Chapter 12 Additional Research Approaches

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Chapter 12 Additional Research Approaches
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Additional Approaches in Research in HHP

• Methods not as prevalent as those previously
  presented, but may have application in some areas
  of HHP
• Historical
• Epidemiological
• Single Participant
• Creative Activities

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Historical Approach

• The researcher attempts to record and understand
  events of the past in order to better explain
  present events and suggest possible future
  directions

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Nature of Historical Research

• Involves collection of data
• Through the eyes of other people who witnessed an
  event or wrote about it
• Why we do certain things today is based on what
  has happened to us in the past
• Need to understand the past
• Discovery of new data/information may lead to new
  interpretations

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Sources of Historical Data

• Primary sources
• Secondary sources

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Primary sources

• Source is directly connected to the event of
  interest
• Original documents or physical artifacts
• People that can provide eyewitness testimony
• Highest credibility and preferred data source

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Secondary sources

• Secondhand accounts of historical happenings
• Hearsay evidence . . . person is not directly
  tied to event
• Textbooks, newspapers, encyclopedias, etc.
• Considered less reliable source of data

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Evaluating Historical Data

• Historical data must be critically evaluated to
  determine authenticity and worth
• External criticism
• Physical or chemical tests of documents
• Tests of signature, script, and handwriting
• Consistency of language usage
• Internal criticism
• Assesses the meaning of the content
• Authors motives
• Consistency with other reports of same event
• Two or more independent sources are needed to
  verify a historical fact

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Oral History

• Oral history research is conducted through taped
  interviews with individuals in a position to
  recall various events or movements
• Oral history information can be very subjective
  and opinionated
• Strict application of external and internal
  criticism should be observed

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Biographical Research

• Study of the life, career, and contributions of
  persons of interests . . . often leading
  scholars, coaches, educators, etc.
• Often based on extensive personal interviews of
  the person of interest supplemented with
  interviews of others

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Epidemiological Approach

• Descriptive epidemiology
• seeking to identify patterns or trends in
  disease, injury, or death
• Analytic epidemiology
• seeking to determine causation of disease,
  injury, or death
• Common in public health fields

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Research Designs

• Cohort studies
• a.k.a as prospective studies a study that
  begins with a group of people (a cohort) and
  follows them over time
• Case-control studies
• AKA as retrospective studies a study comparing
  a group who already have a condition of interest
  to a group that does not
• Case group the group with the characteristic of
  interest (e.g., cancer)
• Control group the group without the
  characteristic of interest

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Epidemiological Statistics Used to Measure
Strength of an Association

• Relative risk (RR)
• Odds ratio (OR)
• Attributable risk (AR)

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Relative Risk (RR)

• The extent to which it is more (or less) likely
  that a health problem or condition will occur in
  an exposed group compared to an unexposed group
• RR 1 no relationship between exposure and
  condition
• RR gt 1 positive relationship means that those
  exposed are x times more likely to contract the
  condition
• RR lt 1 negative relationship means that those
  exposed are x times less likely to contract the
  condition
• Applicable statistic for cohort studies

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Odds Ratio (OR)

• The most common measure of association between
  exposure and health outcome
• An estimate of relative risk
• It is the odds of a health problem or condition
  occurring in an exposed group (case group)
  compared to an unexposed group (control group)
• Interpretation is similar to that of RR
• Applicable statistic for case-control studies

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Attributable Risk (AR)

• Index of the percent of cases in the total group
  (unexposed group) that occur in the group with a
  risk factor (exposed group)
• Difference between the incidence rate for the
  exposed group minus the incidence rate for the
  unexposed group divided by the incidence rate of
  the unexposed group
• Applicable statistic for cohort studies

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Single Participant Approach

• a.k.a. single subject research
• Research conducted on the individual level with
  the performance of each research participant,
  rather than the group, being analyzed
• Behavior or performance of each participant is
  evaluated across time with each participant
  serving as their own control

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Collection and Analysis

• The basic approach is to obtain a baseline
  measure on the participant, administer a
  treatment, then obtain another measure on the
  participant
• Comparisons are made between the baseline score
  and the treatment score
• Applied behavior analysis (ABA)

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Research Designs

• Baseline data are collected (A)
• To ensure a stable measure at baseline, data may
  be collected on multiple occasions
• Graphing is useful technique to show data path
• Treatment data are collected (B)
• A-B design
• A-B-A-B design (more common)
• Others
• Nonparametric statistics

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Creative Activities

• Creative research vs. creative activity
• Involves the creation or development of some art
  form that is considered new or unique
• Common in dance or fine arts
• Artist, painter, dancer, sculptor, musician, etc.

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Evaluation of Creative Activity

• Exhibitions or displays
• Performances or recitals
• Standards for evaluation
• Judges or critics evaluate
• Honors and awards received
• Acknowledgments
• Receipt of grants