Projects

Research Proposal Research Question Hypothesis Null – no association Alternative – an association, but no direction Research – indicate direction Cross-sectional surveys can have hypotheses

Research Proposal Background and Significance Magnitude of the problem – why do we care Prevalence in the US or SC Outcome Exposure Strengths – unique and novel aspects Population available Exposure measurement Outcome measurement

Research Proposal Background and Significance Therefore, we propose to study X here

Research Proposal Overview Study design – state the type of study you plan to conduct

Research Proposal Study population Target population Source/accessible population Available n – need some estimate of this Intended sample if sampling Inclusion criteria be specific: age, comorbidities Trade off with generalizability Exclusion criteria Recruitment plan – how much time will it take Remember inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria and drop-outs will affect your available n

Research Proposal Problems, Pitfalls and limitations Keep a running list of problems with your study

Reading So far it would have been helpful to have read chapters 1 through 3. For next Tuesday read chapter 4. Next Tuesday we are talking about measurement/data collection. Exposure Outcome

Research Proposal Other comments Cross-sectional surveys You can have hypotheses and should if you are looking at potential risk factors associated with an outcome. If you have sampled based on outcome you are doing a case-control study. Can not get information on incidence or prevalence in case-control studies only associations between exposures and outcomes. If your are looking at outcomes among individuals with a given disease this is not a case-control study.