the drawbacks to a cohort study?

Answer 18

-expensive
-time consuming
-not recommended for disease with long latency

Question 19

what are the two types of cohort studies?

Answer 19

retrospective and prospective

Question 20

how is a retrospective cohort study different to a prospective cohort study?

Answer 20

in a retrospective cohort study,
-exposure and outcome have already happened
-data on exposures has already been collected and subjects were already grouped into exposed and non-exposed
whereas in a prospective cohort study,
-you start with the exposure instead of the outcome

Question 21

how is a case control study different to a cohort study?

Answer 21

you have to use odds not relative risk

Question 22

what is a prognostic study?

Answer 22

studying the prognosis of a disease depending on a variety of factors such as age, disease course, symptoms etc.

Question 23

what is a diagnostic study?

Answer 23

a comparison of a new technique for diagnosing a disease with the current gold standard

Question 24

what are the three types of correlational studies?

Answer 24

-case control
-cohort
-cross sectional

Question 25

what kind of study is a correlational study an example of?

Answer 25

an observational study

Question 26

what is an observational study?

Answer 26

a study with an observe and describe approach where the experimenter is in no way manipulating the variables or having a hand in allocating which subjects are in which particular group

Question 27

what is a trial study?

Answer 27

a study that involves intervention where subjects are randomly assigned into the experimental or control group

Question 28

what is a variable?

Answer 28

any factor, trait or condition which can change or exist in differing amount and should all be kept consistent so they dont influence the experiment

Question 29

what is an independent variable?

Answer 29

the variable that is being manipulated e.g. treatment or placebo, it is the only difference between the experimental group and control group allowing cause and effect to be established

Question 30

what is the dependent variable?

Answer 30

the variable that is being measured e.g. whether they receive treatment or a placebo

Question 31

what is the difference between a partial- blinded study or a double blinded study?

Answer 31

a partial blinded study has only participants unaware they are receiving treatment whereas a double blinded study is where the participants are unaware they are receiving treatments as well as the experimenters and clinicians who are also unaware of whether they are administering a drug or a placebo

Question 32

what is a randomised clinical trial?

Answer 32

a planned experiment testing the safety and efficacy of a particular drug or intervention

Question 33

how is a randomised clinical trial different to a cohort study?

Answer 33

in a RCT the different groups exist because of your intervention whereas in a cohort study, there is no intervention

Question 34

What are the similarities and differences between experimental design and Quasi experimental design?

Answer 34

they both have an independent variable that is manipulated while the dependent variable is measured.
quasi experimental designs have non randomly assigned participants whereas experimental designs are randomly assigned participants

Question 35

give 3 example questions for quasi assigned experimental research design

Answer 35

-how effective is online teaching in comparison to face-face teaching
-how well do patients score on a vision-based test before and after treatment
-how well is a drug tolerated

Question 36

how is a literature review different to a systematic review?

Answer 36

a literature review is more generic in the topics it covers whereas a systematic review is much more precise, extracts very specific data and attempts to find every study relevant to the proposed research question