DEVELOPING RESEARCH

QUESTIONS 1
Mirghani A. Yousif
College of Pharmacy
Taif University
 Lets find out what you know and what you
don’t……
! What do we mean by research?
! What is the intention of research?
! What types of research do you know?
! Where is research considered most
valuable?
! What do you intend to study during your
research project?
! How would you select your supervisor?
! How would you convince him/her to
supervise you for the project?
Definition of research
! The word research composed of two
syllables: re & search,
! prefix= again
! A verb meaning to examine closely &
carefully.
! To test or to try or to probe.
! Together form a noun describing a careful,
systematic investigation in some field of
knowledge undertaking to:
! Establish facts or principles.
Characteristics of research
! Research is a process of:
! Collecting

! Analyzing
! Interpreting information to answer questions.
! It must be:
! Controlled,
! rigorous,

! systematic,
! valid & variable, empirical, and critical.
Research Characteristics
! Undertaken within most profession.
! More than a set of skills.
! A way of thinking.
! Examining critically the various aspect of your profession.
! Understanding and formulating guiding principles that
govern a particular procedure.
! Developing and testing new theories.
! A habit of questioning about what you do.
! Empirical examination to find answers.
! Instituting appropriate changes for more effective
professional service.
Research involvement
! Can either be:
! Problem solving or,
! Research and Development (R & D).
Problem solving research
! As the name implies its about solving existing
problems.
! E.g.
! Spread of type II diabetes among teenagers.
! Dirty environment.
! Over the counter dispensing of prescription drugs
! Medication errors
! Presence of counterfeit and substandard
medications in the health system
R&D
! Mostly done by Research Pharmaceutical
companies.
! New drug entity;
! Modifying old drug entity
! Formula development
! Innovation: Drug characteristics
Research Background?
! We ask questions all the time
! Research is a formal way of going about
asking questions
! Uses methodologies
! Many different kinds (e.g. market
research, media research and social
research)
! Basic research methods can be learned
easily

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Basic research methods
! Quantitative research (e.g. survey)
! Qualitative research (e.g. face-to-face
interviews; focus groups; site visits)
! Case studies
! Participatory research

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Quantitative research
! Involves information or data in the form
of numbers
! Allows us to measure or to quantify
things
! Respondents don’t necessarily give
numbers as answers - answers are
analyzed as numbers
! Good example of quantitative research is
the survey

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Surveys
! Think clearly about questions (need to
constrain answers as much as possible)
! Make sure results will answer your
research question
! Can use Internet for conducting surveys
if need to cover wide geographic reach

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Qualitative research
! Helps us flesh out the story and develop a
deeper understanding of a topic
! Often contrasted to quantitative research
! Together they give us the ‘bigger picture’
! Good examples of qualitative research are
face-to-face interviews, focus groups and
site visits

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Face-to-face interviews
! Must prepare questions
! Good idea to record your interviews
! Interviews take up time, so plan for an
hour or less (roughly 10 questions)
! Stick to your questions, but be flexible if
relevant or interesting issues arise during
the interview

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Focus groups
! Take time to arrange, so prepare in
advance (use an intermediary to help you
if you can)
! Who will be in your focus group? (e.g. age,
gender)
! Size of focus group (8-10 is typical)
! Consider whether or not to have separate
focus groups for different ages or genders

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Site visits and observation
! Site visits involve visiting an organization,
community project etc
! Consider using a guide
! Observation is when you visit a location
and observe what is going on, drawing
your own conclusions
! Both facilitate making your research more
relevant and concrete

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Case studies
! Method of capturing and presenting
concrete details of real or fictional
situations in a structured way
! Good for comparative analysis

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Participatory research
! Allows participation of community being
researched in research process (e.g.
developing research question; choosing
methodology; analysing results)
! Good way to ensure research does not
simply reinforce prejudices and
presumptions of researcher
! Good for raising awareness in community
and developing appropriate action plans

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Planning your research: 

Key questions
! What do you want to know?
! How do you find out what you want to
know?
! Where can you get the information?
! Who do you need to ask?
! When does your research need to be done?
! Why? (Getting the answer)

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Step 1: What?
! What do I want to know?
! When developing your research question,
keep in mind:
Who your research is for;
What decisions your research will inform;
What kind of information is needed to inform those
decisions.
! Conduct a local information scan
! Take another look at your research
question

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Step 2: How? Where? Who?
! How do I find out what I want to know?
! Where can I get the information I need?
! Who do I need to ask?
! Choose your methodology
! quantitative or numbers information
! qualitative in-depth explanatory information
! case studies
! site visits or observation
! participatory research

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Step 3: When?
! When do all the different parts of the
research need to be done?
! List all your research work areas
! Map them against a timeline
! Develop a work plan

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Step 4: Why? 

Getting the answer
! Collect your data
! Keep returning to your research question
! Organize your research results to answer
the question
! Keep in mind who you are doing the
research for
! Focus on what research results do tell you
! Be creative, methodical and meticulous

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