Handbook for Health Care Research

This is a unique book on scientific research written for health care practitioners. Using step-by-step guidelines, the text teaches students and practitioners to implement a research protocol and evaluate the results, even with no experience or formal training in the research process. It provides the basic tools to carry out and critically analyze the research data, from asking the initial questions to preparing a publication. The chapters are organized around the major steps in the research process, allowing the reader to sort through various research procedures easily. Statistical procedures are illustrated with actual examples from health care practice in this user friendly resource.

SectionI Introduction
Chapter1 Why Study Research?
Chapter2 Ethics and Research
Chapter3 Outcomes Research
SectionII Planning the Study
Chapter4 The Scientific Method
Chapter5 Developing the Study Idea
Chapter6 Reviewing the Literature
Chapter7 Designing the Experiment
SectionIII Conducting the Study
Chapter8 Steps to Implementation
Chapter9 Making Measurements
Chapter10 Basic Statistical Concepts
Chapter11 Statistical Methods for Nominal Measures
Chapter12 Statistical Methods for Ordinal Measures
Chapter13 Statistical Methods for Contiguous Measures
SectionIV Publishing the Findings
Chapter14 The Paper
Chapter15 The Abstract
Chapter16 The Case Report
Chapter17 The Poster Presentation
AppendixI Basic Science Writing
AppendixII Glossary
AppendixIII Peer Review Checklist
AppendixIV Answers to Questions
AppendixV Model Paper
AppendixVI Response to Reviewers