RESEARCH AND SEMINAR METHODS

Prof Atanga Mary/ Kwende Odelia

Introduction

Research and seminar methods are similar but differ a lot in their
content.

The seminar process and the research process have some little similarities.
In the practice of these two, the differentiation and similarities will be made
using title, preamble page, abstract, introduction, body of the work,
conclusions recommendations, and any other form of discussions.

The practice shall also include methods of citations and references.

Title

a) Research

In every research title, 3 variables most stand out clear. These variables
are said to be independent, dependent and extraneous variables. The
independent variable is what is manipulated in the research. The
dependent variable is the constraint in the research.

And the extraneous variable is the study area and the population of
the research. For example “the difficulties often encountered by health
personnel during the recording process in the Bamenda health district”

In the above topic the variables are difficult to outline because the
extraneous variables are scattered. They should better be re-regrouped as
follows:

1
Difficulties encountered with recording process by heath care
providers of the Bamenda health district.

- In the above topic the independent variables is difficulties

encountered which could be manipulated as follows.
i) Difficulties in recording during entering information into a form.
ii) Difficulties in recording a procedure at the end of the procedure.
iii) Difficulties during an interview process with the client.
The dependent variable is the recording process because it is
constant, and the extraneous variable, is the health care providers
of the Bamenda Health District.
b) Seminar

On the other hand, the title in a seminar most be colourful and

catching to the eye of an audience. It should look like an advert, but it most
be able to bring out all information in literature that after the seminar, it will
act as chapter 2 of the research work.

In making or seminar topic colourful and catchy, two things are often
used;

1) A colour (;) and a question mark (?) therefore from the above
research topic the seminar topic could be;
i) Recording: why difficulties amongst health care providers.
ii) Innovations in the recording process. What are these?
iii) Come and see the help out strategy for good recording in health
practice.
iv) The recording process; current approaches
2
 v) Why record effectively? Exploring good practices

NB, in all the above, recording will be traced form what it was before, the
difficulties encountered before, how the difficulties have been resolved, and
what is the current practice today. All of these will form parts or sections of
the seminar paper. For example: the objectives of the seminar will be
stated as:

To explore past recording processes

To outline difficulties encountered at the time

To trace the possible solutions to the difficulties

To explain the current practices

Hence, the seminar will be divided into four parts or sections, never
into chapters

1) Part one or section one

i) Formal practices of recording
2) Part 2
Difficulties with the practice
3) Part 3: Solutions for the difficulties
4) Part 4: current practices

Assignment

Write research topics then form seminar topics from it, and bring out
variables and bring out steps of the seminar.

3
Research topic

The level of awareness of the causes of Anemia in pregnancy and

prevention among3xfst pregnant women attending ANC in the Bamenda
Regional Hospital.

From the above topic, the independent or constant variable form the
above topic is: Anemia in pregnancy, while the independent variable or the
non constant variable is the level of awareness because it can be
manipulated.

The extraneous variable is the pregnant women attending the ANC at

regional hospital.

Seminar

Anemia in pregnancy: What is this?.

Research Topic:

Problems faced in the care of preterm babies by the nurses at nursery in

the Bamenda Regional Hospital.

Seminar Topic:

Nursery nursing activities: what are these?

Page 2 or Dedication page

a) Research

4
 The dedication is usually made to vary close persons. It should be
written at the middle of the page. Only Sur names are used. For example,

Dedication

To my mother Ngum

b) Seminar
Same as in research

3) Acknowledgment

a) Research

In the acknowledgement the institution comes first, followed by the

supervisors, then other teachers of the department or the school. This is
followed by clinical sites or research sites, then valuable classmates, and
lastly family.

For Christians, the last phrase usually reeds “And above all to God
almighty

b) Seminar
Same as research

4) Abstract

a) Research

The abstract of research has its components which are:

5
the title, the problem, the aim or purpose, the objectives, the population and
sampling techniques and sample size under study and the site, the
instrument for data collection validation of the instrument for data collection,
the data collection process, some pertinent result, and the importance or
uses of the result. Therefore, from the above example, the research
abstract could read thus!

“The research on the difficulties encountered with the recording by health

personal of the Bamenda health district was carried out because records
forwarded to higher levels of care always proved to be insufficient.

The aim of this work was therefore to identify the insufficient and make
them know in order to improve on recording. The objectives were therefore
to identify the recording process when entering all information regarding
patients, when entering information and all procedures carried out, and to
identify the recording process following the interview.

The population studies was all health person in the Bamenda Health
District who were sampled and found to be involved in recording the
sample random sampling technique was used to select the 120 personnel’s
that were studied.

The instrument for data collection was a well planned out observation guide
that contained all the aspect of the objective.

A pilot study (pretest) was carried out in the Bambui Health District to
validate the instrument.

