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Outline
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
• Introduction for Research
FOR MASTERS OF PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENTS
• Literature Review

By Dejene S
• Objective
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology
Email: sdejene1@gmail.com
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Introduction
• It is a mental road map that must answer these questions for the
Writing an introduction for a research readers:
• The introduction serves as the purpose of leading the reader from a general
subject area to a particular field of research. • What is this?

• Why this topic is important to investigate?

• It establishes the context of the research being conducted by summarizing
current understanding and background information about the topic, • What did we know about this topic before?

• It states the purpose of the work in the form of the hypothesis, question, or • How will this study advance our knowledge?
research problem, and briefly explaining the rationale of the study.
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• A well-written introduction is important because, you might not get a • Add a relevant quotation or surprising story to the beginning of your

second chance to make a good impression. introduction, this technique will hold the interest of your reader.

• Be concise.
• The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with
their initial impressions about the logic of your argument, your - Research papers may cover complex topics.

writing style, the overall quality of your research, and, ultimately, the - try to write as clearly as possible.

validity of your findings and conclusions. - Use concise sentences.

- Check for confusing grammar.
• Whereas, a vague, disorganized, or error-filled introduction will create
- Read your introduction loud to catch awkward phrases.
a negative impression.
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• Think of the structure of the introduction as an • An introduction of research often written after
inverted triangle of information. literature and method parts
- present more general aspect of the topic early
• it has three sub areas
- then narrow toward specific and contextual
information
i. Background Information
- finally arriving at your statement of purpose
ii. Statement of the Problem
and rationale.
iii. Significance of the Study

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i. Background Information ii. Problem statement

₋ Often written up to one and half page
₋ Written in a clear, well organized and coherent way
₋ Describes overview of the research problem; i.e.
- A concise description of the nature of the problem (magnitude),
distribution and severity of the problem (who is affected, where, since
when, and what is its consequences).

₋ Definition of the problem,

- An analysis of the major factors that may influence the problem and a
₋ Classification or categories (as per guide line)
discussion of why certain factors need more investigation if the problem
₋ Affected group (specific group of population) is to be fully understood.
₋ Burden of the problem (health, socio-economic, and psychological)
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Problem statement cont.… Problem statement cont.…

• Clearly indicate the justification (importance) of conducting the project, • Written in up-to 2 pages to convince the reader, that this study must be done!

by Describing similar works that are already in place.

• Indicate the research problem is pressing problem that needs closer attention.
• Carefully reviewing the previous studies that have led to the acceptance
• You will provide evidence that this problem is serious and in need of further
• indicate the factors that have not been previously considered,
investigation.
• pointing the general agreements & disagreements among earlier works
• In some cases you might want to challenge previously accepted ideas • The researcher will study this serious problem in a unique and clever way.

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Problem statement cont.…

- A well-written statement does not make widespread generalizations;
(clarity & precision)
The health problem to be studied has to be justified in terms of its:
- Identification of what would be studied, & what were studied
- Being a current and existing problem which needs solution

- Identification of key factors or variables

- Being a widely spread problem affecting a target population

- Its effects/impact on the health service programs - Identification of key concepts and terms

- Being a problem which concerns the planners, policy makers and the - Conveyance of the study's importance, benefits, and justification

communities at large.
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• After reading the problem statement, the reader will know why you Importance of problem statement
are doing this study & be convinced of its importance. • Get to answers faster

• The fact that nothing like this has ever been done before might • Use time and resources more efficiently

indicate something on; • Have greater impact on the business

• What you are doing + • Free up time, to do other things

• It establishes the importance of the topic.
• Why you are doing it!
• It creates reader interest.

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- It is the foundation for further development of the research proposal
(research objectives, methodology, work plan, budget, etc.).
- This is the place where most committee members go first to
understand and assess the merits of a proposal.
- It is important to highlight when you present your project to
community members, health staff, relevant ministries and donor
agencies who need to support your study or give their consent.
A Problem Statement Must Pass ROC Test. Show the Study Is:
• Researchable:- the problem can be answered by collecting and
analyzing data. (Doable)
• Original:- Has not been done previously and creates new knowledge.
(Can be a repetitive study with new population/passage of time).
• Contributory:- Make a difference in profession. Or In society

