Research Methodology in the Medical and Biological Sciences
- 1st Edition - November 5, 2007
- Latest edition
- Editors: Petter Laake, Haakon Breien Benestad, Bjorn R. Olsen
- Language: English
Providing easy-to-access information, this unique sourcebook covers the wide range of topics that a researcher must be familiar with in order to become a successful experimental… Read more
Providing easy-to-access information, this unique sourcebook covers the wide range of topics that a researcher must be familiar with in order to become a successful experimental scientist. Perfect for aspiring as well as practicing professionals in the medical and biological sciences it discusses a broad range of topics that are common, yet not traditionally considered part of formal curricula. The information presented also facilitates communication across conventional disciplinary boundaries, in line with the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of modern research projects.
- Perfect for students with various professional backgrounds providing a broad scientific perspective
- Easily accessible, concise material makes learning about diverse methods achievable in today's fast-paced world
Postgraduate researchers in basic life science and clinical research, postdocs, researchers and clinical researchers.
Preface
Contributors
List of Abbreviations and Symbols
Chapter 1 Philosophy of Science
1.1 Philosophy of the Natural Sciences
1.2 Philosophy of The Social Sciences
Chapter 2 Ethics and Scientific Conduct
2.1 A Brief Introduction to Ethics
2.2 Scientific Conduct and Misconduct
2.3 Misconduct and Why It Occurs
2.4 Fabrication and Other Forms of Misconduct Affecting the Truth Claims of Scientific Findings
2.5 Authorship Issues
2.6 Salami, Imalas and Duplicate Publication
2.7 The Investigation and Punishment of Scientific Misconduct
Appendix 1
Chapter 3 Ethics in Human and Animal Studies
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Basic Principles of Human Research Ethics
3.3 International Regulation
3.4 The Ethics of Animal Research
Appendix 1 World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects
Appendix 2 Oviedo Convention (Council of Europe, European Treaty Series 164)
Appendix 3 Oviedo Convention – Additional Protocol Concerning Biomedical Research, Chapter I–IX (Council of Europe, European Treaty Series 195)
Chapter 4 Research Methodology: Strategies, Planning and Analysis
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Your Scientific Problem
4.3 More On Scientific Problems
4.4 Literature, Methods and Techniques
4.5 Research Conditions
4.6 Data Types
4.7 Techniques
4.8 Repeatability, Reproducibility and Reliability
4.9 Validity, Effect Measure and Choice of Statistical Test
4.10 Experimental Protocol
4.11 Experimental Routine
Chapter 5 Literature Search and Personal Reference Databases
5.1 Information Literacy
5.2 Systematic Literature Search
5.3 How to Formulate a Query: PICO
5.4 Search Technique
5.5 Methodology Filters
5.6 Quality: Critical Appraisal
5.7 Impact Factor
5.8 Principal Bibliographic Databases
5.9 Staying Up to Date
5.10 Medical and Scientific Internet Search Engines
5.11 Personal Reference Databases
Chapter 6 Methods in Molecular Biology
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Recombinant DNA Technology
6.3 DNA and RNA: Isolation, Identification, Synthesis and Analysis
6.4 Practical Applications of DNA/RNA Technology
6.5 Protein Analyses
6.6 Bioinformatics
Chapter 7 Strategies and Methods of Basic Medical Research
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Long-Term Goals and Specific Aims
7.3 Background and Significance
7.4 Experimental Strategies and Methods
7.5 Pilot Studies
7.6 Rules for Basic Medical Research Projects
Chapter 8 Clinical Research
8.1 Controlled Clinical Trials
8.2 Publication Bias
8.3 Estimating Sample Size
8.4 ‘Non-Inferiority’ Studies
8.5 Generalization
Chapter 9 Epidemiology: Concepts and Methods
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Definitions
9.3 The Role of Epidemiology
9.4 Population and Sample
9.5 Measures of Disease Occurrence, Association, Risk and Implications
9.6 Vital Statistics
9.7 Study Designs of Epidemiological Studies
9.8 Effect Measures in Epidemiological Studies
9.9 Experimental Studies and Randomized Control Trials
9.10 Measurement Error and Sources of Error
9.11 Tests and Validity
9.12 Causes of Disease
9.13 Association Versus Causality
Chapter 10 Qualitative Research
10.1 Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research
10.2 Using Qualitative Research
10.3 What Qualitative Research Cannot be Used for
10.4 Samples in Qualitative Studies
10.5 Reliability and Validity
10.6 Ethical Challenges in Qualitative Research
10.7 Qualitative Data Collection
10.8 Triangulation
10.9 Analyses of Qualitative Data
10.10 Releasing Qualitative Data
Chapter 11 Statistical Issues
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Effect Measure, Hypothesis Testing and Confidence Interval
11.3 Bernoulli Trial
11.4 Comparing Two Proportions
11.5 Measures of Association in 2 x 2 Tables
11.6 Normal Distribution
11.7 Comparison of Means
11.8 Non-Parametric Methods
11.9 Regression Analysis
Chapter 12 Evidence-Based Practice and Critical Appraisal of Systematic Reviews
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Systematic Reviews
12.3 Critical Appraisal of a Systematic Review: One Example
12.4 Summary
Chapter 13 Scientific Communication
13.1 Introduction
13.2 The Scientific Paper
13.3 Posters
Chapter 14 Successful Lecturing
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Preparing the Lecture
14.3 Lecture Content and Form
14.4 Manuscript
14.5 Delivering a Lecture
Chapter 15 Guide to Grant Applications
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Getting Started
15.3 The Postdoctoral Fellow and Junior Scientist
15.4 What Goes into a Successful Grant Application?
15.5 The Investigator-Initiated Research Grant
15.6 Multiproject Grants
15.7 International Research Collaborations
15.8 The European Union's Seventh Framework Program
15.9 Summary and Perspective
Index
- Edition: 1
- Latest edition
- Published: November 5, 2007
- Language: English
PL
Petter Laake
Professor, PhD Petter Laake has since 1989 been a staff member of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Biostatistics, University of Oslo. He has 20 years of experience in lecturing, communicating and advising in statistics, at all levels and for various target groups. Since 2001, he has worked with the postgraduate studies programme at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, and has been in charge of the mandatory basic course in research methods. He has written and edited several text books in research methodology and statistics.
Affiliations and expertise
University of Oslo, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Dept of Biostatistics, NorwayHB
Haakon Breien Benestad
Professor, MD Haakon Breien Benestad has since 1968 been a staff member of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Physiology, University of Oslo. He has lectured students of medicine, odontology, nutrition and physiotherapy and has been an advisor for master and postgraduate students. He has held various basic courses for postgraduate students, compiled compendia for these courses and written a textbook of anatomy, physiology and immunology for social and health studies in upper secondary schools.
Affiliations and expertise
University of Oslo, Institute of Medical Sciences, Department of Physiology, NorwayBO
Bjorn R. Olsen
Dr. Bjorn R. Olsen, Hersey Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Developmental Biology at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, received his MD and PhD degrees in 1967 from the University of Oslo, Norway. In 1971, he moved to the United States and joined the faculty at Rutgers Medical School, now Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where he was Professor of Biochemistry from 1976 until he moved to Harvard Medical School in 1985 as Hersey Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology.
Research in his laboratory has uncovered fundamental roles of collagens, transcription factors and receptors that affect skeletal development and homeostasis, angiogenesis and blood vessel morphogenesis. Work on the roles of extracellular proteins in tissue development led to discovery of several novel families of non-fibrillar collagens and uncovered disease mechanisms in many collagen-based osteochondrodysplasias and other disorders. Other studies identified mutations in the transcription factors HOXD13 and RUNX2 in polysyndactyly and cleidocranial dysplasia. Mapping of the genes for craniofacial disorders, such as cherubism and craniometaphyseal dysplasia led to identification of causative mutations in the siganling regulator SH3BP2, and the pyrophosphate transporter ANK. In research on pathogenetic mechanisms of vascular anomalies, the Olsen laboratory discovered that activating mutations in the receptor tyrosine kinase TIE2 cause venous malformations and identified mutations/ polymorphisms and signqling mechanisms associated with the rapid growth of infantile hemangioma, the most common tumor of infancy. By addressing questions related to skeletal development and vascular disease, the Olsen laboratory has been able to characterize complex developmental and disease mechanisms at the intersection between skeletal and vascular biology. This has recently led to new insights into unexpected intracellular mechanisms by which vascular endothelial growth factor A controls differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells to osteoblasts and adipocytes during bone development and postnatal repair.
Dr. Olsen has received many awards and honors, including Honorary Doctor of Science Degrees from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, University of Oslo, Norway, Okayama University, Japan, and Oulu University, Finland; Research Prizes and Awards from American Association of Anatomists, American Society of Matrix Biology, International Association of Dental Research, International Society of Matrix Biology and British Society for Matrix Biology. He is Fellow of American Association of Anatomists and American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he has been the elected organizer and chair of three different Gordon Research Conferences.
Affiliations and expertise
Harvard Medical School, Department of Cell Biology, Boston, MA, USA