.
Introduction to Research
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:1.00
Study Course Accepted:16.02.2024 11:20:48
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | MF_055 | LQF level: | Level 7 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 1.00 | ECTS: | 1.50 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Basic Sciences of Medicine, including Pharmacy | Target Audience: | Medicine | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Rudīte Koka | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Medicine | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Riga, 16 Dzirciema Street, mf rsu[pnkts]lv, +371 67409125 +371 67409255 | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 0 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 0 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 0 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 0 | Class Length (academic hours) | 0 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 0 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 0 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Compulsory content in general secondary education (acquired skills: critical thinking and problem solving; creativity and entrepreneurship; self-directed learning; collaboration and digital literacy). | ||||||||
| Objective: | To develop or promote research thinking and action skills, cooperation, and co-responsibility skills for study programme "Medicine" students. | ||||||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | Selection of the research topic and discussion of responsibilities in the group; presenting an understanding of the topic to the supervisor; formulation of the goal and tasks of the research work; theoretical literature research; writing and improving theoretical chapters according to the recommendations of group colleagues and supervisor; selection of research method/methods, data acquisition and analysis, compilation of results and preparation of the presentation. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | Final grade is cumulative evaluation of successful course completion and it consists of: the evaluation of the reviewer (35% from Final grade); the evaluation of the supervisor (30% from Final grade); the evaluation of the Labor Defense Commission (20% from Final grade); the mutual evaluation of the work of the groups (15% from Final grade). | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Defence (Research paper) | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | |||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | Understanding of the scientific method; systematic methodology in evidence-based research; understanding how the scientific method is applied in scientific research; contrasting the different types of health research types and designs; relating how clinical research question arise; develop a research question using the PICO format; analyze a research question using the FINER frameworks; describe the relation between a research question, research objectives, tasks and research hypothesis; describe the structure of PubMed; identify the tools available on PubMed to identify scientific studies using keywords; Conduct a PubMed search using MeSH and/or keywords; apply search filters in PubMed when searching for scientific studies; conduct an efficient basic or advanced search in the Cochrane Library; Identify the main variables in a scientific study; distinguish between the independent and dependent variable; describe NOIR measurement scales; distinguish measurement scales in relation with study variables; differentiate between accuracy and validity of measurements.; describe the main sources of random error and bias in health research; calculate summary measures (mean, median, mode), measures of central tendency (standard deviations, reference range), and variability for quantitative variables using software; calculate summary measures for qualitative variables using a software (proportions, odds, ratios).; identify the structure of a scientific research paper; analyze the structure of a scientific research paper; understand how to plan a scientific manuscript; develop a strategy on how to read scientific publications efficiently; and know the basic principles of scientific writing. | ||||||||
| Skills: | Cooperate in a group; formulate the purpose and tasks of the research; analyze the theoretical literature; perform a PubMed search using MeSH and/or keywords using keywords; apply PubMed search filters; choose appropriate methods for the research; perform descriptive statistics calculations for quantitative and qualitative variables (mean, median, standard deviation, proportions, coefficients) using a statistical processing program; collect data; analyze data; present the results, evaluate the work of group members, recommend proposals for improving the work, perform mutual evaluation and reevaluation. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | Combining theoretical knowledge with skills, will be able to integrate them in the development of the next studies and then also in the working career. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | 1. Dhir, S. K., & Gupta, P. 2021. Formulation of Research Question and Composing Study Outcomes and Objectives. Indian pediatrics, 58(6), 584–588. | ||||||||
| 2 | 2. Gemayel R. 2016. How to write a scientific paper. The FEBS journal, 283(21), 3882–3885. | ||||||||
| 3 | 3. Medical Library of Florida International University. [video] Evidence-Based Medicine: Searching with PubMed. | ||||||||
| 4 | 4. Medical Library of Florida International University. [video] Understanding Results and Refining your Search. | ||||||||
| 5 | 5. Medical Library of Florida International University. [video] PubMed: Searching with MeSH. | ||||||||
| 6 | 6. Medical Library of Florida International University. [video] Evidence Based Medicine: Using Limits and Retrieving Full Text Articles. | ||||||||
| 7 | 7. Medical Library of Florida International University. [video] Evidence Based Medicine: Using Limits and Retrieving Full Text Articles. | ||||||||
| 8 | 8. Medical Library of Florida International University. [video] Evidence-Based Medicine: Point of Care Resources. | ||||||||
| 9 | 9. Portney, L. Gross., & Watkins, M. P. 2000. (pēdējais izdevums) Principles of Measurement. In: Portney, L. Gross., & Watkins, M. P. Foundations of clinical research: applications to practice / Leslie Gross Portney, Mary P. Watkins. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall Health. P 46-60 | ||||||||
| 10 | 10. Voit E. O. 2019. Perspective: Dimensions of the scientific method. PLoS computational biology, 15(9), e1007279. | ||||||||
| 11 | 11. Whitley, E., & Ball, J. 2002. (pēdējais izdevums) Statistics review 1: presenting and summarising data. Critical care (London, England), 6(1), 66–71. | ||||||||
| Additional Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | 1. Alexandrov A. V. 2004. How to write a research paper. Cerebrovascular diseases (Basel, Switzerland), 18(2), 135–138. | ||||||||
| 2 | 2. Aslam, S., & Emmanuel, P. 2010. Formulating a researchable question: A critical step for facilitating good clinical research. Indian journal of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, 31(1), 47–50. | ||||||||
| 3 | 3. Cummings S.R., Browner W.S., Hulley S.B. 2013. Conceiving the research question and developing the study plan. In: Hulley S.B., Cummings S.R., et al. Designing Clinical Research. 4th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. P 14-22 | ||||||||
| 4 | 4. Duquia, R. P., González-Chica, D. A., Bastos, J. L., Martínez-Mesa, J., & Bonamigo, R. R. 2017. Describing numerical variables: which are the most appropriate parameters to describe the data?. Anais brasileiros de dermatologia, 92(6), 841–843. | ||||||||
| 5 | 5. Farrugia, P., Petrisor, B. A., Farrokhyar, F., & Bhandari, M. 2010. Practical tips for surgical research: Research questions, hypotheses and objectives. Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie, 53(4), 278–281. | ||||||||
| 6 | 6. Grimes, D. A., & Schulz, K. F. 2002. An overview of clinical research: the lay of the land. Lancet (London, England), 359(9300), 57–61. | ||||||||
| 7 | 7. Grimes, D. A., & Schulz, K. F. 2008. Making sense of odds and odds ratios. Obstetrics and gynecology, 111(2 Pt 1), 423–426. | ||||||||
| 8 | 8. Iskander, J. K., Wolicki, S. B., Leeb, R. T., & Siegel, P. Z. 2018. Successful Scientific Writing and Publishing: A Step-by-Step Approach. Preventing chronic disease, 15, E79. | ||||||||
| 9 | 9. Kaliyadan, F., & Kulkarni, V. 2019. Types of Variables, Descriptive Statistics, and Sample Size. Indian dermatology online journal, 10(1), 82–86. | ||||||||
| 10 | 10. Röhrig, B., du Prel, J. B., Wachtlin, D., & Blettner, M. 2009. Types of study in medical research: part 3 of a series on evaluation of scientific publications. Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 106(15), 262–268. | ||||||||
| 11 | 11. World Health Organization. 2000. Association and Causation. In: World Health Organization. R.O.F.T. Health research methodology : A guide for training in research methods : who pacific regional office, education in action series, number 5. WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific. P. 125-128 | ||||||||
