Developing your research question and writing an introduction

Developing your research

question and writing an

introduction JENNIFER HENSEL, MD MSC FRCPC

RESEARCH SUMMER SCHOOL 2020

Objectives

To review the steps from identifying an area of interest, to

formulating a research question and writing a killer introduction for a

proposal

Key questions:

What’s the gap?

Why does it matter (i.e. who cares and why)?

How will you answer it?

By the end you will be able to:

Generate a research question using PICO/PIE

Know the key components of an effective introduction

Ask Questions!

1) Use the “Raise Hand” function: Click “Participants”,

find your name, select “More” and “Raise Hand.”

Unmute when invited to speak.

2) Write a chat.

What’s the gap?

An area of interest for a research project can come from a range of

places:

What’s the gap?

Your research idea should:

Address a topic of real or potential interest (to both you and the

scientific or clinical community)

Seek to add to what is known about the topic or generate knowledge

on a brand new topic

Aim to improve practice and/or the human condition

Be feasible to study meaningfully in a timely way with available

resources

Align (when possible) with institutional and other local stakeholder

priorities

What’s the gap?

How do you know if your idea is novel?

Review the literature

Don’t forget about the unpublished (“grey”) literature

Ask experts

The truth is that ideas are rarely 100% novel – more often you are asking a question that adds to existing knowledge

Testing an intervention in a new population

eg. DBT for eating disorders (vs Borderline PD)

Analyzing the effects of additional or different factors on a previously studied outcome

eg. The moderating effect of ethnicity on antipsychotic-induced weight gain

Replicating what has been shown in a different region

eg. Virtual education programs for rural providers in Canada (vs United States)

The research question

A good research question is:

Clear and succinct

Feasible

Of significant importance

Ethical to answer

(hypothesis driven)

The research question focusses the study, and informs choice of

methodology and analysis

The research question

PICO and PIE can help you create good, succinct questions

Create a statement about your area of interest and what you want to study

Take note of your environment and what type(s) of data you can/want to collect

Decide if PICO or PIE is most appropriate

PICO = quantitative

PIE = qualitative

Develop your research question

Revise your research question



•Population, person or problem

•Same as PICO P

•Issue or Intervention

•Same as PICO I •Evaluation, Effect

•What do you want to understand about the experience, meaning or mechanism?

E

Example:

Area of interest: I want to study videoconferencing for mental

health care to determine if it increases access to care among

patients with identified barriers

Environment/Data: I work in a clinic where we have identified key

patient groups with barriers to office-based care, one of which is

post-partum women

Research question (PICO): Does the option of videoconferencing for

psychotherapy among post-partum women increase the number of

visits attended compared to usual office-based care?

Example:

Area of interest: I am interested in the progression from a diagnosis

of unspecified psychosis to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. What

clinical and demographic factors are important?

Environment/Data: I work in Manitoba and have access to linked

health administrative data through the Manitoba Centre for Health

Policy

Research Question (PICO): Among individuals age 15-60 who

receive a diagnosis of unspecified psychosis, what are the

demographic and clinical factors associated with progression to a

diagnosis of schizophrenia compared to not?

Example:

Area of interest: I want to know more about the barriers to uptake of

electronic consultation (eConsult) for psychiatric advice among

primary care providers.

Environment/Data: I have access to eConsult usage data and the

primary care providers registered with the service.

Research question (PIE): What are the perceived barriers to the uptake of eConsult for psychiatric advice among primary care

providers in Ontario?

Come up with a research question

Area of interest: I am interested in studying medication non-compliance

among individuals with schizophrenia.

Environment: I work in a psychiatric outpatient program that serves a large

population of individuals with schizophrenia.

Area of interest: I would like to study frequent ED users for mental health

reasons in Winnipeg to understand more about their health care needs.

Environment: I work in the ED and I also have access to individual level

health care and social data through MCHP.

Writing an introduction

You will need to write an introduction as part of any proposal, research ethics submission, or grant funding application, and later as part of your study write up

Know your audience**

The introduction sets the stage

It identifies the problem

It justifies the problem as important (i.e. tells us why we should care)

It highlights the gap in what is and isn’t known

And it tells the reader how you intend to address the problem’s gap

The introduction needs to get the reader’s attention and make them want to read more


Approximately 4-5 paragraphs (depends on format requirements)

Paragraph 1:

What is the nature of the problem you are studying

Use numbers! Eg. what is the prevalence, what are the individual and

societal implications (e.g. disability/mortality), how much does it cost?

The first 1-2 sentences can make it or break it in some cases – so start

strong

Suicide accounts for nearly 25% of deaths among Canadian

youth. Youth with psychosis are a particularly vulnerable group,

with rates of suicide attempts 10 times that of their peers. Despite

a number of proven interventions, suicide rates in Canada have

not decreased in the last 15 years. This is in part due to barriers in

getting the right help to the right people at the right time. We

know that 50% of suicidal people access the health system in the

month before their death, showing that point of care

interventions may hold promise.


Paragraphs 2 and 3:

What is known about the topic

What is not known about the topic (may include why what is known

may be subject to contextual factors such as geography, health system

organization, population demographic factors, etc)

Summarize the available literature, including specific statistics when

relevant, or offer a range –

e.g. A systematic review on the topic found a prevalence range of 20-40%

Be specific about what is missing to lead into your research question

which will follow

e.g. While this intervention has been shown to be effective in adults, it has not

yet been evaluated in youth


Final Paragraph:

Introduces your study, including a summary of your research aim +/-

hypothesis

e.g. This study aims to determine if offering the option of videoconferencing

appointments to post-partum women will increase the number of

psychotherapy sessions attended.

May include your exact research question:

e.g. This study will answer the following research question: Does the option of

videoconferencing for psychotherapy among post-partum women increase

the number of visits attended compared to usual office-based care?

Questions and Discussion

Developing your research question and writing an introduction

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