Macario F. Reandelar, Jr.

, MD, MSPH, FPAFP

At the end of the session, the learner should be able
to:
1. Differentiate the various types of research design.
2. Identify the major components of a research
design.
3. Determine the suitable/ appropriate research
design for a chosen problem.
4. Determine the appropriate statistical tools to use
given a particular research design.
 A plan or course of action the researcher takes to
solve the research problem
 NOT the method of collecting data
 Strategy or approach by which the research
questions can be answered
 How to go about in solving the problem
… describes what will be done to answer the
research question.
 PLANNING AND
IMPLEMENTATION
OF RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Choice of study population
2. Selection and
classification/assignment of subjects
3. Assessment or observation of
variables
4. Processing and analysis of data
 Descriptive
 Analytic
 An inquiry into the nature of an unknown
phenomenon or the occurrence of an
event
 Seeks to know the characteristics of the
phenomenon or event and categorize it
into some descriptive variables
 It does NOT explain relationships but
seeks knowledge for better understanding
of the nature of the subject of the study
 Describes/documents the distribution of
different diseases and the groups of
populations most affected in terms of
place, person and time characteristics.
 Identifies
possible determinants,
problems, risk factors which could be
used as bases for hypothesis
formulation and subject to further
analytic studies
1. Case study and case series
2. Cross-sectional studies (or
prevalence studies)
 Describe characteristics and
clinical features of a single patient
(case report) or a group of patients
with similar manifestations (case
series);
 Patients in a case series may occur
in a relatively short period of time;
 Cases of very rare conditions
 Cases which are
epidemiologically unusual
 As part of surveillance and
investigation activities
Designed to test a hypothesis of
relationship
1. Observational –
 Cross-sectional
 Case-Control
 Cohort
2. Experimental –
 Test the hypothesis of relationship
between at minimum one independent
variable (exposure) and one
dependent variable (disease)
 We determine whether the exposure is
related with the disease.
 Exposure must precede the disease.
 Compare the number of subjects who
develop the disease among the
exposed versus the unexposed
 Also called “survey” or Prevalence studies
 Examines the relationship between
disease and exposure as they exist in a
defined population at one particular point
in time
 Measures the prevalence of the disease
 To examine the relationship between
the exposure and the disease, we
compare the prevalence of the
disease among the exposed vs the
unexposed.
 Tests the hypothesis of relationship
between the exposure and the disease
 We select a study population and subject
the members to a preliminary screening.
 Those who already have the outcome (the
disease) are excluded
 Those who qualify are grouped into two:
a. the exposed
b. the unexposed
 The two groups are followed up for a
given period of time to identify members
who will develop the disease (re-
examination or surveillance)
 Measures the incidence of the
disease.
 Compares the incidence of the
disease among the exposed vs
unexposed.
 Other names: Risk ratio, Relative Risk
(RR)
 Measures the risk of the disease
among the exposed vs the unexposed.
 Measures the risk of the disease
among the exposed relative to the
unexposed
 A type of study that attempts to
capture the advantages of both the
cross-sectional study and the cohort
study.
 It tries to eliminate temporal
ambiguity of the cross-sectional study
while at the same time shorten the
duration of the study.
 Weselect the cases from a target
population.
 Cases are a group of individuals with the
outcome or disease
 Then select another group of individuals
without the outcome or disease as
Controls
 Go back in time (retrospective) to determine
exposure in the cases and in the control
 Compares the exposure status among the
cases and among the controls
 Measuresthe odds of the disease.
 Compares the odds of the disease
among the exposed vs
unexposed.
 Provides the strongest evidence of causal
relationship of all the study designs
 Affords the most control over the study
situation
 Enables the researcher to isolate the observed
effect of the exposure or intervention
 Researcher chooses a study
population without or free of the
outcome
 Assigns the subjects into two groups
by scientific technique
 Introduces the intervention to one
group and withhold it from the other
A. Clinical Trials
1. Therapeutic trial- radical mastectomy for
breast cancer
2. Intervention trial- antihypertensive drugs to
reduce the risk of developing stroke
3. Preventive trial- BCG vaccination for
tuberculosis
B. Community trials or experiments
 Can be likened to a cohort study
 Measures are called Risk Ratio (RR), Absolute
Risk Reduction (ARR), Relative Risk Reduction
(RRR) and Numbers Needed to Treat (NNT).
 Calculation for RR is the same as that for the
cohort study
Macario F. Reandelar, Jr., MD, MSPH, FPAFP
 anact of studying or
examining only a segment of
the population to represent
the whole.
It is cheaper
It is faster
 It has better quality of
information
 It can obtain more
comprehensive data
 It
is the only possible method
for destructive procedures
 Evaluating health status of a
population
 Investigating the factors
affecting health
 Evaluating the effectiveness of
health measures
 Assessing specific aspects in
the administration of health
services
 Evaluating the reliability and
completeness of record
systems
 The sample to be obtained should
be representative of the
population
 The sample size should be
adequate
 Practicality
and feasibility of the
sampling procedure
 Economy and efficiency of the
sampling design
 There are a number of basic
sampling designs that a researcher
can choose from.