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3

Examples: - Statement of the Research Problem:
• ANC coverage of the city is estimated at 86% ,,,,,,,,, (with ref). Despite
this high coverage of ANC only 56% of pregnant women give birth in
health institutions ,,,,,,,,, (with ref), while the remaining 44% deliver
elsewhere, including unattended home deliveries. Unattended deliveries
are known to be associated with maternal and perinatal morbidity and
mortality, such as antepartum hemorrhage (APH), postpartum
hemorrhage (PPH), birth trauma, infection, and fistula ,,,,,,,,, (with ref).
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iii. Significant of the study
• The significance of the study is a written statement that explains why
your research was needed.
• It’s a justification of the importance of your work and impact it has on
your research field, it’s contribution to new knowledge and how others
will benefit from it.
• The significance of the study, also known as the rationale of the study, is
important to convey the reader why the research work is important.
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Literature Review
• Article: - A scholarly paper written by an expert in the field and often peer-
reviewed by other experts before publication.
• Journal: - A collection of articles in a particular subject area published on a
regular schedule, often 4 times a year. A journal can either be in print or
online. (ie, Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, EJHD)
• Database: - A searchable collection of articles from thousands of scholarly
journals and other sources.
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• There are no studies that have examined the factors contributing to
unattended delivery despite high overall service coverage and antenatal
care coverage in city. Many health institutions attempt to improve the
situation through training of traditional birth attendants, expanding health
education and community mobilization activities,,,,,,,, (with ref).
• However, these efforts are not based on systematic evidence into possible
determinants of the prevailing practice. The present study is intended to
contribute a bridging the information gap, and subsequently the coverage
of unattended deliveries in the city.
• What could be the title for the above description?
Title: magnitude of unattended delivery and its associated factors among women
delivered
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in last 12 months in ….. Dejene S 20
Literature Review
Learning objectives
• To help you understand the purpose and basic requirements of an
effective literature review.
• To help you critically assess research materials.
• To develop strategies for inventing, organizing, and drafting a
literature review.
• To help you cite sources appropriately.
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Here are some of the most commonly used databases for health research:
- EMBASE – owned by Elsevier with over 29 million records.
- MEDLINE – contains more than 22 million biomedical published articles
- PsycINFO – contains more than 3.5 million records.
- Cochrane – Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR).
- MedlinePlus
These databases are commonly used by credible medical search engines. You
can use them to find articles and reports on various public health topics.
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• Scopus and Science Direct are also other research databases. Here are some of the world's top medical journals according to Health Writer
Hub:

• Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed 1. New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
literature. 2. Nature
3. The Lancet
4. The British Medical Journal (BMJ)
• ScienceDirect is a full-text scientific database that offers journal articles
5. Annals of Internal Medicine
and book chapters from more than 3,800 peer-reviewed journals and 6. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
more than 35,000 book titles.
• You can also check out Scimago Journal & Country Rank for more journal
rankings on health science. Scimago Journal & Country Rank (scimagojr.com)

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Here are some more medical journals you can check out:
Here are some reputable public health journals:
1. Annals of Anatomy
1. American Journal of Public Health
2. Indian Pediatrics
3. European journal of plant pathology 2. Annual Review of Public Health
4. American Journal of Ophthalmology 3. BMC Public Health
5. The Journal of Pediatrics 4. Bulletin of the World Health Organization
6. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 5. International Journal of Public Health
7. JAMA Ophthalmology 6. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
8. Public Health Reports
7. Journal of Public Health Policy
9. The Lancet Neurology
8. The Lancet Public Health
10. Nature Cancer
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Common characteristics of reputable journals include:

Grey literature
• Grey literature is information produced outside of traditional publishing and
1. Peer review process distribution channels.

2. High impact factor • It includes reports, policy literature, working papers, government
3. High circulation rate documents, white papers, urban plans, and more.
4. High rejection rate • Grey literature is produced by organizations "on the ground" and is often
5. Clear editorial policies and guidelines more current than literature in scholarly journals.

• It is information "produced on all levels in electronic and print formats not

• These characteristics are important because they ensure that the controlled by commercial publishing".
research published in the journal is of high quality and has been
reviewed by experts in the field. • Grey literature can be a great source of high-quality information. It is often
excluded from large databases and other mainstream sources.
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Research4Life
• Research4Life is a program that provides institutions in lower- and middle-
income countries with online access to academic and professional peer-
reviewed content.
• The program aims to improve teaching, research and policy-making in health,
Predatory journals (Publishing)
• Predatory journals are those that charge authors fees to publish their work
without providing the editorial and publishing services that reputable journals
provide.

