REHAB 427
Applied P&O 1
Spring 2009
Creating a
Research Proposal
Residency research
The research proposal
• Two basic forms of O&P research
• A proposal is a necessary step in research
– Articulate your plans
– Request resources
– Institutional research
– Private practice research
Institution
research
Private
practice
research
• Purpose of a research plan
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• Institutional research
– More resources, experimental research
• Private practice research
– More patient interaction, case study/series
The institutional research proposal
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Title
Abstract
Statement of the problem
Purpose/Hypothesis/Specific Aims
Background
Methodology
Subject protection
Resources
Explain a relevant problem
Demonstrate knowledge of previous work
Choose an appropriate study design
Describe a plan for your research
Convey ethical & administrative responsibility
• Format/size depends on the residency site
The private practice research proposal
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Title
Treatment/intervention overview
Patient selection
Medical history
Background
Treatment/intervention justification
Assessment/evaluation protocol
Resources
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Proposal for REHAB427
Residency research proposal
• Based on your Winter 2009 literature review*
• Single-subject research design
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Withdrawal
Multiple-baseline
Alternating treatment
Changing criterion design
Qualitative design (requires approval)
• Plan human subjects protection, resources, budget
• 10-20 pages (double-spaced, single sided)
– Not including appendices (forms, charts, etc.)
The REHAB427 research proposal
Section
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# of Pages
Title
Abstract
Description of the problem
Literature review
Proposed research
0
1
1-2
3-6
1-2
– Purpose
– Question/hypothesis
– Specific Aims
• Methodology
• Subject protection
• Resources
2-5
1-2
1-2
TOTAL
10-20
(* Or another topic, if approved)
The research proposal
• The researcher’s responsibility
– Find an interesting and relevant problem
Developing a
Research Proposal
• Experience
• Theory
• Literature
– Develop a research proposal
• Review relevant literature
• Demonstrate knowledge
• Identify a need for research
• Propose a solution
– Create a plan to answer the question
• Formulate specific aims
• Design the research study
Description of the problem
• Overview
– Select a topic
• Provide a brief background
Description of the
Problem
– Identify a specific clinical problem or issue
• Who does it affect?
• Why is it important?
• Content derived from multiple sources
– Clinical experience
– Clinical theory
– Initial review of the literature
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Literature review
• Purpose of the literature review
– Demonstrate a knowledge of the literature
Literature Review
• Review the applicable publications
• Build upon existing evidence
• Avoid repetition of existing research
– Justify the research proposal
• Lead the reader to your conclusion
• The proposed project should be
– Logical
– Sensible
– Practical
Types of literature reviews
• Systematic literature review
– Comprehensive review of existing literature
– Goals
• Assess body of knowledge on a topic
• Identify consistencies and gaps in literature
• Recommend research directions
Proposed Solution
• Research proposal literature review
– Summarized review of relevant literature
– Goals
• Identify and cite applicable results & theory
• Demonstrate your knowledge of relevant literature
• Establish rationale for proposed research
Definitions
Definitions
Less specific
•Goal
•Purpose
•Question
•Hypothesis
•Objective
•Aim
• Goal
• Purpose
General
description of
the research
• Question
• Hypothesis
Desires and
expectations of
the research
• Objective
• Aim
Specific items
required to conduct
the research
More specific
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Goal and Purpose
• Goal/Purpose - the overall reason or motivation for
the proposed research, usually described in general
terms
– Goal is often long-term
– “The long-term goal of this research is to develop
monitoring solutions that will predict skin
breakdown in lower extremity amputees.”
– Purpose is usually near-term
– “The purpose of this research is to evaluate the
effectiveness of gabapentin in reducing
phantom limb sensation and pain in amputees.”
Questions and hypotheses
• Question - a specific query to be answered by the
proposed research
– “Will the use of a fixed-joint AFO reduce the muscle work
required for ambulation at self-selected walking velocity in
adolescents with cerebral palsy?”
• Hypothesis - a statement which details the
expected relationship between the independent
and dependent variables
– “Transfemoral amputees will expend less metabolic energy
when walking on level ground at self selected velocity
when wearing the Otto Bock C-Leg as opposed to the
Ossur Rheo knee.”
Objectives and Aims
• Objective/Aim – focused directives that detail the
steps necessary to accomplish the proposed
research (often use term “specific”)
– The specific aims of this proposal are to:
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Recruit an adult subject with unilateral muscle weakness or injury
in the ankle joint
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Fit and acclimate the subject with three types of ankle-footorthoses, including a prefabricated ankle-foot orthosis, an
articulated AFO, and a fixed-joint AFO with a dorsiflexion assist.