Data was collected by observing the selected health personnel during

recording for a period of one hour each, using the observation guide. The
6
results showed that entering part information during recording was very
poorly done procedures were not immediately recorded after performing
them and there was too much talking during the interview process without
recording.

These results can be used to inform health care personnel on the

appropriate, current user friendly approaches available for appropriate
recording”.

NB the abstract is only written after the whole research has been
conducted and reported.

B) Seminar

The component of the seminar abstract include a statement on:

The title of the seminar, the problem statement, the aim and objectives, the
relevance of the seminar, the method used in looking for the information,
the relevant information sourced, and the importance of the information.
For example, “ this seminar on the help out strategies of good recording
was conceived because of difficulties and gaps often found on health
documents. The purpose of the seminar is to expose the gap that have
been found in health documents and fill them up by exploring past
recording, difficulties often encountered, possible solutions, and exposing
current practices. Hence, the objectives of the seminar are to explore the
past recording processes, outline the difficulties found to encounter the
recording trace the possible solutions and expose current practices.

Information has been sourced from published journals, books and the
internet. It has been observed that, the past recording process had some

7
gaps, these gaps have been linked to difficulties encountered by the
recorder, and the solution found in published material include;

- The provision of standardized recording forms.

- The most current appropriate practices observed include drafting
before copying out clearly for transmission. These findings or
observations can be used during seminars to educate health care
providers on appropriate recording”

5 Table of content

A list of everything that is written out and page numbers attached.

The preamble page have roman numbers, (i,ii) while the main numbering of
the work has algebraic numbering (1,2,3). The above ends the preamble
pages of research and seminar booklets. For the algebraic pages,

a) Research, has 5 chapters:

1) Chapter one
Title introduction, with many sub headings under neath (see later)
2) Chapter two:
Review of related literature, with many sub headings extracted from
the seminar presented.
3) Chapter three: Termed research material and methods with about 8
items listed under
4) Chapter four: termed results with all the results arranged following
the objectives
5) Chapter five: termed discussion, conclusions and recommendation.
b) Seminar

8
 The body here is arranged as:
i) Introduction which include; problem, objectives, relevance,
parts or sections
ii) The parts are divided following the objectives for example; part
one or section one, part 2 or section 2 etc. After the parts,
roman number iii is conclusion and after the conclusion, follows
recommendations.

NB Research or seminar can never be written without knowledge of

citations. Citations are done within the text when once the seminar begins.
These are called “in text” citations. They are done at the beginning, in the
middle, or at the end of the sentence.

Citations in seminar and research

There are 3 formats of citation in seminar and research. These are the
American psychological Association (APA) and the Turabean, the Havard
and the Vancouver. In the APA format the year is written in bracket after
the authors’ name. The authors’ research name is the name that appears
to the right of the reader. For example, an author like Muso Roseline Jam
will be writer as Jam, (2007). This is the same for the turabean approach
for citation.

For the Havard approach, the researchers name is followed by a coma (,)
then the year without bracket. For instance Gesu, 1983

For the vancurver approach, the name of the author is not written but the
corresponding number is written the number follow the position of use. For

9
instance, Madu will just be written as 1, Jam will be written as number 6
within the text, Gesu will be written as 2 within the text.

NB with this in view,the authors sur name most be written such that it
appears at the right of the reader as follows;

Fomum Mbayi Anita 1980 should be written as Anital Mbayi Fomum so

that he or she is referenced as Fomum 1980.

Suryfenyin Mercy should be written as Mercy Suryfenyin, 1982

Nges Peter should be written as Peter Nges, 1964.

Tanley Promise should be written as Promise Tanley, 1985

Eric Calume should be written as Eric Calume 2015

Tah Solange will be written as Solange Tah, 1993

Fomujong Ijang Karen should be written as Karen Ijang Fomujong, 1992

Therefore, at anytime that the reader picks up a book or articale, th

only name that should be written on a research or seminar book most be
the name that appears to his or her right followed by the year.

In citation, there different types or methods are used to avoid

monotony. These are;

a) At the beginning of the sentence

b) In the middle of a sentence
c) At the end of the sentence

10
 a) At the beginning of the sentence

Jam, (2007) identify the role of all health care personnel’s in

recording of procedure to include the role as a clear writer, a précised
writer and an eligible writer.

b) At the middle of the sentence

“ In the same line, Calume, (2015) assess this roles and found that
the eligiblility role was more important than the other roles” or,
“according to Nges, (1964) this roles could be conflicting, but when
good hand writing is added to them, documentation is said to perfect”.
c) At the end of the sentence
The ideas of recording was first conceived along side Nursing,
laboratory science and public health practice since its inception,
recording has remained a vital tool used in good continuity of care.
Based on this, the roles of each health care provider most be well
defined ( madu, 1989).

Where Jam, Tanley and Fomum wrote on the same subject matter in
different books or articles, it is often preferred that they are referenced at
the end of the phrase.

