Guidelines For Writing a Research Proposal

1. Guidelines For Writing a Research Proposal Dr. Belal Hijji, RN, PhD 11/11/2010

2. Learning Outcomes At the end of this lecture, students will be able to: • Define what a research proposal is and the reasons for its production. • Identify the main sections of a quantitative research proposal along with supportive examples

3. Research is “…..not a luxury for the academic, but a tool for developing the quality of nursing decisions, prescriptions, and actions. Clinicians, educators, managers, and researchers have a research responsibility: neglect of that responsibility could be classed as professional negligence”. (McFarlane, 1991)

4. What is a Research Proposal? • A research proposal is a written summary of what the researcher intends to do, how, why, where, and when. • A research proposal is helpful as it describes the project’s feasibility, usefulness, and potential. • “A research proposal is a detailed statement of what you intend to do, why you intend to do it and how you intend to go about it. The proposal would indicate both your ability to carry out the project and whether the design and methods you have selected are appropriate to the problem being studied”.

5. What are the Reasons for Writing a Research Proposal? • To explain and justify to employers or sponsors the research being proposed. • To obtain permission or cooperation of those concerned. • To seek access and obtain ethical approval. • To secure funding

6. How to Prepare a Research Proposal • There is no specific format. The most important point is that it should be well and clearly presented, and should convey essential information. • A research proposal should convince the reader that there is indeed a problem, to state the aims and objectives clearly and to describe the design and methods of the project.

7. Sections of a Quantitative Research Proposal • Title. • Introduction. • The research aims. • Literature review. • Research methodology and analytical procedure. • Ethical considerations. • Timescale. • Qualifications of the researchers. • Supervisor’s name and brief CV.

8. For the purpose of this presentation, we will refer to a research paper entitled “Nurses’ practice of blood transfusion in the United Arab Emirates: an observational study” (Hijji et al, 2010). The paper along with other sources will form the basis for clarifying the various sections of a research proposal.

9. Title of the Proposed Project • The title should be a brief and realistic description of the purpose of research. For example, • Nurses’ practice of blood transfusion in the United Arab Emirates: an observational study.

10. Introduction • This section should explain why the research topic is important, relevant and worthwhile, using data to do so. It should establish the broad aims of the research and show why the findings will be useful. For example, • In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hospitals, nurses are responsible for the administration of blood transfusions. The safety and effectiveness of the transfusion process is dependent, among others, on the knowledge and skills of nurses who perform the procedure. Poor practice may result in avoidable complications that may threaten patients’ safety. Published work indicated that that patients received suboptimal care and incorrect transfusion that culminated in death or morbidity. In the UAE, publications related to nurses’ practice of blood transfusion are lacking.

11. The Research aims • Aims can be described as the general goals to be achieved by the project. The aims and objectives should provide the reader, funder, employer, and peers with a comprehensive and coherent statement of what the researcher hopes to achieve. Research objectives describe specific activities to be undertaken in order to meet the research aim. For example, • The aim of the observations was to document nurses’ actual practice of blood transfusion. • The objectives were to assess nurses’ practice: • Before blood bag collection • After blood delivery to the clinical area but before the initiation of a transfusion and • Within 15 minutes of setting up a transfusion.

12. Literature Review • The state of art in the particular field of study. Here it can be briefly pointed out how much is known about the topic and issues relevant to the study. Possible gaps in knowledge can be identified. • Methodological considerations: The researcher should justify the selection of a particular method to be used in the study by demonstrating an awareness of the available options through an examination of the methodological literature. For example, • The literature review identified several observational studies and audits on this topic. Shulman et al. (1994) examined transfusionists’ compliance with the institutional policies in relation to several important variables. Later, Shulman et al. (1999) investigated nurses’ compliance with institutional policies regarding patient/blood product identification and vital signs recording.

13. Hodgkinson et al. (1999) conducted a concurrent audit using a questionnaire. Questions were about informed consent; documentation of blood pack identification number and status, patient observations; and condition of the intravenous access device. Bayraktar and Erdil (2000) observed nurses’ practice of blood transfusion. Data were collected about patient education, time lag between blood collection and actual commencement of transfusion and correct patient and unit identification. Saxena et al. (2004) implemented a comprehensive assessment programme to improve the blood-administering practices using the FOCUS–PDCA model (FOCUS is an acronym for the words find, organise, clarify, understand and select, and PDCA stands for plan, do, act and check results). Saxena et al. (2004) employed trained nurses who observed blood collection, blood administering and patient monitoring steps.

14. None of the studies reported earlier addressed all important aspects of nurses’ transfusion practice such as blood bag collection and prior patient preparation, patient information before transfusion initiation, proper patient identification and nurses’ responsibilities within 15 minutes of initiating a transfusion.

