11-03-2014, 02:45 PM
Research Design and Methods
Research Plan
What has been done so far
Preliminary Studies
How you are going to do it
Research Design and Methods
Main Points That
You Must Get Across
Research design, if carried out successfully, will accomplish Specific Aims
Methods are feasible and well developed
Approach is original
Data will be analyzed correctly
Enough subjects/specimens will be tested to lead to conclusive results
Limitations are of minor concern only
Study can be accomplished in requested time
Organization
No one organization fits all proposals
Try to organize in logical sequence of Specific Aims and corresponding experiments
Consider giving overview at start of entire section
Describe overall approach that will be used to achieve aims
Consider using flowchart or table
Measurements
Describe techniques and equipment for measuring all variables
Use illustrations
Demonstrate that measurements will be accurate, precise, sensitive, specific
Data Analysis
If using analytic statistics, specify
Statistical parameters and tests
Assumptions of tests
Alpha level
Alpha = probability of falsely rejecting null hypothesis
Reference if statistical approach is not well known
Number of Specimens in Research Plan
State proposed statistical test or interval estimation
Examples:
Analysis of variance
Linear regression
Note that each test has specific formula for power/number of specimens
Summary: Successful
Research Design and Methods
Bright idea
Well developed and clearly described methods
Appropriate data analysis
Large enough sample size
Plenty of time to do the work
Only minor limitations
Clear pathway to strong conclusions