No abstract available.
Research Design

No abstract available.
Research Design*

In a clinical controlled trial involving repeated measures of continuous outcomes such as quality of life, distress, pain, activity level at baseline and after treatment, the possibilities of analyzing these outcomes can be numerous with quite varied findings. This paper examined four methods of statistical analysis using data from an outcome study of a clinical controlled trial to contrast the statistical power on those with baseline adjustment. In this study, data from a CCT with women with breast cancer were utilized. The experiment (n=67) and control (n=74) were about equal ratio. Four method of analysis were utilized, two using ANOVA for repeated measures and two using ANCOVA. The multivariate between subjects of the combined dependents variables and the univariate between subjects test were examined to make a judgement of the statistical power of each method. The results showed that ANCOVA has the highest statistical power. ANOVA using raw data is the least power and is the worst method with no evidence of an intervention effect even when the treatment by time interaction is statistically significant. In conclusion, ANOVA using raw data is the worst method with the least power whilst ANCOVA using baseline as covariate has the highest statistical power to detect a treatment effect other than method. The second best method as shown in this study was in using change scores of the repeated measures.
Research Design

No abstract available.
Research ; Research Design ; Writing

Current clinical evaluation of literature quality has various ways. Most of them lay special emphasis on the evaluation of the design quality, but the evaluation of the implementation process quality is not perfect. Especially data management is not fully emphasized during the enforcement of clinical trials. Data from clinical research were bases for evaluating clinical findings. Although strict specifications and requirements for data management might be strictly written clearly in research protocols, they were not embodied in current clinical research evidence evaluation system. Data management is an important part of implementing the whole clinical trial process, which is a comprehensive reflection of data collecting, logging, sorting, and managing. Its objective is to obtain high quality research data for statistical analysis, thereby coming to a true and reliable conclusion. In order to overall evaluating clinical design and implement, we suggest that present quality evaluation indicators of clinical trails should be completed, and add data management quality evaluation during the whole implement process. Data management plans, standards and requirements for data checking, and management regulations for disobeying data and exception data should be added in quality evaluation indicators for clinical research evidence. The effect of data management quality on clinical research evidence evaluation should be emphasized.
Biomedical Research ; Humans ; Research Design

Qualitative research is a type of research that provides deeper insights into real-world problems. It gathers participants’ experiences, perceptions, and behaviours and answers the how’s and whys instead of how many or how much. It could be structured as a stand-alone study, purely relying on qualitative data or it could be part of mixed-methods research that combines qualitative and quantitative data. Some of the most common methodologies being used in qualitative research include ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenological study, narrative study, historical study and case studies. This article aimed to discuss how to conduct a qualitative study. The steps in conducting a qualitative study include: 1) Create a purpose statement; 2) Formulate the Research Questions; 3) Perform a Literature Review; 4) Choose a qualitative research methodology to use; 5) Identify and Select the Study Population; 6) Develop the data collection procedure; 7) Collect the data and 8) Analyze the data, which if using thematic analysis, can include writing the final report. In writing and appraising qualitative studies, the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ) can serve as a useful guide. Lastly, like in quantitative studies, researchers doing qualitative studies should be aware of the ethical issues involved in their work, anticipate possible ethical concerns, craft protection strategies, and make the necessary referrals to research ethics committees, appropriate organizations, and other agencies if the need arises.

BACKGROUND: Since the Korean Journal of Family Medicine (KJFM) started publishing in 1980, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomized controlled studies (NRSs) consistently have increased in quality and quantity. Although there have been several studies on the quality assessment of RCTs in Korea, there has been no study on quality assessment of NRSs. Thus, this study evaluated NRS in the KJFM to assess the quantity and quality. METHODS: Upon extracting NRSs for assessing the intervention effects from all the articles published in the KJFM from 1980 to 2006, assessments were made on methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS). Also, the analysis were made upon the proportion of NRSs within original articles according to two categories (comparative study, noncomparative study). The mean scores by research methods and years, and total scores and mean scores of yearly research methods were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 34 trials on NRSs were selected. In 1980s, 0.65% of the total selected original articles, in 1990s, 1.54%, and in 2000s 5.11% were NRSs. According to the research designs, the mean scores of MINORS were before and after study 8.5, interrupted Time Series 9.7 (out of 16), controlled before and after 13.5, quasi randomized trial 12.6, and non randomized trial 13 (out of 24). Before and after design was the most frequently used (55.9%). CONCLUSION: Although NRSs consistently increased in quantity, the assessed mean scores were low and most articles used before and after design. Thus, there should be studied using appropriate research methods in the future.
Humans ; Korea ; Research Design