15. Research Methodology and Analytical Procedures • It is important to describe the methods to be used in order to meet the objectives. This involves the description of the design, concepts and terminology, sample, data collection, and data analysis. • Design: Here, a general description of the research design should be provided. For example, “An observational descriptive design was deemed most appropriate, because observation is an excellent method for the assessment of behaviour in conjunction with nurses’ skills and clinical performance”. (Polit & Hungler 1999)

16. Concepts and terminology: these must be clearly defined in a coherent way which conveys the same meaning to all readers. For example, • Blood transfusion is defined as the infusion of whole blood or a blood component such as plasma, red blood cells, or platelets into a patient's venous circulation (Tylor et al., 2005).

17. Setting and sample: the location of the proposed study and choice of participants should be briefly described. For example, • “Data collection will be undertaken in two general public hospitals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. A random sample of 50 nurses from both hospitals will be selected”.

18. Data collection: The methods of data collection should be described, first in general [questionnaire, interview, direct observation] and then in detail, identifying precisely what is to be studied and how. For example, • “Data on nurses' observed practice will be collected by means of a modified version of a structured observation schedule developed by Bayraktar & Erdil (2000)”. However, more items were added to the checklist after reviewing the recommendations from the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (1999). Other items based on the BCSH (1999) guidelines and local practice were added. The final version of the tool had 25 items and consisted of four sections: (1) in the ward before collecting blood; (2) in the blood bank; (3) before initiating the transfusion; (4) after initiating the transfusion”. “Each nurse will be observed once, from 10 minutes prior to blood collection until 15 minutes after initiating a transfusion”.

19. Data collection: A brief description of the pilot testing of data collection method should be provided. For example, “To test the schedule for inter-observer reliability and validity, a pilot study or more will be carried out using nurses unconnected with the man study sites with the assistance of another trained observer”.

20. Data analysis: An indication of the methods of data analysis should be given, and types of statistical techniques which will be used. For example, • “Observational data will be entered onto a computer software running the SPSS, version 11 for Windows (SPSS Inc.). Descriptive statistics will be calculated for nominal level data such as each observable activity in the observation schedule. Measures of central tendency and dispersion will be calculated for practice scores”.

21. Ethical Considerations • During the planning stage, researchers should give careful consideration to issues related to ethics and informed consent of participants, particularly if they were patients. An informed consent needs to be obtained particularly when dealing with vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, the mentally ill and those with learning disabilities. For example, • Approval for the study will be obtained from the Research Ethics Committees of the UAE Ministry of Health and from hospital A and hospital B. Issues of confidentiality of data and voluntary participation will be considered during sample recruitment. All nurses will be required to sign an informed consent after they have read a participant information sheet (PIS). At the time of an observation, patients or relatives will be asked for permission for researcher’s presence in the room.”

22. Timescale • The timescale presents the reader with a detailed and realistic description of the sequence and duration of the task at hand. Therefore, it is important to say when the research will start and end, and how much time will be allocated to each specific stage of the study. For example, From-to (date) Action 3/10-17/10 Gaining access to hospitals, pilot study, and sampling 24/10-26/10 Analysis of pilot study 27/10-2/11 Main data collection 3/11-10/11 Data entry and analysis 11/11-13/11 Writing report

23. Qualifications of the Researcher • Readers of the proposed research need to know appropriate details about the researcher. Therefore, a CV with emphasis on qualifications, relevant experience, and any publication should be submitted for each person named on the application form. For example, • Dr. Belal Hijji, RN, PhD is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Nursing, An-Najah National University. Dr. Hijji has a number of research publications.

24. Supervisor’s Name and Brief CV • A suitably experienced researcher should have been approached, invited, and agreed to act as supervisor for the proposed study.

25. References • Hijji, B.; Parahoo, K.; Hossain, M.; Barr, O. and Murray, S. (2010). Nurses’ practice of blood transfusion in the United Arab Emirates: an observational study. Journal of Clinical Nursing. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03383.x • McFarlane, J. (1991) Research Process in Nursing- The Future [2nd Edition] in D. F. S. Cormack [ed.] The Research Process in Nursing. Blackwell Scientific Publications: Oxford. • Parahoo, K. (1995) Guidelines on Writing a Research Proposal. National Board For Nursing, Midwifery And Health Visiting For Scotland. • Polit, D. and Hungler, B. (1999). Nursing Research: Principles and Methods. 6th edition. New York: Lippincott. • Tylor, C., Lillis, C. and LeMone, P. (2005). Fundamental of Nursing. 5th edition. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott.