Participants, Measurement & Study Design The Methods Section Participants, Measurement & Study Design

What you need to know to start: Hypothesis Subjects Independent variable Dependent variable Research design Clients with post CVA < 1 month who participate in occupation-based mCIT will have improved scores on the FIM pre to post test.

Worksheets and Outlines Method and Data Analysis Sections Worksheet Page 1 To guide your thinking Course assignment instructions for Part A To guide your writing

Participants See example on the wiki: Example of a Proposal Answer the questions on the Worksheet Write up a summary according to the outline in instructions

Recruitment (a few tips) Need to know if participants meet your criteria- use a screen or have MD refer Recruit through flyers, asking for referrals, letters home to parents, etc. State where you will do this (clinics in Shreveport, Caddo Parish elementary schools etc.) Mention you will get IRB approval prior to recruitment

Dependent Variable = Measurement Instrument Reliability: Internal Consistency, Test-Retest, Inter-rater Validity: Content, Construct, Concurrent, Discriminant, Predictive See OT assessment Wiki for this May use Asher’s but don’t stop there! Use primary sources! May need to pick assessment for the sake of this assignment- may not match completely and then you need to let me know this in the paper

Justification for test measure Why is this the best test for your study? ease of use, quick level of data it returns used in research so can compare results psychometric properties cost objective or self report? dynamic & interactional vs. static

Study Design a one group pre to post test design (aka one group repeated measures) O X O How will you control for threats to INTERNAL validity? Strict inclusion criteria (homogeneity) Blind testing Correct statistical method (explain) Measure of protocol fidelity Exclude extraneous variables (other treatments)

Justification for study design Pilot, if so future plans? Why? Ethical Resources are limited Basically, why aren’t you using a control group? And no, not because I said so. : P Acknowledge and explain limitations to internal and external validity

Part B: Procedures and Data Analysis The Methods Section Part B: Procedures and Data Analysis

Worksheets and Outlines Method and Data Analysis Sections Worksheet Page 2 &3 To guide your thinking Course assignment instructions for Part B To guide your writing

How to get started Read the example Answer the questions on the Methods and Data Analysis Worksheet Write a chronological outline of what you plan to do Your audience is your advisor and the IRB – write in the future tense everything you will do

Hints Refer to example for how to word things Future tense Refer to another study for details APA Who, when & where Avoid vague descriptions If possible state that you will implement the intervention as outline by Author’s last name (year) but give detailed summary

Threats to validity In order to address threats to validity the researchers will . . . Efforts to ensure that threats to validity are addressed include . . . In much more detail than in Methods section A

Protecting Human Subjects Full disclosure: risks, benefits, commitment, procedures Confidentiality: privacy and anonymity Voluntary participation See chapter 3 for details

Obtaining informed consent Must be done prior to starting study- and after IRB approval Inform Waiting period Sign consent form

Match it up Make sure that your hypothesis is tested by the study design and the procedures reflect that!