A study on the shaking disease among coal miners in Quang Ninh was implemented by measurement of the shaking perception. The results found that the shaking perception of miners who have been working in coal mine for 5 years and over was significantly reduced compared with this of control. The test of shaking perception by diapason C128 is easy to use everywhere and has a specific significant for finding the shaking disease.
Perception ; Research Design

Background: Response surface methodology (RSM) is a cost-effective multivariate technique employed in optimization of pharmaceutical formulations. Central composite experiment design is one of the common designs under RSM used for determining optimum nanoparticle formulation parameters. Objectives: To optimize a formulation for meropenem-loaded chitosan alginate nanoparticles using central composite experimental design. Methodology: Meropenem loaded chitosan-alginate nanoparticles were fabricated using aqueous sodium alginate solution and ionotropic gelation with calcium chloride and chitosan, using an optimized formulation derived from a central composite design. The fabricated Mer-CS/Alg NPs were characterized for their particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, and loading capacity. The central composite design has been used to adequately assess the influence of two factors namely meropenem concentration and Alg/CS mass ratio on the responses based on a limited number of 13 triplicate formulation runs. Results: This study successfully formulated meropenem-loaded chitosan/alginate nanoparticles. The optimal formulation of the Mer- CS/Alg NPs was 1.7 mg/mLcurcumin, and a Alg/CS mass ratio of 9.8:1. Based on the predicted values of the response variable, the optimal formulation would have a particle size of 490.64 nm, zeta potential of -28.59 mVand a loading capacity of 76.89%. Conclusion The central composite experimental design successfully optimized the nanoparticle formulation of meropenem and chitosan/alginate polymer solution. The optimum formulation produced nanoparticles with adequate size, high stability, and high drug load.
Meropenem ; Nanoparticles ; Research Design

As qualitative researchers, we are actively involved in the research process. We accept the fact that we are the main instrument, thus are part of the social world we aim to understand. It entails self-awareness and as Parahoo (2006) posits, reflexivity, as a process, is an introspection on the role of subjectivity in the research that entails a continuous process of reflection by researchers on their values. It is also a process of recognizing, examining, and understanding how their “social background, location, and assumptions affect their research practice” Hesse-Biber, 2007, p.17). Reflexivity, as the abundant literature would indicate, is an elusive term, it is commonly used interchangeably with reflectivity, and even with critical reflection. In this paper, an attempt was made to rediscover how reflexivity has been utilized in various perspectives to define its position and role in the conduct of robust qualitative research. In the process, we would like to share and solicit perspectives on reflexivity as a process and as an output. This was done thru a review of literature and the integration and highlighting of reflexivity/reflexivities of various researchers arising from the various research that we have been involved with such as: the six-country multi-disciplinary team lead by the Ottawa University based in Canada that undertook participatory research across Asia, Africa, and the Pacific to learn how poverty can be defined and measured; the five-country multi-disciplinary team, led by the Australian National University, Australia; and various local interdisciplinary researches. These researches were conducted over three years or more, some in various stages using focused group interviews, key informant interviews, observations, ladder ranking using photographs, record reviews, surveys, and photovoice. We also included documented reflexivities of colleagues with whom we have worked with in various capacities. We analyzed these documents vis-à-vis the concern of the qualitative researcher to unravel how their personhood intersects with their experiences in the field. Indeed, revisiting reflexivity and research methods enlightens the rigor in traversing the pathways of knowledge generation in qualitative research.
Research Design ; Ethics