For instance, the idea of recording was first conceived alongside

nursing, Laboratory science and public health practice. Since its inception,
recording has remained a vital tool used in good continuity of care. Based
on this, the roles of each health care provider most be well defined. (Jam,
2007, Tanley, 1985, Fomum, 1980)

11
NB notes that the most recent author most be written first inside the bracket
and above.

When there are many authors that wrote one book or article, for
example Tah, Calume, Jam and Gesu, the phrase et al is used but it is
written in italic. For example; “Tah et al, (2007) Assessed the difficulties of
recording and found that they included the lack of writing material among
other several necessities” in talking about difficulties, Tanley et al, (1985)
had identified the difficulties to go beyond writing materials and that they
included poor managerial skills” form the above, it is seen that Tanley,
Nges and Suifenyin wrote the same article. This means that whenever
there are more than two authors only the surname of the 1 st author is
written and the other are termed et al.

Where there are only two authors, both authors are mentioned with
the abbreviated (&) between them. For example, “the solution to this
documentation problem, had been identified to include: the provision of
adequate writing material, and good managerial skills ( Gesu & fomum,
2013) “ Jam & Calume, (2014) added the solutions to poor recording,
stating that, poor recording could be resolved by providing workers with
enough time to perform this important duties” “ according to Madu &
Suiefenyi, (2015), these solutions are not the end, much still has to be done
to improve on recording by health care providers”

Referencing

In health research the word referencing is used and not bibliography. This
is because in referencing, only the authors that appear within the text are

12
found on the reference page. In Bibliography, authors that were only read
but not used are also written.

Secondly, all authors that appear in the text most appear on the
reference page in the APA format, they appear alphabetically, same as to
the Harvard and the Turebean with some minor differences. For the
Vancouver approach, the appear serially as they were used. Therefore,
form the above Calume wil come first, Fomum, Gesu, Tanly Jam, Madu,
Nges, Suiyfenyin and Tah for the APA approach. For the vancuiver
approach, Madu wil come first followed by Gesu, Fomum, Suiyfenyin,
Tanley, Jam, Nges Calume, Tah.

There are usually punctuation marks that are used on the reference
page. These are; coma (,), semi colon (;) colon (:) and full stop (.) they is a
coma after the name of the author, followed by the year in bracket, before
the facts of publication. For example Calume, E. (2015).

The fact of publication include; the title of the article, the title of the journal,
the column, the number and the page. But if a book, the title of the chapter
or the book, the edition, the publishing town and country, the publishing
house, constitutes the fact of publication. For example.

Calume, E. (2015) issues of recording can be disturbing, Journal of health

didactic vol2, No1, pp28-42.

If it was Vancouver it will be

Calume, E 2015. Issues of recording can be disturbing, Health Didactics.

2(1) 28-42.

Book for APA

13
Calume. E. (2015). issues of recording can be disturbing 2 nd Edition John
Wesley publishing Toronto USA.

The research book

The research book begins with the research proposal therefore the
research book inform of proposal, ends at chapter 3. The proposal is
written in future tense. It has no chapters it is converted into past tense,
form chapter one – three in final research book.

Research proposal

Introduction

The introduction is about 5 paragraphs addressing the topic and the

problem. For example in the topic above; “Difficulties encountered in the
recording process”. Paragraph 1 will be the recording process, paragraph 2
will be the recording process in health practice, paragraph 3 the recording
process by health care provide paragraph 4 problems with the recording
process, paragraph 5 solution or overcome the problems all of these can
take about 3pages. All of these are literature.

Statement of problem

In the statement of problem, the objectives most be very clear, and seen
within that statement .The statement of problem is the crux of the research.
In the topic above, it could be written as follows; “Recording is a daily
activity in all establishments. In health facilities, recording is performed by
all the different categories of works. Material and equipment for recording
vary, so is the knowledge of recording amongst health care workers based
and there are difficulties encountered which are not known by hospital

14
administrators. The difficulties can be related to like of knowledge, lack of
material, negligence or lack of follow up. It is therefore because of this that,
this research will be conducted.

Research questions

The research questions are framed from the statement of problem. They
are meant to be translated into objectives. For example, from the title
above and the statement of problem, the research questions will be

1) What are the various categories of health care providers who are
engaged in recording in the Bamenda health district?
2) What are the material and equipment used for recording by health
care providers in the Bamenda health district?
3) What is the process of recording by health care providers in the
Bamenda health district?
4) What are the difficulties encountered by health care provider in
recording in the Bamenda health district?

Or

1) What are the difficulties with knowledge, and category of recording

amongst health care providers in the Bamenda health district?
2) What are the difficulties with material and equipment amongst health
care providers in the Bamenda health district?
3) What are the difficulties encountered with the process of recording
amongst health care providers in the Bamenda health district?

