Research methodology in the medical and biological sciences

Providing easy-to-access information, this unique sourcebook covers the wide range of topics that a researcher must be familiar with in order to become a successful experimental scientist. Perfect for aspiring as well as practicing professionals in the medical and biological sciences it discusses a broad range of topics that are common, yet not traditionally considered part of formal curricula. The information presented also facilitates communication across conventional disciplinary boundaries, in line with the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of modern research projects.

Author Notes

Professor, PhD Petter Laake has since 1989 been a staff member of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Biostatistics, University of Oslo. He has 20 years of experience in lecturing, communicating and advising in statistics, at all levels and for various target groups. Since 2001, he has worked with the postgraduate studies programme at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, and has been in charge of the mandatory basic course in research methods. He has written and edited several text books in research methodology and statistics.

Professor, MD Haakon Breien Benestad has since 1968 been a staff member of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Physiology, University of Oslo. He has lectured students of medicine, odontology, nutrition and physiotherapy and has been an advisor for master and postgraduate students. He has held various basic courses for postgraduate students, compiled compendia for these courses and written a textbook of anatomy, physiology and immunology for social and health studies in upper secondary schools.

Professor, MD, Bjorn Reino Olsen is Hersey Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Developmental Biology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Since 2005, he also serves as Dean of Research at Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He has lectured worldwide and mentored and trained a large number of students and postdoctoral fellows. He is a member of and has held leadership positions in several professional organizations, has served on several Editorial Boards, and is currently Editor-in-Chief of Matrix Biology and BioMed Central's Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine.

Bjorn Hofmann and Soren Holm and Jens-Gustav IversenSoren HolmSoren Holm and Bjorn Reino OlsenHaakon Breien Benestad and Petter LaakeAnne-Marie B. Haraldstad and Ellen ChristophersenSigbjorn Fossum and Erik DissenBjorn Reino Olsen and Haakon Breien BenestadEva Skovlund and Morten H. VatnDag S. Thelle and Petter LaakeHarald Grimen and Benedicte IngstadPetter Laake and Thore Egeland and Eva SkovlundLiv Merete Reinar and Peter M. BradleyHaakon Breien BenestadHeidi Kiil BlomhoffBjorn Reino Olsen and Petter Laake and Ole Petter Ottersen