agriculture, the environment and other life, physical and social sciences.
• They often have low standards for peer review and may publish articles
Hinari: https://portal.research4life.org/
without proper review.
User Name: ETH120 & Password: 86226

• Reputable journals, on the other hand, have a rigorous editorial process and
provide high-quality peer review.
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Literature Review
• LR is an overview of previous researches on your research topic,
‘A researcher cannot perform significant research without first • It is a comprehensive review of all published research that is relevant
understanding the literature in the field’ (Boote and Beile, 2005: 3)
to your proposed investigation and guided by the research objectives
• The literature review is an integral part of the entire research process • It demonstrates to your readers how your research fits into the larger
and makes a valuable contribution to almost every operational step.
field of study.
• A literature review surveys scholarly articles, books and other
• A literature review may consist of both summary and synthesis.
sources relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and
- A summary is a recap of the important information of the source, but
• It provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these
- A synthesis is a re-organization, or a reshuffling, of that information
works.
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Reasons for Literature Reviews

The purpose of a literature review is to:
• Places each work in the context of its contribution to the
• For a review paper (Systematic Review) understanding of the research problem being studied,
• For the introduction and discussion of a research paper, masters
• Describes the relationship of each work under consideration,
thesis or dissertation
• It sheds light on any gaps in previous research,
• To embark on a new area of research
• For a research proposal • Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies,

• Points the way in fulfilling a need for additional research, and

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Literature review process

• Define the research question

• Determine inclusion and exclusion criteria Research Process (in theory)

• Choose databases and search

• Review results

• Synthesis results

• Analyze results

• Write up
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Research Process Reality
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RQ -- > Does peer-to-peer education decrease risky sexual behavior in adolescents?

Define the research question: -

Peer-to-peer
- You may need to some exploratory searching of the literature to get a Search terms education Risk reduction Sexual behavior Adolescents
Safe sex/
sense of scope, to determine whether you need to narrow or broaden “peer-led” Risk-Taking/ Adolescent/
Controlled
your focus vocabulary Unsafe Sex/
“peer education” Health Behavior/ "teenagers"
(MeSH) & Health Knowledge,
Sexual Partners/
- often it based on aim, participants and variables of the study additional “peer-based” Attitudes, Practice/ "teen"
terms
- identify relevant terms (controlled vocabularies) harvested “peer educator”
Condoms/
MeSH terms
- Finalize your search questions indicated by / “peer delivered”

“peer informants” Contraception/

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Does peer-to-peer education decrease risky sexual behavior

in adolescents?
Determine criteria
Final search string:
• Think about relevant

("peer-to-peer" OR "peer-led" OR "peer education" OR "peer-based" OR "peer - Dates,

educator" OR "peer delivered" OR "peer informants") AND ("risk reduction" OR "risk- - Geographies,
taking"[mh] OR "health behavior"[mh] OR "health knowledge, attitudes, - Participants
practice"[mh]) AND ("sexual behavior" OR "safe sex"[mh] OR "unsafe sex"[mh] OR
- Languages,
"sexual partners"[mh] OR "condoms"[mh] OR "contraception"[mh]) AND
("adolescents" OR "adolescent"[mh] OR "teenagers" OR "teen")
- Methods, and

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Review results cont.…

Literature Search • Read the abstract; (Decide whether to read the article in detail)
• Search across multiple databases and information resources.
• Read introduction; (It explains why the study is important, and It
- It’s not adequate to use Medline as your one and only resource provides review and evaluation of relevant literature)

• Read Method with a close, critical eye; (Focus on participants, measures,

• Read the literature throughout the search process. procedures)
- What you read will guide your subsequent searches and refine
• Evaluate results; (Do the conclusions seem logical, Can you detect any
your topic. bias on the part of the researcher?

• Read, read and read some more! • Take discussion with a grain of salt; (Edges are smoothed out, Pay
attention to limitations)
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Review results
• After you have a broad understanding of the 10 to 15 papers, you can Review results cont.…
start to see patterns:
•Keep a record of the literature you collect
- Groups of scientists argue or disagree with other groups. For
example, Some researchers think x causes y, others that x is only • Record where and when you retrieved the information
a moderating variable
• Use a citation manager software like Zotero, or RefWorks or EndNote
• Once you have familiarised yourself with the literature, annotate the
bibliography. Annotation is a brief summary of the main point/s of • Better to record too many references, hence spend hours trying to
each article.
relocate documents
• Produce a bibliography which will also act as your reading list.
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Questions to Consider in Your Review

Analyze the Literature
• What are the characteristics of the key concepts or factors or variables? • Take notes as you read through each paper that will be included in the review

• What are the relationships between these key concepts, factors/variables? • In the notes include: (purpose of study reviewed, synopsis of content,
• What are the existing theories? research design, and brief review of findings)

• Where are the inconsistencies or other shortcomings in our knowledge? • Once notes complete, organize common themes together. Some people do
• What views need to be (further) tested? this in a word document, others use index cards so they can shuffle them.

• What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradictory or too limited? • Some people construct a table of info to make it easier to organize their
thoughts.
• Why study (further) the research problem?
• What contribution can the present study be expected to make? • As you organize your review, integrate findings produced from note taking
• What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory? or table making process.
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Critical Review The critical evaluation of each work should consider:

• Critical reviews aim to provide a critical evaluation and interpretive analysis of
existing literature on a particular topic of interest to reveal strengths,
weaknesses, contradictions, controversies, inconsistencies, and/or other
important issues with respect to theories, hypotheses, research methods or
• Provenance -- what are the author's credentials? Are the author's arguments
supported by evidence (e.g. case studies, statistics, recent scientific findings)?
• Objectivity -- Is the author's viewpoint impartial or biased? In order to support
the author's argument, are opposing statistics taken into account or some

results. relevant information ignored?

• Persuasiveness -- which of the author’s work is most/least convincing?
• Critical reviews attempt to assess its credibility by using appraisal instruments
or critical interpretive methods. • Value -- are the author's arguments and conclusions convincing? Does the
effort ultimately advance knowledge of the subject in any notable way?
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Writing Your Literature Review • Use Quotes rarely: - Some short quotes are okay if you want to
• Once you've settled on how to organize your literature review, you're ready emphasize a point, or if what the author said just cannot be rewritten in
to write each section. When writing your review, keep in mind these issues. your own words

• Use Evidence: - A literature review in this sense is just like any other
• Summarize and Synthesize: - Remember to summarize and synthesize
academic research paper. Your interpretation of the available sources must
be backed up with evidence to show that what you are saying is valid. your sources within each paragraph as well as throughout the review.

• Be Selective:- Select only the most important points in each source to • Use Caution When Paraphrasing: - When paraphrasing a source that is
highlight in the review. The type of information you choose to mention not your own, be sure to represent the author's information or opinions
should relate directly to the research problem, whether it is thematic,
accurately.
methodological, or chronological.
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Write up cont.…
Structure and Writing Style
Introduction to the L review
• The structure of a literature review should include the following: ▪ Content - what is covered
▪ Structure - how it is organized
• An overview of the issue, along with the objectives of the literature review, ▪ Boundaries - what is outside of its scope
SECTION 2 ADDITIONAL
• Division of works under review into themes or categories Body of the L Review
The next most important SECTIONS
SECTION 1
topic or a key concept ▪ Follow the
The most important topic or a key concept
• An explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the ▪ discussed and evaluated same pattern
▪ discussed and evaluated
▪ summarized and related
others, ▪ summarized and related to your research to your research project
Conclusion
• Conclusions about which parts of their argument are most effective, which From each of the section summaries,
▪ highlight the most relevant points
support their arguments the best, and which are most useful for ▪ relate these back to the need for research
▪ reiterate what these mean for the
understanding and furthering their field of study. research design
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Ways to Organize Your Literature Review The analytical features of a literature review:

• Chronological: - depending on the nature of your literature and development of ideas, a • Give a new interpretation of old material or combine new with old
chronological approach will present the development of a key trend or progressions over interpretations,
time

• By Publication: - Order your sources by publication chronology, then, only if the order • Trace the intellectual progression of the field, including major debates,

demonstrates a more important trend.

• Depending on the situation, evaluate the sources and advise the reader on
• Thematic/conceptual: - The review of the literature will be around particular topics
/issues /theories. the most pertinent or relevant evidence

• Methodological: - A methodological approach focuses on the methods utilized by the

• Usually in the conclusion of a literature review, identify where gaps exist.
researcher.
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Common Mistakes to Avoid: - These are the most common mistakes made in
reviewing research literature. Characteristics of Effective Literature Reviews
• Sources in your literature review do not clearly relate to the research problem;
• Outlining important research trends
• You do not take sufficient time to define and identify the most relevant;

• Uncritically accepts another researcher's findings and interpretations as valid, • Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of existing research
rather than examining critically all aspects of the research design and analysis;
• Identifying potential gaps in knowledge
• Does not describe the search procedures that were used in the literature review;
• Establishing a need for current and/or future research projects
• Only includes research that validates assumptions and does not consider contrary
findings and alternative interpretations found in the literature.
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Citing & Referencing Why referencing?