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Compare the differences among the ankle-foot-orthoses and
the no-intervention condition in sagittal-plane ankle range-ofmotion using a gait analysis system.
Proposed solution
• Carefully consider your proposed solution
– Key elements
• Purpose (“why are you doing this?”)
• Hypotheses (“what do you expect to find?”)
• Specific aims (“what steps must you take?”)
– These should address the described problem
• Ideally, the proposed research is
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Practical
Clinically relevant
Suited to a scientific study
Consistent with the available resources
• Time
• Environment
• Money
The purpose
• Description of the project
– Reason or motivation for the project
Purpose
• General
• Long-term
• Short-term
– Overall, targets the stated problem
• Solves the problem
• Addresses the issue
• Fills the identified gaps/limitations
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The purpose - example
• General
Clinical relevance
• Ask yourself the following:
– “The goal of this project is to explore therapeutic
interventions for amputee patients suffering from pain
related to limb loss…”
• Long-term
– “…The long-term goals of this research are to identify
specific non-invasive interventions capable of reducing
pain related to limb loss and to target those patients most
appropriate for these interventions…”
– Who will benefit from this research?
• Patients?
• Practitioners?
• Scientists?
– What will the results of this research give you?
• the academic community?
• the clinical community?
– Why is this research desirable?
• Short-term
• Support practice?
• Change practice?
– “…The purpose of this proposed research project is to
evaluate the effect of metallic liners on reported sensation
and pain in lower extremity amputees.”
The hypothesis
• Null hypothesis
Hypothesis
– The hypothesis is written to express that the relationship
between the independent and dependent variables is due
to chance
• Research hypothesis
– The hypothesis written in a format consistent with the
expected results (usually that the independent variable has
a direct effect on the dependent variable)
Example: “A transtibial amputee will experience a significantly
greater sound side step length when wearing a single-axis foot as
compared to a rigid-ankle foot.”
Specific Aims
• Specific aims
Specific Aims
– Bridge between the hypothesis and the methodology
– Focused milestones in the research proposal
– Systematic, abbreviated plan for conducting the research
• Aims should be:
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Brief (1-2 sentences)
Clear
Reasonable
Specific
Consistent with purpose and hypothesis
Consistent with methodology
• Typically 2-4 aims per proposal
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Specific aims - example
1. Identify forty traumatic transtibial amputees fit with
sockets made using traditional hand-cast
techniques and forty similar amputees fit with
computer-aided techniques
2. Extract the following information from the patient
records: the number of test sockets required
before the definitive socket fitting, the number of
clinic visits required before the definitive fitting,
and the total socket cost per patient using L-code
billing.
3. Assess the mean financial costs of CAD/CAM for
the clinic with respect to hand cast techniques.
The REHAB427 research proposal
Section
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# of Pages
Title
Abstract
Description of the problem
Literature review
Proposed research
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1
1-2
3-6
1-2
– Purpose
– Question/hypothesis
– Specific Aims
• Methodology
• Subject protection
• Resources
2-5
1-2
1-2
TOTAL
10-20
Elements of a good proposal
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Informative and descriptive title
Stand-alone abstract
Relevant clinical problem
Logical literature review
Clear research question(s) & objectives
Appropriate study design
Proper control of variables
Suitable data collection and analysis
Ethical issues addressed
Appropriate budget and timeline
General comments
– Terminology
• Use of “significant”
• “The authors found a significant difference.”
• JPO style
– Voice
• First person in technical writing
General comments
• Summarizing a paper (Results)
Reminders
– Reference style
Comments on Winter 2009
Literature Reviews
– Tables and figures
• Headings and text references
– Contractions
• Do not use “don’t”
New items
– Technical writing
• Write out numbers less than ten (“one” not “1”)
• In what order do you present your papers?
– Language
– Assume we have 1 paragraph to discuss
– What would you want to know?
• Study design?
• Type of subjects?
• Number of subjects?
• Type of intervention?
• Outcome measures used?
• Significant results?
• Possible explanations?
• Casual language - “Smith and James looked at…”
• Bias and tone – “It is convincing that what this study has shown..”
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For Next Week
• Lecture
– Withdrawal and multiple baseline designs
• Assignment
– Draft research problem/questions due
• Define your research problem
– 1 paragraph description
• 2 – 3 potential questions based on research problem
Note: reference Portney & Watkins, Chapter 7
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