1 Project planning and management 4 scenarios in comparison Dr. Birgit Greiner Senior Lecturer

2 Learning objectives Obtain overview of scientific, management and organizational tasks involved in research and research planning Appreciate different research project scenarios based on one general research question Understand implications for scientific, management and organizational tasks involved Appreciate the strengths and limitations of each scenario with regard to scientific and practical considerations

3 Research question, aims and objectives Study design Sample, sampling method Data collection methods Data to be collected (exposure, outcome, confounders) Analysis strategy Study Planning Resources Time Publication

4 Project management Scientific Costs Organization Time

5 Project management: scientific and organizational tasks ScientificOrganizational Background: Specify aims and objectives, conduct literature searches Set up research infra structure, team building, networking, hire personnel Sampling: Specify sampling frame and method, recruit participants Establish contacts, prepare information, ethical approval, seek consent, public relations Data collection preparation: Choose/ design data collection instruments, pretest, revise, design of quality control strategy, standard operating procedures Print data collection instruments, training of data collectors, scheduling of data collection Data collection: Administration of questionnaires, medical exams, laboratory analyses, quality control Mail questionnaires, travel to participants, retrieve archival data, follow-up of non- responders, study participant roster, thank- you letters, storage and handling of specimen Data handling and analyses: data coding, cleaning and analyses Data safety, data handling, back-ups, storage of documentation Publication and dessemination of results, report writing Wrap-up project

6 Gantt charts (also referred to as project timelines) are bar graphs that help plan and monitor project development or resource allocation on a horizontal time scale. GANTT CHARTS: A project development tool

7 Research scenario Your local Health Board asked you to scientifically evaluate whether services for home births should be increased. 4 scenarios

8 4 different specific objectives 4 different studies Objective 1: Demand for home birth services. Regional differences? Objective 2: Attitudes of pregnant women and midwives towards home birth Objective 3: Are home births as safe as hospital births? Objective 4: Comparing experiences of women with hospital and home deliveries before, during and after birth

9 Scenario 1: The “Demand” Study Scientific plan Research questions: What is the demand for home birth services? Local differences? Study design: Cross-sectional study Sample: Representative sample of 30 GP surgeries, 30 pregnant women from each surgeries (cluster sampling) Data collection method: questionnaires Variables: birth choice (home versus hospital), reasons for choice, sociodemographics, medical history Analyses: Estimate of a rate (rates) with confidence intervals

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11 Scenario 2: The “Attitude” Study Scientific plan Research questions: Attitudes of pregnant women and midwifes towards home births Study design: Qualitative cross-sectional and in-depth case studies Sample: 100 pregnant women attending antenatal classes, pregnant women recruited through the Irish Homebirth Assoc. (convenience sample), 6 women for in-depth case studies, 20 midwifes Data collection methods: Focus groups and interviews with pregnant women, expert interviews with midwifes Data to be collected: Pregnant women: reasons for choice, attitudes, medical history, sociodemographics. Midwifes: experiences with home births, attitudes. Analyses: Qualitative analysis of transcribed interviews, in-depth case study

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13 Scenario 3: The Safety Study Scientific plan Research question: Are home births associated with less interventions? Are they as safe as hospital births? Study design: Cross-sectional Sample: All births within one year within the health board region Data collection method: Analysis of hospital birth records, Irish still birth register, interviews with midwifes Variables to be collected: mortality, use of analgesia, augmented labour, C-sections, transport during labour into hospital etc. Analyses: Comparison of interventions and complications between hospital and (intended) home births, estimation of rate of transports to hospital during labour for intended home births

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15 Scenario 4:The “Follow-up” Study Scientific plan Research question: Satisfaction of mothers with birth experience and service delivery, recovery of mother and child Research design: Cohort study Sample: samples of women who deliver at home (50) and at hospital (100) recruited from GPs and hospitals Data collection methods: questionnaires before birth, 2 days after birth, 3 months after birth Data to be collected: reasons for choice, satisfaction services before and after birth and with birth experience, experience of labour pain, health indicators of mother and child, complications and interventions during birth Analyses: Comparisons between the 2 groups

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17 Weighing strengths and limitations of each scenario Internal validity External validity Feasability Resources needed (time, personnel) Clinical/public health usefulness of results