• A way of giving credit for someone's thinking, writing.
• Referencing is crucial to you to carry out successful research, and crucial to
• You mark the material when you use it (a citation) and give the full
your readers so they can see how you did your research.
identification at the end (a reference)
• Acknowledging used ideas of others (avoid plagiarism)
• In academic writing you are obliged to acknowledge every piece of material
you used from others. • Respect:- Creation of ideas by others & Concept of intellectual property
• Crediting sources of information & ideas
• Key to good academic practice

• Reader can locate for further information if required • Shows writing based on knowledge by appropriate academic reading
• Validate arguments, Universal applicability
• Enables person reading your work to trace source used/give credit for
• Making a system faithful to its objectives, whatever they may be.
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effort/quality
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Your benefit
• To show off! Plagiarism includes
• To add authority to your argument
1. Using another writer’s words without proper citation
• To add credibility to your information
Reader’s benefit 2. Using another writer’s ideas without proper citation
• To understand the context of your work
3. Citing a source but reproducing the exact word without quotation marks
• To allow your reader to track down your research
Ethical reasons: 4. Borrowing the structure of another author’s phrases/sentences without
• Intellectual integrity giving the source
• To distinguish between:
5. Borrowing all or part of another student’s paper
• Your ideas or Someone else’s ideas
• Intellectual property issues 6. Using paper-writing service or having a friend write the paper
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Research Tips Conceptual Framework

• Use the A-Z guide to find key databases & other resources related to your topic.
What is a conceptual framework?
• Consult with a librarian for resource recommendations and how to use them.
• A written or visual presentation that: -explains either graphically, or in
• Talk to experienced researchers in the field, they can recommend resources
narrative form, the main things to be studied – the key factors, concepts
and identify key works and authors.
or variables -and the presumed relationship among them.
• Look at reviews in completed dissertations and reports from your program to
get an idea of the format and requirements.
• Conceptual framework represents way of thinking about a problem or a
• Use a citation management tool like Zotero, or RefWorks or EndNote
study or way of representing how complex things are. Its like lighthouse.
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Conceptual framework should cover Where does the conceptual framework fit in - Research?
- Research problem:
- Establishment of the tentative relationships between the dependent and
- Aims and objectives:
independent variables included in the study.
- Literature review:
- Visualizing conceptual causal threads to form a representation of inter- - Research questions:
relatedness among the identified issues or variables. - Data collection and analysis:
- Interpretation of the results:
- Identification of possible answers to the research questions - Evaluation of the research:

- How are the possible answers to the question explained and defended? - Provides structure for the whole study based on literature and
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personal experience.
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• How to draw a conceptual framework?

- If you drew a picture of your statistical model, this would be a conceptual

framework because it visualizes the variables and how they are related.

- Generally Framework may include one outcome and multiple hypothesized

associated factors

• How does it look?

- It can take the form of Equation or a diagram

- Conceptual framework as an equation

- Diarrhea = ß1(Age)+ ß2(Sex)+ß3(Toilet)+ ß4(Water)

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Chronic Care Model

References for this module
Community Health System
• Scimago Journal & Country Rank (scimagojr.com)
Resources and Policies Health Care Organization
• Asian Institute of Technology. Writing up research: Using the literature. Retrieved from
Clinical http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21LIT.HTM
Self- Delivery
Decision Information
Management System • Green, B. N., Johnson, C. D., & Adams, A. Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed
Support Systems
Support Design
journals: Secrets of the trade. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 5(3), 101-117.

• Lyons, K. UCSC library - how to write a literature review. Retrieved, from

Informed, Productive Prepared, http://library.ucsc.edu/ref/howto/literaturereview.html
Activated Proactive
Interactions Practice Team • Mauch, J. E., & Birch, J. W. Guide to the successful thesis and dissertation : A handbook for
Patient
students and faculty, New York: Marcel Dekker.