Preface	p. xi
Contributors	p. xv
List of abbreviations and symbols	p. xxiii
Chapter 1 Philosophy of Science	p. 1
1.1 Philosophy of the natural sciences	p. 1
1.2 Philosophy of the social sciences	p. 24
Chapter 2 Ethics and Scientific Conduct	p. 33
2.1 A brief introduction to ethics	p. 33
2.2 Scientific conduct and misconduct	p. 36
2.3 Misconduct and why it occurs	p. 38
2.4 Fabrication and other forms of misconduct affecting the truth claims of scientific findings	p. 40
2.5 Authorship issues	p. 43
2.6 Salami, imalas and duplicate publication	p. 46
2.7 The investigation and punishment of scientific misconduct	p. 47
Appendix 1 p. 50
Chapter 3 Ethics in Human and Animal Studies	p. 53
3.1 Introduction	p. 53
3.2 Basic principles of human research ethics	p. 54
3.3 International regulation	p. 56
3.4 The ethics of animal research	p. 70
Appendix 1 World (Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects	p. 74
Appendix 2 Oviedo Convention (Council of Europe, European Treaty Series 164)	p. 80
Appendix 3 Oviedo Convention-Additional Protocol Concerning Biomedical Research, Chapter I-IX (Council of Europe, European Treaty Series 195)	p. 82
Chapter 4 Research Methodology: Strategies, Planning and Analysis	p. 93
4.1 Introduction	p. 93
4.2 Your scientific problem	p. 95
4.3 More on scientific problems	p. 97
4.4 Literature, methods and techniques	p. 97
4.5 Research conditions	p. 100
4.6 Data types	p. 103
4.7 Techniques	p. 105
4.8 Repeatability, reproducibility and reliability	p. 109
4.9 Validity, effect measure and choice of statistical test	p. 112
4.10 Experimental protocol	p. 116
4.11 Experimental routine	p. 122
Chapter 5 Literature Search and Personal Reference Databases	p. 125
5.1 Information literacy	p. 125
5.2 Systematic literature search	p. 127
5.3 How to formulate a query: PICO	p. 129
5.4 Search technique	p. 133
5.5 Methodology filters	p. 136
5.6 Quality: critical appraisal	p. 138
5.7 Impact factor	p. 140
5.8 Principal bibliographic databases	p. 145
5.9 Staying up to date	p. 150
5.10 Medical and scientific internet search engines	p. 154
5.11 Personal reference databases	p. 155
Chapter 6 Methods in Molecular Biology	p. 161
6.1 Introduction	p. 161
6.2 Recombinant DNA technology	p. 163
6.3 DNA and RNA: isolation, identification, synthesis and analysis	p. 168
6.4 Practical applications of DNA/RNA technology	p. 174
6.5 Protein analyses	p. 187
6.6 Bioinformatics	p. 195
Chapter 7 Strategies and Methods of Basic Medical Research	p. 199
7.1 Introduction	p. 199
7.2 Long-term goals and specific aims	p. 201
7.3 Background and significance	p. 205
7.4 Experimental strategies and methods	p. 207
7.5 Pilot studies	p. 207
7.6 Rules for basic medical research projects	p. 209
Chapter 8 Clinical Research	p. 213
8.1 Controlled clinical trials	p. 213
8.2 Publication bias	p. 227
8.3 Estimating sample size	p. 227
8.4 'Non-inferiority' studies	p. 234
8.5 Generalization	p. 237
Chapter 9 Epidemiology: Concepts and Methods	p. 241
9.1 Introduction	p. 241
9.2 Definitions	p. 242
9.3 The role of epidemiology	p. 243
9.4 Population and sample	p. 245
9.5 Measures of disease occurrence, association, risk and implications	p. 246
9.6 Vital statistics	p. 251
9.7 Study designs of epidemiological studies	p. 254
9.8 Effect measures in epidemiological studies	p. 261
9.9 Experimental studies and randomized control trials	p. 268
9.10 Measurement error and sources of error	p. 268
9.11 Tests and validity	p. 271
9.12 Causes of disease	p. 275
9.13 Association versus causality	p. 278
Chapter 10 Qualitative Research	p. 281
10.1 Qualitative versus quantitative research	p. 281
10.2 Using qualitative research	p. 283
10.3 What qualitative research cannot be used for	p. 284
10.4 Samples in qualitative studies	p. 285
10.5 Reliability and validity	p. 286
10.6 Ethical challenges in qualitative research	p. 287
10.7 Qualitative data collection	p. 291
10.8 Triangulation	p. 301
10.9 Analyses of qualitative data	p. 303
10.10 Releasing qualitative data	p. 306
Chapter 11 Statistical Issues	p. 311
11.1 Introduction	p. 311
11.2 Effect measure, hypothesis testing and confidence interval	p. 312
11.3 Bernoulli trial	p. 315
11.4 Comparing two proportions	p. 318
11.5 Measures of association in 2 x 2 tables	p. 323
11.6 Normal distribution	p. 329
11.7 Comparison of means	p. 332
11.8 Non-parametric methods	p. 342
11.9 Regression analysis	p. 350
Chapter 12 Evidence-Based Practice and Critical Appraisal of Systematic Reviews	p. 365
12.1 Introduction	p. 365
12.2 Systematic reviews	p. 366
12.3 Critical appraisal of a systematic review: one example	p. 368
12.4 Summary	p. 380
Chapter 13 Scientific Communication	p. 383
13.1 Introduction	p. 383
13.2 The scientific paper	p. 383
13.3 Posters	p. 410
Chapter 14 Successful Lecturing	p. 415
14.1 Introduction	p. 415
14.2 Preparing the lecture	p. 416
14.3 Lecture content and form	p. 418
14.4 Manuscript	p. 424
14.5 Delivering a lecture	p. 427
Chapter 15 Guide to Grant Applications	p. 433
15.1 Introduction	p. 433
15.2 Getting started	p. 435
15.3 The postdoctoral fellow and junior scientist	p. 437
15.4 What goes into a successful grant application?	p. 443
15.5 The investigator-initiated research grant	p. 445
15.6 Multiproject grants	p. 448
15.7 International research collaborations	p. 451
15.8 The European Union's seventh Framework Programme	p. 454
15.9 Summary and perspective	p. 456
Index	p. 457

Available:*

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents