Research

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Advanced practitioners’ perspective of the research process

Research

Most of the evidence underpinning advanced practice will come from research. Research can be used to investigate healthcare practice, including drug therapy, clinical interventions and patient experiences.  Research has to be undertaken in a systematic manner.

The Effective Practitioner resource has some general introductory level information with some helpful activities to get you started. https://www.effectivepractitioner.nes.scot.nhs.uk/evidence,-research-and-development.aspx

If you are new to research, then it is advisable to seek support. This could be from a supervisor if you are undertaking an academic programme, or from the Research and Development Department in the organisation where you work. They will be able to guide you on developing your research study. You may also be able to join a team who are undertaking research and gain experience.

Stakeholders are an important part of the development of a research study. Stakeholders might include clinicians, administrative colleagues, patients and user groups. A stakeholder analysis lets you identify everyone who needs to be involved in your project and how their needs or interests need to be considered.

You should identify the stakeholders at the start of the process and develop effective ways of engaging with them throughout the development and implementation of the study. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has a range of resources to support researchers undertaking research involving the public or patients.

The research process is often used to explain how to approach undertaking research.

Research

Once the issue has been identified, the existing literature should be reviewed. This will enable you to see what is already known about the topic and also provides information about how previous research was conducted, identify gaps, and enable you to refine your research question and inform your study design.

Question / Hypothesis / Statement

The research question or statement needs to be specific. It is possible to use tools such as those used for literature reviews. The Centre for Evidence Based Medicine has an example of how to formulate a focused question. You can also look at published research studies to see how other researchers have formulated their research questions and statements.

Once you have developed your question, you can formulate the study aims and objectives. The aim is a broad description of what the study will do, while the objectives are specific statements about how the study will address the aim and answer it. This is an example of how to develop research aims and objectives.

Ethics

The ethical principles which researchers must respect include:

  • Beneficence and non-maleficence – researchers must ensure that the benefit from the research outweighs risk or harm to the participants. Where risks are anticipated, researchers should ensure that efforts are made to minimise these.
  • Justice – Participants should be treated fairly. Researchers should ensure that people who are eligible to take part in a study are given the opportunity to access it.
  • Informed consent – Participants must have the opportunity to give consent before they take part in the study. They should understand what taking part involves and that they have the right to withdraw without it affecting their care. Ethical review committees will require a Patient Information Sheet and Consent form, both of which should be written so that a lay person can understand them.
  • Confidentiality and Anonymity – Data collected as part of a study should be stored securely. Researchers also need to ensure that participants cannot be identified in reports.

Before commencing a research study, ethical approval must be sought. To help you decide if your study is research and requires ethical approval the Research Ethics Service has developed a decision tool. Your local NHS board Research and Development department can also provide advice, processes and required documentation.

If your study is research, then ethical approval may be from a university ethics committee or from a research ethics committee. NHS Research Scotland provides information about when and how to seek ethical review.https://www.nhsresearchscotland.org.uk/services/permissions-co-ordinating-centre/permissions

Research design

The research design will be influenced by the research question or statement. If you want to find out about the effectiveness of care, or trends and patterns of in care then a quantitative approach is needed. If you want to find out about experiences or thoughts and behaviours, then you will use qualitative methods.

Increasingly a mixed or multiple methods approach is used – this is where both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. This paper by McKenna et al (2020) provides a good overview of the debates. This paper by Doyle et al (2016) provides another perspective on mixed methods.

Quantitative research methods include randomised controlled trials, quasi experimental studies, and surveys. Sage have produced a research methods map which gives an overview of different quantitative methods.

Qualitative research methods include phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory. Sage have produced a research methods map which gives an overview of different qualitative methods.

Sample

Choosing the appropriate sample is an important part of the research design. Quantitative and qualitative research take different approaches to sampling and recruitment. Probability sampling is associated with quantitative methods, while qualitative methods use non-probability sampling. This paper by Martinez-Mesa et al (2016) explains the different approaches to sampling.

Data collection and analysis

Quantitative studies define variables and measure changes to explain the relationship between them. Statistical tests are used to analyse the numerical data to obtain results. The help of a statistician is invaluable in deciding which tests to use and how to interpret the findings.

Qualitative studies collect words and observations, and these are transcribed, combined, and analysed to develop findings. Software such as NVivo can be used to help organise the data; however, this is not necessary for analysis.  A range of approaches can be used to analyse qualitative data. These include content analysis, thematic analysis, narrative analysis, and discourse analysis. This chapter provides more information about the range of methods which you can explore further here too.  

Funding

Research can be expensive. This information from NIHR can help you think about what you might need to carry out your research.

Funding schemes are useful ways to make your ideas possible. Funding opportunities are diverse and can vary according to its purpose.  Applying for grants can include funding research and quality improvement projects, dissemination of work, such as attending conferences and publishing, and further education, which can have a significant impact on your personal and professional development as well as career progression. Therefore, the first step to look for fundings is to clearly define the purpose.

Funding is available from a range of sources. For small research projects, your Health Board may have endowment funds.

Other sources of funding:

Professional organisations offer funding for research and research scholarships. Check your professional body as many have opportunities for grants.  

Charities and third sector also offer opportunities for funding, discipline, or area specific.

Universities may offer research scholarships and opportunities to participate in research studies.  You can find opportunities here

Worldwide PHD study opportunities can be found here