• University of Wisconsin. UW-madison writing center writer's handbook. Retrieved, from

Improved Outcomes http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ReviewofLiterature.html
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Research Objective
What is Research Objective
• Research objective is a statement that clearly depicts the goal to be
Learning Objective achieved by a research project.
At the end of the session participants should be able to
• The objectives of a research project summarize what to be achieved by
• Define & describe the difference between general & specific objectives the study.
• Describe why & when a research objective should be developed
• Discuss the characteristics of a good research objective
• The formulation of study objectives is an essential step in the planning
of a study.
• Define what a research hypothesis is
• It is said that “a question well-stated is a question half-answered”, but a
question that is poorly stated/unstated is unlikely to be answered at all.
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Formulation of a Research Objective

• Objectives should be closely related to the statement of the problem. • What are the characteristics of good objectives?

• Logical & coherent

• The formulation of objectives will help you to:
- Focus the study (narrowing it down to essentials); • Feasible
- To avoid collection of unnecessary data (to establish the limits of
the study); and • Considering local conditions
- Organize the study in clearly defined parts or phases.
• Defined in operational terms that can be measured
• Properly formulated, objectives will facilitate the development of your • Phrased to clearly meet the purpose of the study
research methodology and base for collection, analysis, interpretation
and utilization of data. • SMART
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• Specific:- Goals should be simplistically written and clearly define what • Realistic/Relevant:-Will this objective have an effect on the desired goal

you are going to do, What Why, and How? or strategy? Goals should measure outcomes, not activities.

• Measurable:- Goals should be measurable, so that you have tangible • Time-bound:- Goals should be linked to a time frame that creates a
evidence that you have accomplished the goal. practical sense of urgency, or results intension between the current
• Attainable/Achievable:- Can we get it done in the proposed time frame reality and the vision of the goal.
with the resources and support we have available?
• Properly formulated, Objectives will facilitate the development of your
• You must possess the appropriate knowledge, skills, and abilities
research methodology and will help to orient the collection, analysis,
needed to achieve the goal.
interpretation and utilization of data.
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Types of Research Objectives Specific Objectives

• It is common to break down a general objective into smaller, logically
• Commonly classified into general and specific objectives. Logically connected measurable parts, referred as specific objectives.
connected to each other
• It identifies the detail specific aims of the research project.
The General Objective:- aim of the study in general terms
• It should systematically address the various aspects of the problem as
• The general objective or purpose of the research identifies in general
defined under “Statement of the problem” and the key factors that are
terms what is to be accomplished by the research project assumed to influence or cause the problem.

• Summary of the statement of the problem and linked to the title of

• They specify what to do in a study, where & for what purpose
the research
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E.g. if the research question is “what is the level of COVID-19 vaccine E.g. A researcher wants to assess hindering factors for first-line anti-retroviral
acceptance and related factors” treatment failure among adult HIV patients on ART in a given zone or region.

General Objective
General objective
• To assess determinant factors for First-line anti-retroviral treatment failure among
• To assess the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination uptake and its associated
Adult HIV positive patients on ART
factors among households of a given community.
Specific Objectives
Specific Objectives • To identify medical factors contribute for first-line antiretroviral treatment failure
• To determine the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccination uptake among among adult HIV Patients on ART
households of a given community
• To identify patient related factors associated with first-line antiretroviral treatment
failure among adult HIV Patients on ART
• To identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination uptake among
households of a given community. • To identify drug related factors of first-line antiretroviral treatment failure among
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adult HIV Patients on ART
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Formulation of the research objectives

Examples of action verbs are:

• We have to make sure that our objectives:
✓ to determine Avoid the use of vague non-action
• Cover the different aspects of the problem and its contributing factors ✓ to compare verbs such as;
✓ to verify ➢ to appreciate
in a coherent way and in a logical sequence ➢ to understand
✓ to calculate
✓ to describe ➢ to study
• Are clearly expressed in measurable terms
✓ to find out ➢ to believe
• Are realistic considering local conditions ✓ to establish

• Meet the purpose of the study

• Use action verbs that are specific enough to be measured

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Research objectives can be stated as: Exercise: if the researcher wanted to know the recovery time of under
five children from severe pneumonia and related factors.
• Questions - the objectives of this study are to answer ….

• Positive sentence - the objectives of this study are to find out, to establish, General objective
• To estimate median time to recovery and its predictors among under-
to determine, …
five children admitted with severe pneumonia
• Hypothesis - the objective of this study is to verify the following
Specific objectives
hypothesis…..
• To estimate median time to recovery from severe pneumonia among
• Based on the type of the study problem, it might be possible to develop under-five children admitted
explanations for the problem that can be tested. If so, we can formulate
• To identify predictors affecting recovery time among under-five
hypotheses in addition to the other study objectives. children admitted with severe pneumonia
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