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SELECTION
Muhammad Shahid Khan
WHAT RESEARCH TO DO?
Muhammad Shahid Khan
Mostly faced question
Your Views??
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MAJOR FIELDS OF HEALTH
RESEARCH
Biomedical Sciences
These include all biological, medical and clinical research,
and biomedical product development and evaluation.
Muhammad Shahid Khan
Population Sciences
These include epidemiology, demography and the socio
behavioral sciences.
Health Policy Sciences
These include health policy research, health systems
research and health services research, Economic analysis
studies
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Collaboration is Encouraged
DRIVERS FOR HEALTH RESEARCH
Curiositydriven research
Muhammad Shahid Khan
Needsdriven research
Profitdriven research
Opportunitydriven research
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WHERE DO RESEARCH IDEAS COME
FROM?
Read the medical literature, including reviews
which outline gaps in research
Muhammad Shahid Khan
Attend scientific meetings
Teach—questions asked by students can often
give ideas for research
Be a team player—ideas can come from
colleagues or mentors, in the same or different
disciplines
Acquaint herself/himself with the lines of
interest of funding research organizations
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CONT’D
Develop specific areas of scientific interest—it is a
good idea to be an expert in a small field, it is better
to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a
Muhammad Shahid Khan
large lake
Get new ideas out of her/his own previous research
Be a good observer
Be imaginative
Muhammad Shahid Khan
Health InterNetwork Access to Research
Initiative (HINARI)
PubMed Central
Eastern Mediterranean Region Index Medicus
Cochrane Collaboration (www.cochrane.org)
Biomed Central www.biomedcentral.com
Directory of Open Access Journals www.doaj.org
Free Medical Journals
www.freemedicaljournals.com 7
CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
Muhammad Shahid Khan
A good research topic should be feasible (can be
done), interesting, novel, ethical and relevant (has
an implication). These criteria have been
collectively called the FINER formula (Hulley et
al., 2001).
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CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
Feasibility
Before deciding on a research topic, the
Muhammad Shahid Khan
investigator must be sure that the research can
be done and completed.
It should be possible to recruit the number of
subjects required to provide the answer to the
research question within the timeframe of the
planned research
The research facility available to the
investigators should have the equipment,
supplies and other requirements to undertake
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the research
CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
The investigators must have the required
expertise
Muhammad Shahid Khan
The cost of doing the research must be affordable
and the financial resources available
The research objectives must not be too many or
too ambitious. It is always advisable to establish
a single primary objective around which to focus
the development of the study plan. This can be
supplemented with secondary objectives that
may also produce valid conclusions.
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CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
Interest
Muhammad Shahid Khan
The research topic must be of interest to the
investigators and to the scientific community. If
the investigators are not excited about the topic, or
cannot get colleagues interested in it, the project is
probably not worth doing.
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CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
Novelty
It is essential that the investigator is familiar
Muhammad Shahid Khan
with the uptodate literature on the planned
topic for the research.
The research must be expected to contribute new
information.
Novel does not necessarily mean that the
research has not been done before.
The prefix “re” in the word research implies
searching again. Most good studies are neither
original nor simple duplication of other studies. 12
CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
The progress of science is incremental, with
knowledge gradually building up from different
studies.
Muhammad Shahid Khan
The question should not be about whether the
study has been done before, but whether it will
add to the existing body of knowledge.
The addition to previous studies may be
confirmatory (especially if there was weakness in
the original reports), contradictory, or extend
previous findings.
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CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
The progress of science is incremental, with
knowledge gradually building up from different
studies.
Muhammad Shahid Khan
The question should not be about whether the
study has been done before, but whether it will
add to the existing body of knowledge.
The addition to previous studies may be
confirmatory (especially if there was weakness in
the original reports), contradictory, or extend
previous findings.
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CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
Ethics
Muhammad Shahid Khan
Ethical issues must be addressed at the early stage
of selecting the research topic. Other ethical issues
will need to be addressed in planning the research.
Some ethical problems may indicate that the
research should not be considered from the
beginning.
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CRITERIA FOR A GOOD RESEARCH
TOPIC
Relevance
This criterion can be called: the “sowhat?” test. For
Muhammad Shahid Khan
the research to be considered relevant, it must
have the potential to advance scientific knowledge,
influence clinical management, influence health
policy, or guide further research.
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Muhammad Shahid Khan
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