15
Hypothesis

It is not common with under graduate research but may be required for
some subject matter. There are usually 2 types of hypothesis, that is a null
and an alternate hypothesis

i) Null hypothesis: this is often stated to say there is no

significance. For example “ there is no statistical significance in
identifying difficult of recording amongst health care providers in
the Bamenda health district.
ii) Alternate hypothesis: in the alternate hypothesis, there is a
significance. For example “ the difficulties encountnered with
recording by health care professionals of the Bamenda health
district are statistically significant.

Objectives

1) To assess the knowledge of recording amongst various categories of

health care providers of the Bamenda health district
2) To identify difficulties encountered with material and equipment
during recording by health care providers of the Bamenda health
district
3) To assess the difficulties encountered with the process of recording
by health care providers of the Bamenda health district

Scope or delimitation of the study

It defines the limits and boundaries that we cover during a study e.g. “ the
study will be limited to health care providers within the Bamenda health

16
district only. Only categories of health care providers that perform recording
will be considered.

In recording, only material equipment and process will be considered.

Operational definitions of terms

1) Certain words in the topic and in the objectives most be clearly

defined to smooth the particular research. For example, from the
above, the following will be defined.
i) Recording: it is an act of writing down in clear and simple language
what has to be communicating to others.
ii) Recording process: the way the writing down of information begins
and ends
iii) Difficulty: what the writer finds hard or impossible to put down and
what disturbs the writer from putting down the information, or what
a writer sees as an obstacle in putting down the information.
iv) Category: Refers to the grade of the particular health care
providers carrying out the recording.
v) Health care provider: Any one of the serial profession involved in
health care and working in the health care facility.
vi) Knowledge: The ability to recognize what recording entails.
vii) Material: All the consumable that are used during the recording
process e.g. pen, paper, chalk, bulbs forms to be filled etc.
viii) Equipment: all other materials used that is not consumable e.g.
computers, scanners, type writers, photocopier.

This ends the 1st part of the proposal that will be transformed into
chapter 1 of the final work.

17
 The second part is often concerned with all the reviewed literature,
and it is programmed as frame works thus;

- Theoritical frame work in which all relevant stories surrounding the

topic and objectives are programmed. For example;

Paragraph 1 will be recording which will be an expansion of the 1 st one .

Paragraph 2 will be recording process

Paragraph 3 will be recording in the health facility.

Paragraph 4 will be difficulties with recording

Paragraph 5 will be solutions to the recording

Paragraph 6 knowledge of the difficulties

Paragraph 7 difficulties with categories of workers

Paragraph 8 difficulties with material

Paragraph 9 difficulties with equipment

Paragraph 10 difficulties with process

Paragraph 11 their possible solutions

18
 Conceptual frame work (ACFW)

Some research think that the conceptual frame work should be in the 1 st
part of the work. A conceptual frame work demonstrates the inter play
of variables. It is better visual when it is in a diagram.

Knowledge Material

category

Equipment Recording in
health care
Process
Difficulties
No difficulties

Poor recording
Good recording

Imperial studies

In this section, all other studies that have been conducted in relation
to recording are cited from literature.

For example, previous studies on material and difficulties, equipment and

difficulties, categories and difficulties etc.

This second part is chapter 2 of the final work called literature review.

19
The part 3 of the proposal surround the material and methods of the
research, and it includes;

 Research design (qualitative or quantitative research design).

 Study site: where a description of the study site is give e.g. the
Bamenda Health District.
 Study population: where all the health care providers in the Bamenda
Health District are describe following the example above.
 Sample: a percentage of the study population is described to be
used. For example, 10% of all the health care providers in the
Bamenda Health District who are involved in recording will be used.
The 10% will be divided among all the health care profession.

Or

A formula for sample size calculation is used for the internet (see
internet for various formulas for sample size calculate there are four
types).

 Sampling technique
The sampling technique is usually choose from the list below;
i) Simple random sampling
ii) Systematic sampling
iii) Stratified sampling
iv) Purposive sampling
v) Convenient sampling

Instrument for data collection

20
The instruments for data collection could be a questionnaire, an
observation guide or SOPs (standard operation procedures) of the
laboratory. In the above topic, if a questionnaire is to be used, it should be
structured as follows;

Section 1: Demography

Age, sex, marital status, religion, occupation, educational level, monthly

income, place of work, longevity of work, years of training.

Section 2: Knowledge: on recording, its process its materials used,

equipment, difficulties of understanding.

Section 3: Material and equipment. Difficulties with pens, pencils,

papers, eligibility (hand writing).

Section 4: Process: Difficulties with the way the forms are filled, registers
are filled, reporting is done.

