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This research project report evaluates the importance of ethical issues, types of research, and the role of supervision in providing a pleasurable research experience for budding researchers. It also provides guidelines and best practices for effective supervision and generating the best research topics.
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ASSESSMENT OF RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT IN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PRACTICE Professor Andrew Olu. Fadoju University of Ibadan <fadoju.andrew@dlc.ui.edu.ng>
Ethical Issues in Research • A researcher has some obligations to his / her client in case of sponsored research. • He / she should not discard data that can lead to unfavourable conclusions and interpretations for the sponsoring agency. • The researcher should maintain strict confidentiality • The researcher should not make use of hidden cameras, tape-recorders etc, without the respondents ‘permission. • In an experimental study, when volunteers are used as participants, the researcher should explain the procedures and utilise 'informed consent’ form. • Participants have the freedom to decline to participate or to withdraw from the experiment.
Types of Research • Quantitative vs Qualitative • Descriptive vs Analytical • Applied vs Basic/Fundamental • Conceptual vs Empirical • Purpose vs Method (based)
Importance of Giving an Budding Researchers a Pleasurable Research Experience through Matured Supervision • Research experience enhances the classroom learning of students. • Provides students the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the research process. • It enriches the learning for the students and their college/university experience. • It is an extension of best practices in teaching-concern for students, . . . • Developing a successful learner’s research experience, literature suggests that faculty consider the following points:
Research Environment • An apprenticeship model • Whereby skills, knowledge, and practices are modelled for the student to experience. • Apprentices learn by observing and practicing under direct supervision, and are not simply ‘go‐and‐type’ format. • Open communication • Maintaining open communication regarding the expectations and responsibilities of the supervisor and the budding researcher facilitates successful outcomes. • The guidelines listed below assist such communications:
Guidelines and Best Practices • Is the partnership between supervisor and student right for the particular project? • How to establish clear, reasonable and agreed upon expectations? • What role should students play in the various aspects of a research plan? • How often and how long should we meet with research students?
Guidelines and Best Practices (Contd.) • What should the meetings focus on? • How can the research project momentum be encouraged? • How to encourage effective writing? • How to provide a successful conclusion to the project?
How to Generate the Best Research Topics • When you are assigned a research paper, the first thing you need to do is come up with a topic. • Coming Up With Ideas • Do some background reading. • Read as much as you can. • Start narrowing down your area. • Once you've established a general area of interest, you can start narrowing your area even further. • Make a list of all the things that interest you within your narrowed topic. • Make a bubble map to help with the idea-generating process.
How to Generate the Best Research Topics (Contd.) • Keep drawing bubbles and adding additional ideas. • For example, in your main bubble you might put “B.F. Skinner and Behavioral Psychology.”. • Keep adding ideas to the bubble map. • Once you’re at a point where you don’t want to add anything else, look at the thought-bubble map as a whole. • Circle the ideas that seem to work the best for you.
Researching Your Idea • Begin researching the main ideas on your bubble map. • Get an idea of the research in the field. • Most major libraries have databases you can use. • However, databases like EBSCOhost have many smaller databases depending on what your library pays for. • Use keywords to find articles related to your topic.
Researching Your Idea (Contd.) • Take notes and use them to choose your topic. • Try to look at your chosen topic in an original way. • It should be something that hasn't been covered a hundred times by someone else. • Your idea can be different in how you apply it. • Choose a topic that you enjoy.
Evaluation of Research Report Evaluation: • a set of techniques used to judge the effectiveness or quality of an event; improve its effectiveness; and make informed decisions • 3 stages of evaluation: • front end • formative and • summative
Evaluation ……………. • ……can take three forms: • Ex ante evaluation: At the beginning • An intermediate evaluation: While on the research • Ex post evaluation: On the completion of the work
Reasons for an Evaluation Plan: • It guides you through each step of the process of evaluation • It helps you decide what sort of information you and your stakeholders really need • It keeps you from wasting time • It helps you identify the best possible methods and strategies • It helps you come up with a reasonable and realistic timeline for evaluation • It will help you improve your initiative!
Types of Stakeholders • Community groups: staff and/or volunteers involved in your research or project and all affected by it--your targets and agents of change. • Grant makers and funders: Grant givers/Sponsors • University/ Institution-based researchers: researchers and evaluators that your organisation may choose to bring in as consultants or full partners.
Developing an Evaluation Plan • Clarifying programme objectives and goals • Developing evaluation questions • Developing evaluation methods • Setting up a timeline for evaluation activities
Clarifying Programme Objectives and Goals • Clarify the objectives and goals of the research • What are the main things you want to accomplish? • How have you set out to accomplish them?
Developing Evaluation Questions • Planning and implementation issues • Assessing attainment of objectives • Impact on the community
Developing Evaluation Methods • Monitoring and feedback system • Member surveys about the initiative • Goal attainment report • Behavioral surveys • Interviews with key participants • Community-level indicators of impact
Setting up a timeline for evaluation activities • Setting dates for starting each segment of the research • Stating when each part of the work is expected to be accomplished • Setting date(s) for final completion
Guidelines for Assessing Student Projects in Environmental Health • The following questions are suggested to evaluate each components of research report: • The Title and Abstract • The problem • The Hypothesis • Review of Related Literature • Sample • Instruments and Tools • Design and Procedure • Results • Discussions • Conclusions and Recommendations • Summary
The Title and Abstract • Are the title and abstract clear and concise? • Do they promise no more than the study can provide?
Statement of the problem • Is the problem stated clearly? • Is the problem researchable? • Is background information on a problem presented? • Is the significance of the problem given? • Are the variables defined operationally?
The Hypothesis • Are hypotheses testable and stated clearly? • Are hypotheses based on sound rationale? • Are assumptions, limitations and delimitations stated?
Review of Related Literature • Is it adequately covered? • Are most of the sources primary? • Are important findings noted? • Is it well organised? • Is the literature given directly relevant to the problem? • Have the references been critical analysed and the results of studies compared and constructed? • Is the review well organised? • Does it conclude with a brief summary and its implications for the problem investigated?
Sample and Sampling Technique • Are the size and characteristics of the population studied described? • Is the size of the sample appropriate? • Is the method of selecting the sample clearly described?
Instruments and Tools • Are data gathering instruments described clearly? • Are the instruments appropriate for measuring the intended variable? • Are validity and reliability the instruments discussed (stating psychometric properties)? • Are systematic procedure followed if the instrument was developed by one researcher? • Are administration and interpretation procedures described?
Design and Procedure • Is the design appropriate for testing the hypotheses? • Are the procedures described in detail? • Are control procedures described?
Results • Is the statistical method appropriate? • Is the level of significance given? • Are tables and figures given? • Is every hypothesis tested? • Are the data in each table and figure described clearly? • Are the results stated clearly?
Discussions of Findings • Is each finding discussed? • Is each finding discussed in term of its agreement and disagreement with previous studies? • Are generalizations consistent with the results?
Conclusions and Recommendations • Are theoretical and practical implications of the findings discussed? • Are recommendations for further action made? • Are recommendations for further research made?
