DEVELOPING AS A RESEARCHER

Provides understanding of experiences, perceptions, motivations, intentions. Behaviours based on description and observation.

participants are comfortable with the researcher

Semi structured interviews, focus groups, participant observation

Based on numerical data and usually seeks to establish casual relationships and differences between variables • Observations measured in numbers • Start with a testable hypothesis

Findings can be repeatedly tested by others. Variables are defined and statistical analyses test relationships and differences between variables/ groups.

Surveys, RCTS, Lab experiments

Topic, target audience, level, type & length of articles, speed of review process, comply with journal guidelines.

• Can influence the content of a journal and the scientific community. • Can also decide who the reviewers will be, decide on section editors, decide on rejection revision & acceptance, communicating journals policies and guidance.

Experts in the field, mainly within the topic area Process often anonymous Unpaid, under pressure to turn over rapidly therefore can lead to drop in quality

• Understand and answer the questions, suggestions and request of reviewers. Some of these questions are hard to answer which leads to a delay in journal rewriting. • Can sometimes be multiple goes at revisions due to conflicting opinions between reviewers or new findings since submissions.

• Desk rejection- usually due to not adhering to journal requirements • Rejection after revisions- less common, suggestion to another journal

roughly 80 days but can range from a few months to a year.

the ethics process aims to protect the welfare, dignity and rights of participants and researchers in the research process

Statement of ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects

• Safety & well being of all participants • Scientific value/ validity • Informed consent • Anonymity, confidentiality and data protection • Respect for participants • Conduct research with honesty, integrity and minimal risk to participants

All involved are safe- researchers, participants, public, environment

• Is the study worth doing • Is the theory supporting the hypothesis • Is the method suitable • Is the number of participants suitable

All participants have given verbal or written consent They understand the implications of consent

anonymity- identity of participants is not known to researchers confidentiality- when researcher knows identity of participant but protects it data protection- where is data stored who has access to it

• Keeping their private info confidential • Allowing them to withdraw at any point • Monitoring welfare • Informing them of any new info that may arise

The philosophical stance informing the methodology and thus providing a context for the research process and grounding its logic and criteria What is there? What is reality? How can we understand existance?

The theory of knowledge embedded in the theoretical perspective and thereby in the methodology. How we know what we know? What is valid knowledge? How can we obtain it?

The strategy, plan of action and process of design that lies behind the choice and use of particular methods. It links the choice and the use of methods to the desired outcomes.

The techniques or procedures used to gather and analyze data/ evidence related to a specific research question or hypothesis.