Validation of instruments

To be sure that the instrument is good, fit for use, it must be validated, by a
pre test (pilot study) and it is written thus; “ for validation of the instrument,
a pilot study will be conducted in Bamenda Health District amongst health
care providers. After the pilot study, the difficulty with the instruments will
be conducted and prepared for use in the final study.

NB the developed instrument is appendix 1 of your research proposal.

21
DATA COLLECTION PROCESS

Here, the process is clearly described. For example, data will be collected
by observing or asking the participant to fill the questionnaire and return
immediately or the next day.

Or

Data will be collected on a face to face interview basis.

Ethical issues

Ethical issues are those aspects that requires authorization, permission,

consent. For example,

Authorization for a research collected form

School, permission to carry out a research collect data from study site.
Consent from the person you are researching on.

Time frame

This must be part of a proposal, and not part of the final work and example
is as bellow.

S/N Activities J F M A M J J A S O N D
1 Proposal writing IIII
2 Develop the instrument IIII
3 Pilot test IIII

22
4 Correction IIII
5 The actual research IIII
6 Analyze data IIII
7 Writ and define project IIII

Budget

Every research work has a budget. It does not all appear on the final
work, but most be part of the proposal. could be presented as follows;

S/N Activities Amount Justification

1 Proposal writing 25000 Internet key,
downloading, typing
and printing, editing.
2 Develop the 10000 Typing and printing
instrument
3 Pilot test 30000 Print, photocopy,
transport, feed
4 Correction 2000 Printing and
correction
5 The actual research or 60000 Feeding, logistics
data collection transport
6 Analysis 50000 SPSS
7 Final write up 30000 Printing, binding,

23
 power point payment
Total 225000
NB: This mark the end of research proposal writing and constitute the
chapter 3 of the final work.

Research and Seminar Methods

Differences between seminar and research methods

Topic No variables Variables( dependent, independent

Affiliation In partial fulfillment for the award
of the course
Dedication In the middle of a page: Dedicated
to 2 or 3 names(surnames)
Acknowledgement Supervisor, institution & teachers,
classmates, last family and God last
Abstract Shorter E.G. Tracing the evolutional
path of nursing in the north West
Region
"the evolution and nursing in
Cameroon has taken a path over the
years. It is sometime difficult for
many nurse and midwives to trace
the path. This seminar is necessary
in that it is going to outline the path N/M amongst nurses and midwives
as long as N/ mid has existed. info
has been sourced from books and
other documentaries. the obj of
seminar was to expose
and extraneous)
In partial fulfillment in the award
of the degree BSN
Longer E.G
When proposal abstract is called
summary and the verb :will" is
used.
When in final research work it is
called Abstract and the past tense
is used.
"The research on the evolution of
was carried out because of the
many problems that surround
historical facts in
nursing/midwifery. The research

24
nurses/Midwives , to trace the path
that its evolution has taken, to
outline the stages through which the
evolution has taken. to attend those of 102 was used. Obj of study were
obj the seminar has been put in three
sections the results in which will
assist the n and midwives to identify assess attitudes following that must
the path and see the challenges to be occur over the years and to identify
handle in future)
Ie title, problem, obj, various parts
or sections and the usefulness or the
importance
NB: The following verbs are used in
describing obj in seminar-To
expose, to explore, to communicate,
to trace
25
was amongst nurses and midwives
who have been working, a sample
size calculated and a sample size
to identify the difficulties faced by
nurses in tracing their path. To
areas of gap in narrating the
history. The instrument for data
collection was a structured
questionnaire that was designed to
cover demographic data and all the
aspects of the obj. A pilot study
was conducted as pre-test of the
instrument to check any miss
information
Results show that difficulties
encountered by N/M were
statistically significant at P> 0.001.
However tracing the path of
evolution was understood by
majority of the study pop as 86.2%
could trace the path from pre-
colonial, colonial to
neocolonialism
Challenges encountered were also
found to be stat significant
P>0.001 and these challenges
included lack of internet and lack
of other resource material. these
 results can be used in enabling the
nursing and midwifery work force
to register for online and E-
learning books that are accessible
such books will better inform
n/midwifery work force.
Only action verbs are used in
addressing obj in research
Objectives To explore, to explain, To sensitize, to identify, to assess,
to analyze, to find out, to
investigate, to determine, to
synthesize

CITATIONS USED

Definition: Citation means the use of authors in scientific publications to

buttress or backup or support a very strong statement that has been made
by the current author.

Two ways of citations, the use of names and numbers. three types of
citations within the text (at the beginning of the sentence or at the end of
the sentence.

Ways of making citations within the text

a) Numerical (Vancouver system) in this approach serial numbers are given

to authors as they appear i.e. the first author or that till the end 1 is
represented as(1) superscript. The second is given the number 1

26
Therefore a name like Njite Pricilia will be changes on the publication to
read Pricila Njinte and a name like Nena Rose will be changed to read
Rose Nena.

b) using the name of the author

"the obstacle in the description of Nursing/Midwifery evolution in Cameroon

is not only in tracing the path, in defining roles and functions have also
been problematic (Kibot,1993)

TYPES OF CITATIONS

Authors often use 3 kinds of ways to cite published works within their
manuscripts

i) At the beginning of the sentence. here the name of the author is written
followed by a coma and the year in brackets e.g Atekwane, (1992)

describe all the difficulties encountered by N/M in tracing the history of their
evolution" if numerical the 1 comes before the phrase e. g"[1]

The difficulties encountered by N/M in tracing the evolution of their history

include the lack of resources like material, infrastructural and financial .

ii. At the middle of the sentence. There are some words before the authors
names and there are other words after the authors names. e. g Blessed
favour Nyipong(1984) " In the same light with difficulties encountered with
tracing the evolution of the history of their profession Nyuipond,(1984)
describes the same senario with professions like home economincs.
or( according to Ngunyi,(1993)

27
iii. At the end of the sentence, usually citations at the end of the sentence
follow very long phrases. Both the name and the year written inside the
brackets separated by a coma. For instance though the difficulty in yracing
the evolution of professions have been based on material, financial efforts
usually have in have also been lacking. In describing such lack of efforts
many authors have also identified the short commings of institutions that
house these professionals( Abah,1979)

In the numerical approach numbers replace the names but when thr
phrase according to is used the name is written in brackets before the
number e.g according to Kibot[8] the difficulty is not limitted to financial,
institutional, structural and others , it also include other sociological
problems. In an event where two authors wrote the article e.g number one
and number 9, the two authors are mentioned,(1981 provided some
solutions to the difficulties encountered.

OR

Some solutions to difficulties encountered had been identified (Fofuleng

&Atekwane,1992) continued in describing the solutions to include better
institutional policies, better training facilities and acquisition of current
material for reading.

In an event where there are three or more authors the way their names
have been written must be respected such the first author is cited and the
phrase "et al" is then used always written in italics. e. g if Ngunyi, Lambou
and Kibot will be termed 'et al'. Et al is the Latin word for and others
(According to Ngunyi et al,(1993) other solutions to obstacles to tracing the

28
evolution of professions will be continuous organization of seminars at work
places).

Sometimes the word 'ibid' is used. This word is used when one source has
been used for a long time. For instance the description of the solutions
were made by Nema,(1984) then the next description was still made in
1948. In other not to use Nema again ibid will be used. this is a Latin word
for same author above."Nursing/Midwifery professions however have been
exposed only of recent therefore in talking about problems in tracing their
evolution the time factor must be considered (Nema,1984). Therefore it is
but wise that critics who have claimed that nurses and midwives are unable
to trace their evolutions should consider this crucial issue of time(ibid).

REFERENCING

In the same vein like in citations the reference page demonstrates two
kinds of citations (the numerical and the alphabetical). the numerical is
often called the vancouver system of referencing which has the name of
the author followed by initials of the author followed by a full stop, then title
of article or book, the name of the journal, the issue and the number of the
journal, the publishing house. the country then the year. e.g. In a journal
article

1.Fofuleng,QM.Tracing the path of nursing and Midwifery in

Cameroon,International Nursing Didatics,vol.2 No.1p.41-
60.Cameroon.1992

2. In a Book

29
Ngunyi,NC.Tracing the path of nursing and midwifery in
Cameroon.WC.Publishing.Bamenda cameroon.1992

Alphabetical approach . There are are three main schools of thought that
used the alphabetical other, however there are there common ones

The American Psychological association(APA), a Turabean system and a

Havard system. the main difference between the numerical and
alphabetical approaches is the position of the year

In the alphabetical system the year comes after the name not at the end
after facts of affiliation or facts of publication. In the aplhabetical approach
there are just minor differences between them, the general characteristic is
that they are arranged alphabetically.

The APA system

In this system there is indentation as follows

Abah,A.S.(1979)Tracing the evolutional history of the nursing and

midwifery profession.International Nursing Didatics,vol.2 No.1p.41-
60.Cameroon.

Atekwane,P.(1992) Tracing the evolutional history of the nursing and

midwifery profession.International Nursing Didatics,vol.2 No.1p.41-
60.Cameroon.

The Turabean approach.

Same as the APA but there is no indentation. There is however a double

space that differentiates the first author from the second author.

30
Abah,A.S.(1979)Tracing the evolutional history of the nursing and
midwifery profession.International Nursing Didatics,vol.2 No.1p.41-
60.Cameroon

Atekwane,P.(1992) Tracing the evolutional history of the nursing and

midwifery profession.International Nursing Didatics,vol.2 No.1p.41-
60.Cameroon.

The Havard System

The Havard is a shortened form of the APA and the Turabean. It is

shortened by removal of the full stops after the name, removal of the
bracket that encloses the year and removal of the word volume , number
and page e. g

Abah,AS.1979 Tracing the path of nursing and Midwifery in Cameroon,

International Nursing Didatics.2(1)41-60

A double space separates authors

Abah,AS.1979 Tracing the path of nursing and Midwifery in Cameroon,

International Nursing Didatics.2(1)41-60

Atekwane,P.1992 Tracing the evolutional history of the nursing and

midwifery profession in Cameroon, International Nursing Didatics.2(1)41-60

NB: Editors are not referenced only authors of specific chapters are
referenced in case of a book with different authors.

the APA system has been revised in the last two years to look like the
Turabean without indentations

Writing a research proposal exemplified

31
The cover page: Begins with the institution of affiliation

Title: E.g. Documentation of health issues by care providers at the Tubah H

D

Followed by the phrase In partial fulfillment for the award of the bachelor of
Midwifery Science folloed by the word By at the center of the page then the
name of the student registration number next the super visors name to the
right a & c0-supervisor to the right then the year at the right last cornerNext
page: Roman numeral i: Title page whereby the title is written at the center
of the page

ii; Dedication- at entre of page Dedicated to1, 2 or 3 persons

iii; Acknowledgement page whereby the supervisor 7 institution of

affiliation, institutions where internships were carried out, some classmates
and family are clearly thanked.

iv; Certification- whereby the candidate or student indicates that he/she will
carry out the work personally under supervision. However the page may be
left out in the proposal and only written during the final research work.

v; Summary of the proposal: where all the activities involved in the proposal
are written out "This proposal on the documentation of health issues was
conceived because of the numerous complaints from. healthcare
consumers of haven received wrong results or wrong information from
healthcare providers. The objective of the study will be to assess the
documentation processes used, to identify the documentation materials
used, to assess the institutional policies put in place for documentation, and
lastly to identify difficulties encountered during the process of

32
documentation. the instrument for data collection will be a structured
questionnaire or a structured interview guide or a structured check list that
will reflect the objectives. For validity a pilot study will be conducted to
pretest the instrument and corrections made before the final study. the pop
nder study will be all healthcare providers withimn ythe tubah health District

a sample size calculation will be made by------. the sample pop will be
gotten by systematic sampling technique to choose the particular health
institutions. the study shall also use stratified sampling techniques to chose
the groups of health care providers to use. and lastly the purposive sample
technique will be used to identify the particular( specific) participants in the
study. The data collection process will be by face-to-face interview or
recording or administration of the questionnaire or guide at a distance. Data
will be analyzed using a soft ware package and p-values or significant
levels will be set at p<0.05. Results will be represented of frequencies and
cross matched and the can be used to educate healthcare providers in
Tubah HD on the way forward in choosing the best approaches to
documentation, best material and equipment to be used, reforming some
institutional policies and resolving some difficulties they encountered.

NB: The following ingredients constitute the summary, the title, the
problem, the obj, the instrument, the pilot study, the pop, the sampling
technique, sample size, data collection process, data analysis process,
results, test of significance and uses of the results.

vi Acronyms/ Abbreviations: All abbreviations and unpopular words and

standard abbreviations are given a meaning on this page E.g.

WHO: World Health Organization

33
Algebra page 1: Introduction

This must address documentation first. Then the processes of

documentation followed by materials commonly used in documentation, the
institutional policies on documentation the narrows down on difficulties or
problem often encountered In writing all of this a world view, African,
Cameroonian or local view is given. Each. The citation is either made at the
beginning, at the middle or at the end of the sentence in other to avoid
monotony and boredom during reading one or two sentences has a source.

Statement of problem in which some authors could be used to stress on the

fact that documentation has a problem and so should be investigated E.G "
documentation is a daily activity of all healthcare providers who either
document info regarding healthcare providers or report healthcare info to
other colleagues. In the process participatory collection of info is collected
e. g (Henshaw,2012). Institutional policies also have a good role to play in
documentation at various health facilities. It would appear that the process
of documentation in the Tubah HD has not been well describes or not well
known, In the same way material and equipment appear to be obsolete or
insufficient with so much interference again from institutional policies on
documentation. It may therefore be apparent that there is a problem with
documentation at the Tubah Health District. Based on the above this study
underscores the importance of good documentation for better patient care
and outcome."

Research Questions

What are the processes usedWhat are the material and equpiment used for
recording at

34
What are the institutional policies on documentation at

What are the difficulties often encountered by healthcare

NB: In order for research to be consistent and avoid conflicting results,

research questions are a reflections of the research objectives

Hypothesis: There are usually two kinds of hypothesis in research The Null
and atlternative. They are usually stated in terms of significance

A Null hyopotheseis(Ho). there is no sttiatical significance while the

Alternate(H1) states there is a statistical significance.

