Research Design

Phase II Research Organization Document

The next section of your research organization document is considered a “mockup”
of your research design. Remember to answer these questions in the discussion forum for
feedback from the instructors. Looking ahead, you will use this document to create a formal
research proposal later in the semester.

Basic Study Components

1. What research design are you pursuing?

Qualitative/Naturalistic –based on perceptions and experiences of the test subjects/study group

in the form of a survey.
Phenomenology: “interviews” with individuals being studies by way of a survey. A study of the
subject’s personal experiences.
Grounded Theory: comparing data to determine similarities and differences.

2. Do any group members need to obtain IRB approval? [To determine if you need IRB
approval from your clinical site to conduct research, ask your clinical preceptor.
**Note: If you need to obtain IRB approval, you CANNOT use that site for DATA
COLLECTION due to issues in past years. The student at that site should have a
different role in the project (writer or data analysis)]. List each student in the group.

We should not need to obtain individual site IRB approval since we will not be using any
patient data or information from our direct places of employment/ work-sites.

Group members:
Haley Lowe
Scott Stallard
Sara Muellerleile

3. Will your study be prospective or retrospective?

Retrospective: studying the perceptions of fellow dosimetrists throughout the past year of
the Covid-10 pandemic and how modes of communication have been adapted to allow
for remote work in the Radiation Oncology team as well as how efficiency was affected
in the remote setting.
Prospective: the prospective aspect will inquire what dosimetrists want the field to look
like in the future based on experience. Remote, clinical or hybrid?
 4. Number of research samples (ex: patients or survey participants) for data collection

Hopefully 50+
Data Collection Details
1. How many clinical sites will you be collecting data from?

None as far as clinical data. The aim would be to release a survey through the AAMD, personal
contacts and other social media outlets to reach as many dosimetrists across the country as
possible.

2. What information are you interested in (if a planning study, list structures for
evaluation; if a study survey, list your study questions)?

(Q1) What impact has remote treatment planning had on communication during the
COVID-19 pandemic?
(Q2) What impact did remote treatment planning have on efficiency during the
COVID-19 pandemic?
(Q3) What are the perspectives from medical dosimetrists about remote treatment
planning post-pandemic?

3. What are your inclusion criteria? Exclusion criteria?

All completed survey responses would be included in the study. Dosimetrists who have not
had to work remotely in some fashion due to the Covid-19 pandemic would essentially be
excluded or not need to fill out subsequent questions.

4. How will you limit the number of variables in your study? (For example, if you are
doing a planning study, only 1 person should be doing the planning to eliminate the
variables.)
We would need to make sure to include access to the survey to a number of sites across the
country to avoid having the answers being concentrated from one small region to best
represent the profession as a whole.

5. How will you anonymize your patients? (It is often necessary to transfer data sets or
patient information between group members. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you
respect HIPPA protocols! If you need to transfer data sets between facilities, we can
assist you through ProKnow. If you simply need to transfer data using a
spreadsheet, you must anonymize the patient information. It is up to you to decide
how to do this).
This study would not include patient data. The survey that is sent out could include a question in
regards to the study being voluntary and that the information may be shared to make sure that
participants are okay with this – consent question.

6. How will you record your data for evaluation? (All anonymized data should be
housed in OneDrive. The data collector may keep a spreadsheet of the anonymized
datasets in the clinic if needed. This should not be shared with anyone outside of the
clinic)

Data from our evaluation will be stored on the Qualtrics site where our survey will be housed.
Data analysis spreadsheets and documents will be shared on our group’s one drive account for
access to all group members.

7. What resources (in addition to the literature search) are available for you to use?

Given the relative uniqueness and “newness” of the Covid-19 pandemic, there may not be many
additional resources for us to use or compare to.

8. Previous research study that will be used for data analysis (ex: RTOG study
constraints):
None.
Group Roles
Roles of each group member (members may have multiple roles)

Group Leader-someone who will keep the group on track, make sure group
members are adhering to deadlines, be the direct point of contact for the
instructor with overall questions, update the research organization
document throughout the course of research)
Data Collector(s)-someone who will be doing the data collection and data
reporting in excel; maintaining journal entries)
Data analysis-someone who will be responsible for analyzing the raw data,
running any statistical tests and providing conclusive data for the writer
Writer-someone who is responsible for writing the outline (later in the
course) and the paper; usually the best writer of the group takes this role
**Only 1 group member can write the paper so that the tone of paper is
consistent.
Editor This should be ALL group members except the writer
***The highlighted roles are the roles that require the most work and should be split
between all 3 group members. If you have a group of 2, the work must be divided
equally.
Group Leader: Sara Muellerleile
Data collector: Sara Muellerleile
Data Analysis: Scott Stallard
Writer: Haley Lowe
Editors: Sara Muellerleile and Scott Stallard
Project Template
What project template will you be following? (review the quantitative or qualitative
lecture).

Research Paper Template:

Introduction – necessary background information and problem statement
Methodology – methods used to collect data and research questions
Results – explanation of findings