 The specific design that is best for a
particular study depends upon the
nature of the variables and the
population being studied the
purpose for which the research is
undertaken, as well as the
availability of information relevant to
the sampling procedure itself, like
the sampling frame.
 Of two types:
◦ Probability and Non-probability
sampling designs
 The probability of each member
of the population to be selected in
the sample is difficult to
determine or cannot be specified.
 Types:
◦ Judgement or purposive
sampling
◦ Accident or haphazard sampling
◦ Quota sampling
◦ Snowball technique sampling
 Therules and procedures for
selecting the sample and
estimating the parameters are
explicitly and rigidly specified
 The most basic type
 It’s main characteristic is that
every element in the population
has an equal chance of being
included in the sample
 A variation of SRS
 A sampling interval ‘K’ is first
determined where ‘K’ is the ratio of
the population size (N) to the
sample size (n)
𝑁
◦𝐾=
𝑛
 The population is first divided
into non-overlapping groups
called strata.
 A simple random sampling is then
selected from each stratum.
 When a sampling frame for the
elementary units is not readily
available, or when cost
considerations are important,
cluster sampling is often resorted
to.
◦ Steps:
 The population is first divided into
clusters, which serve as the sampling
units and a sample of units is
selected.
◦ Steps:
◦ Every element found in each sampling unit drawn
as a sample may or may not be included in the
study; if only a subset of the sampling units in
the cluster is selected, we have a multi-stage
sampling design.
◦ If all the sampling units in a cluster are selected,
we have a Single-stage Cluster Sampling Design.
 When the sample survey to be
conducted has a wide coverage as
in a nationwide surveys, a multi-
stage sampling design is generally
used.
◦ Steps:
◦ The population is first divided into a
set of primary or first-stage
sampling unit. A sample of each unit
is selected.
 Steps:
 Each primary sampling unit included in
the sample is further subdivided into
secondary or second-stage sampling
units from which a sample will again be
taken.
 The procedure continues until the
desired stage is reached
Macario F. Reandelar, Jr., MD, MSPH, FPAFP
 At the end of the session, the students must
be able to:
 Classify data as to source
 Identify and differentiate the methods of data
collection
 Describe the qualities of data
 Basic requirements for research data are that
they must be reliable and accurate.
 That is why Data Collection is an important
aspect of any type of research study.
 Because inaccurate data collection can have
an impact on the results of a study leading to
invalid results.
 As to Characteristics of data
◦ Variables
◦ Constants
 Those that change from person to person,
from time to time, and from place to place
 Examples
◦ Age, Sex, Height in meters, BMI, Religion,
Cholesterol level, Hemoglobin
 Those that do not change
 We only collect Variables.
 We do not collect Constants!
 As to Source
◦ Primary data
◦ Secondary data
 Data obtained by the investigator himself
 Data obtained are those he intends to use
according to the objectives of the study
 Examples
◦ Results obtained from a laboratory examination
◦ Responses of participants in a questionnaire
 Data obtained by persons other than the
investigator.
 Existing data previously obtained for
purposes not necessarily for the
investigator’s objectives
 Examples
◦ Data taken from the medical records of patients in a
hospital or clinic
◦ Data taken from a database
◦ Data obtained from the school records
 Review of records
 Use of questionnaire
 Observation
 Data may be obtained from:
◦ Census
◦ Registries of vital events
◦ Reports from notifiable diseases
◦ Annual Demographic Yearbook from the United
Nations and Weekly Bulletin Epidemiologic Report of
the WHO
◦ Locally from Philippine Health Statistics and Weekly
Disease Bulletin of the DOH
 Self-administered
◦ Assisted
◦ Unassisted
 Interview type
 Forms
◦ Physical examination
◦ Blood extraction
◦ Use of instruments or equipment
◦ Observation of a behavior, procedure or of an
environment
 Timelines – the interval between the date of
occurrence of the different events considered
and the time the data is ready to be used and
disseminated
 Completeness – in coverage and
completeness in accomplishing all the items
in the form
 Relevance – consistency of the data produced
with the needs of the data users
 Adequacy – the extent to which the data
provide all the basic information needed to
meet the requirements of the user
 Accuracy – how close the measurement or
data collected is to the true value
 Precision – the extent to which similar
information is obtained when a measurement
is performed or an observation is made more
than once
 One page
 12 point Times New Roman font
 1 inch margin on all sides
 Working Title
 Background
 Hypothesis(es) and Objective(s)
 Design
 Potential Impact
 Description of what the paper is all
about
 Discuss magnitude of the problem
 Describe the rationale and significance of
the study
 Provide supporting documentation for
the importance of addressing this
question, problem or need.
 Use statistical data to support the
problem statement
 Describe what is not known about the
problem (Research gaps) that the
proposal intends to address
 State the hypothesis(es)
 Then describe the aim(s) or
objective(s)
 Description of the basic design
 Description of the study participants
including eligibility criteria
 Data collection procedure
 Description of Outcome/s and how they
will be measured
 Description of how results will benefit
the target population, will influence
decisions or practices, will improve
health