E.G Ho)Null there is no statistical significance with difficulties encountered

with documentation at the Tubah HD. OR Dificulties encountered with doc
at the Tubah HD is statistically not significant

Objectives

usually there is a general obj which some authors call the main objective.
the genral obj covers all the issues found in the specific objectives e. g.

Obj To assess factors or issues related to documentation by healthcare

providers at the Tubah HD

Specific Objectives

These are ideas derived from the main objectives but which target minute
things that are feasible for investigation

The main obj above the various factors constitute the specific objectives.
These factors are also the issues found in the research questions.They are
a translation of the research questions into the use of words that explain
35
the activity e. g. To assess, to identify, to demonstrate. hence from the
above the objectives are

Obj 1. To assess the process of documentation used by healthcare

provider at the Tubah HD

Obj 2. To identify the materials used by healthcare providers of te Tubah

HD

obj 3. to assess the health policy put in place for documentation for used
by healthcare providers at the Tubah HD

Obj 4. To identify the difficulties often encountered by healthcare providers

at the Tubah HD.

Rationale/Significance/Importance of the study. The main reason for

conducting the research is provided here. The possible uses are also
provided here

Operational definition of terms

Every word that may be confused is given a definition as used by the

researcher not as defined by another person. These words are seen on the
title and the objectives, e. g. In the title above the following will be
operationalized. Documentation, health issues, healthcare provider,
process, material and equipment, policy and difficulty.

Difficulty aspects that healthcare providers find it difficulty in handling

Health what so ever info obtained from client

process: begin to end of writing info from patient

36
Literature review: Related literature has been reviewed to cover all the
petenent issues from title through the obj for clarity and specificity.

Documentation

processes of documentation in a health facility

materials used in documentation

institutional policies on documentation around the world

challenges and difficulties with documentation within health facilities

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Materials and methods in research does not require the list of pen paper
computer to be used but require that they are described in activities that will
take place. They are standard issues that must be discussed ' these are:

The research design, research site, the target pop, the sample pop,the
sampling technique together with the a sample calculation, the instrument
for data collection and its validation, the process of data collection, the
process of data analysis, inclusion and exclusion criteria and ethical
considerations

Research Design: The research design must be chosen from one of this

Qualitative

OR

Quantitative

37
Then the specific study design could be from both of them I.e Cross-
sectional, analytical Experimental for Quantitative

OR

Case study, FGD, Indepth interviews for qualitative

Where a choice has been made of the research and study design, the
following must be described. Design, advantages, disadvantages, how the
disadvantages will be handled.

Study site: A geographical location and functional approach to the

description

Target pop: Descipts who the individual that will be manioulated is. If a
healthcare provider, the kind and rank is described E.g all the doctors, all
nurses who have trained for at least three years, all the idwives, all the lab
scientists who have trained for three years.

Sample pop: The sample of the target pop will be included inth e study.
This means that not all will be includedin the study. meaning the inclusion
and exclusion criteria will further define

sampling technique the stratified sampling technique will be used to

identify the various healthcare provide s at the study side. Each group of
provider will constitute a stratum from which the purposeful sample
technique will be used to select the specific participant. The purposive
sampling technique is good in that only participants who are actively
involved in documentation will be included in the study

38
 Sample size calculation: the total no of sample size calculation will be
used following the Lorenz calculation to arrive at the exact no that will
constitute the sample size

Instrument for data collection: A clear description of the instrument is

provided. the method and place for the pilot study is also provided. reasons
for the pilot study also provided

Data collection process: a clear description of how the data will be

collected from a start to finish is provided.

Process of data analysis: the way the data is going to be managed,

preserved, keyed in into the software and manipulated is well described.
Advantages of the software package is also provided. Reasons for the
choice is also provided.

Inclusion and Exclusion criteria: A description of who will be included or

excluded in te study is givene.g in the study above , the inclusion criteria
will include healthcare providers who first od all qualify, healthcare provides
who work with documents and healthcare provider who documents.
Exclusion criteria will be healthcare providers who do not qualify and those
who do not have something to do wih documentation

Ethical considerations:

Four issues are often considered to show that the researh is ethical for
under graduates: i.e

-Authorization to conduct research from the institution of study(VD for

research and cooperation)

39
-Authorization to conduct research from the Health District

-Permission to collect data from the Health institution

-Informed consent from the specific participant

NB if for higher degrees and funding another ethical consideration is ethical

clearance obtained from an Institutional Review Board(IRB) OR review
board EC or National ethical review Board

Budget

The total amount required to conduct the research must be stated. The
specific items must be justified. E.G see table below

S/N Item Amount Justification

1 Conception of 10.000 Internet time,
title transportation
2 Literature search 20.000 Internet time
3. Development of 10.000
instrument
4. Printing of 5000
instrument for ps
5 Printing final
study
6 printing 50.000
7 analysis 10.000
8 Production of 50.0000
final document

40
41