NE 106.2

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• NE 106.2
• Introduction to Research

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NE 106.1 Overview

• What is research?
• Why do research?
• Types of research
• What methods are used to conduct research?
• Key publications
• Critical analysis of research

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Overview

• What is research?
• Planned, studious and critical inquiry and
  examination, aimed at the discovery and
  interpretation of new knowledge or expansion on a
  topic or idea.

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Overview

• What is research?
• Planned, studious and critical inquiry and
  examination, aimed at the discovery and
  interpretation of new knowledge or expansion on a
  topic or idea.

• Basic research fundamental to understand the
  underlying mechanisms of a phenomenon
• Applied research answers a specific question

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Overview

• What is research?
• Why do research?
• Types of research?
• What methods are used to conduct research?
• Key publications and articles
• Critical analysis of research

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Overview

• What is research?
• Why do research?
• Types of research?
• What tools are used to conduct research?
• Key publications and articles
• Critical analysis of research

• to guide practice
• to further knowledge
• to answer important questions
• to solve problems based on
• solid data
• to distinguish belief from
• biology

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Sources of data

• Medical records subject to privacy and legal
  concerns
• Disease registries
• http//www.chcf.org/topics/view.cfm?itemID21718
• Interviews
• Questionnaires
• Death certificates

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In an experimental study of 100 rats, researchers
reported that rats fed chow with 50 high
fructose corn syrup for four weeks weighed an
average of 6 oz. more than rats fed conventional
rat chow.
Knowledge
Variables 1.Type of rat chow 2. Rat weight
Information
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Ongoing longitudinal studies

• Framingham Heart Study (Natl Heart, Lung and
  Blood Institute)?
• WHI (Womens Health Initiative)?
• Nurses Health Study

A research study that involves repeated
observations of the same items over long periods
of time, often many decades.. Longitudinal
studies are used in medicine to uncover
predictors of certain diseases.
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Review questions

• Whats an experiment?
• What is a hypothesis?
• Whats an epidemiological study?
• What are variables?
• What is data?
• Whats the difference between causation and
  association?

Information
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The Research Cycle information to knowledge
Questions

Knowledge
What does this mean for humans who eat a diet
high in hfcs? What questions need to be answered
next?
Data
Information
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What is a meta analysis?

• a meta-analysis combines the results of several
  studies that address a set of related research
  hypotheses.
• Meta-analyses are attempted when previous studies
  were too small individually to achieve meaningful
  or statistically significant results. Because
  combining data from disparate groups is
  problematic, meta-analyses usually are considered
  more suggestive than definitive.

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• What is research?
• Why do research?
• Types of research
• What methods are used to conduct research?
• Key publications
• Critical analysis of research

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Key Publications
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Components of a Research Article

• Abstract
• and Description of Subjects
• Methods/Data Collection
• Results
• Significance
• Conclusions
• Discussion

Most articles will also provide citations to
other primary or secondary sources.
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Components of a Research Article

• Abstract
• Background
• Study objectives
• Design
• Results
• Conclusion
• Introduction
• Subjects, Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• References

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Sources and citations
Primary source the original research article

Secondary source Books, magazines, encyclopedias
etc. that refer to the primary source
Along with genetic susceptibility, contact
current was found to be a potent initiator of
leukemia in juvenile mice (Newman, 2007 49)?
Most articles will also provide citations to
other primary or secondary sources
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and a comprehensive bibliography
Page s
Volume or issue

Author
Newman, Norman. A Mouse Model for Assessing EMF
Effects on Leukemia Initiation. American Journal
of Epidemiology 117(2007), 44-53.
Year
Source
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Using Online Databases to Do Your Own Nutrition
Research

• http//www.healingfoodreference.com/
• http//nccam.nih.gov/health/
• http//dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/
• http//www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/herb_A
  ll.html
• supplements.info.nih.gov/Research/CARDS_Database.a
  spx
• http//www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/databases.shtml
• http//www.foodrisk.org/database_nutrition.cfm

• www.pubmed.com
• www.arborcom.com
• www.Googlescholar.com
• http//www.plos.org/
• www.medscape.com
• www.vitasearch.com
• www.lef.org/references

• http//www.nafwa.org/fulltextarticles.php
• http//www.biomedcentral.com/browse/jo urnals/
• http//pediatrics.aappublications.org/

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PubMed search Bursitis
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Food for thought

• Comparing apples to oranges
• Significance vs. statistical significance
• Sources of variation
• Causation vs. association
• Abstract/study mismatch
• People are not rats!
• Overstatement of application to real world
• Study population not generalizable
• Other sources of bias

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Practical Application

• Using research reports in handbook or those
  handed out in class answer the following
• Study name
• Study authors
• Journal of publication
• Study population
• Type of study
• Questions the study attempted to answer
• Variables of interest
• Outcome/results
• Possible sources of bias
• Generalizability