Stats >> Planning your research study (July 13, 1999)

The statistician who supposes that his main contribution to the planning of an experiment will involve statistical theory, finds repeatedly that he makes his most valuable contribution simply by persuading the investigator to explain why he wishes to do the experiment, by persuading him to justify the experimental treatments, and to explain why it is that the experiment, when completed, will assist him in his research.  -- Gertrude M. Cox.

This page is obsolete. Please refer to Theme: Planning a research study.

Short list of topics (detailed list appears below)

Why planning is important

No one likes to plan, especially not me. It's more fun just to dive in and start mucking around. But this is a bad idea for research. You may have to provide a plan for your research before you can

  1. get approval for your research;
  2. get funding for your research.

Even if you don't have to plan your research, it's a good idea to do so because it

  1. saves time in the long run;
  2. adds credibility to your work.

This series of presentations will help you with various aspects of planning for a research study.

Detailed list of topics

Dear Professor Mean, so of my colleagues want to use placebos in their research, but I have warned them about the ethical issues surrounding the use of a placebo group. When (if ever) is it ethical to use a placebo group? --Kibitzing Kathy

Dear Professor Mean, I need to randomize the order in which I give treatments and controls in my research study, but I don't know how to randomize. Can you show me what to do? -- Baffled Beth

Dear Professor Mean, I'm going on a job interview and I know one of the questions they will ask me is about interim analysis. What should I tell them? -- Harried Howard

Dear Professor Mean, I am submitting a proposal to our Institutional Review Board. Is there anything you can do to help me get IRB approval? --Terrified Terri

Dear, Professor Mean, I'm starting to write the methods section for a research grant, but I have no idea where to start. -- Dazed Dana

Dear Professor Mean, I am proposing a research study that will examine a complex intervention of diet, exercise, and behavioral modification for some of my pediatric patients who need to lose weight. I want to collect some data from a pilot study before I start the research study. How do I describe the pilot study in my protocol? -- Sophisticated Sarah

[Draft] Dear Professor Mean, I want to do some research using tissue samples, but the Institutional Review Board has said that I have to get consent first, because the data are not anonymized. The also told me that I might be able to get a waiver from consent if I deidentify the data. What's up with all these privacy concerns in research. -- Doubting Denise

This is a summary of a discussion about where research ideas come from. Ronan Conroy wrote up this summary, based on his own material and feedback he got from an Internet email list, edstat-l. He and the many people who contributed to this discussion thread deserve credit for this interesting material.

Dear Professor Mean, I want to do some research, but before the hospital won't approve anything until I have a protocol with a research hypothesis. I'm not sure why a research hypothesis is important. Can you help? -- Little Linda

Dear Professor Mean, I'm writing a research grant to look at the impact of managed care on the care of children with chronic epilepsy. How do I structure the grant so I'm guaranteed to get funding? -- Ambitious Ann

[Draft] Dear Professor Mean, I need to write a questionnaire for a research study I am conducting. Can you help me write it? -- Cautious Carmen

[Draft] Dear Professor Mean, I need to establish validity and reliability of a new measurement. How do I do this? --- Flustered Fred

[Draft] To understand why researchers today must obtain informed consent from their patients before they subject them to experiments, you need to understand some of the previous abuses of medical research.

Stats >> Planning your research study

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