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DHSc ARP Guide: ARP Research Designs

This website will serve as a guide for all students enrolled in the Applied Research Project (ARP) course series, DHSC8020 (pre-requisite) and DHSC9015 to 9055. Please refer to the guide often for direction following up with the ARP Facilitator as needed.

Types of Research Project Designs

The table below shows several research study designs you may use for your ARP. If you would like to use a study design not listed below, please consult with your ARP Facilitator.  You may not under any circumstances, however, use a mixed methods research design. Please keep in mind regardless of the study design you select, your proposed research project may be reviewed by other DHSc faculty to ensure the feasibility of your project. Next to the type of research study design is a brief description and the title of and link to an example of a published research study that used the particular design. You may find more information about the designs in Portney and Watkins’ Foundations of Clinical Research: Application to Practice .

Type of Research Design*

Brief Description*

Example Study

DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS

Program Evaluation

Evaluation of an existing health program (e.g., discharge patient education program for post-bypass surgery patients)

Haddock, C. K., Poston, W. S. C., Foreyt, J. P., DiBartolomeo, J. J., & Warner, P. O. (2008). Effectiveness of Medifast supplements combined with obesity pharmacotherapy: A clinical program evaluation. Eating and Weight Disorders, 13(2), 95–101. (Link to Abstract)

Descriptive Studies

Studies with a primary focus of providing an overall description or picture of human behavior (pp. 313-314)

Soe, K. T., Laosee, O., Limsatchapanich, S., & Rattanapan, C. (2015). Prevalence and risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders among Myanmar migrant workers in Thai seafood industries. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 21(4), 539–546. http://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2015.1096609 (Link to Abstract)

Giesbrecht, E. (2006). Pressure ulcers and occupational therapy practice: A Canadian perspective. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73(1), 56–63. (Link to Abstract)

Qualitative Research

Attempts to understand and describe human behaviors using participants' own words rather than quantitative measurement (pp. 306-313)

Hayes, K. W., Huber, G., Rogers, J., & Sanders, B. (1999). Behaviors that cause clinical instructors to question the clinical competence of physical therapist students. Physical Therapy, 79(7), 653–667. (Link to Abstract)

Carpenter, C. (1994). The experience of spinal cord injury: the individual’s perspective--implications for rehabilitation practice. Physical Therapy, 74(7), 614–628. (Link to Abstract)

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH DESIGNS

Correlational Studies

A study used to attempt to explain the nature of relationships (e.g., days in hospital and infection rate) (pp. 280-282)

Weintraub, N., Gilmour-Grill, N., & Weiss, P. L. T. (2010). Relationship between handwriting and keyboarding performance among fast and slow adult keyboarders. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(1), 123–132. (Link to Abstract)

Mandalidis, D., & O’Brien, M. (2010). Relationship between hand-grip isometric strength and isokinetic moment data of the shoulder stabilisers. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 14(1), 19–26. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2008.05.001. (Link to Abstract)

Cohort Studies

Also called "follow-up study." Involves selecting a group (e.g., overweight males) and an outcome of interest (e.g., diabetes) and following them until the outcome is observed (pp. 286-289)

Murabito, J. M., Nam, B.-H., D’Agostino, R. B., Lloyd-Jones, D. M., O’Donnell, C. J., & Wilson, P. W. F. (2004). Accuracy of offspring reports of parental cardiovascular disease history: The Framingham Offspring Study. Annals of Internal Medicine, 140(6), 434–440. (Link to Abstract)

Visser, M., Harris, T. B., Langlois, J., Hannan, M. T., Roubenoff, R., Felson, D. T., … Kiel, D. P. (1998). Body fat and skeletal muscle mass in relation to physical disability in very old men and women of the Framingham Heart Study. The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 53(3), M214–221. (Link to Abstract)

Case-Control Studies

Involves selecting an outcome of interest (e.g., heart disease) and individuals who have the outcome (cases) and those who do not (controls) then looking backward in time to see if groups differed (pp. 282-286)

Morabia, A., Stellman, S. D., & Wynder, E. L. (1996). Smoking prevalence in neighborhood and hospital controls: Implications for hospital-based case-control studies. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 49(8), 885–889. (Link to Abstract)

Altieri, A., Tavani, A., Gallus, S., & La Vecchia, C. (2004). Occupational and leisure time physical activity and the risk of nonfatal acute myocardial infarction in Italy. Annals of Epidemiology, 14(7), 461–466. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2003.11.005 (Link to Abstract)

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS

Quasi-Experiments

Similar to an RCT, yet lacks randomization or comparison groups, or at times both (pp. 223-234)

Wang, W. T. J., Olson, S. L., Campbell, A. H., Hanten, W. P., & Gleeson, P. B. (2003). Effectiveness of physical therapy for patients with neck pain: an individualized approach using a clinical decision-making algorithm. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, 82(3), 203–218. http://doi.org/10.1097/01.PHM.0000052700.48757.CF (Link to Abstract)

Ansari, F., Gray, K., Nathwani, D., Phillips, G., Ogston, S., Ramsay, C., & Davey, P. (2003). Outcomes of an intervention to improve hospital antibiotic prescribing: Interrupted time series with segmented regression analysis. The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 52(5), 842–848. http://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkg459 (Link to Abstract)

Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) / True Experiments

Study participants are randomly assigned to at least two comparison groups (pp. 193-222)

Gokee-Larose, J., Gorin, A. A., & Wing, R. R. (2009). Behavioral self-regulation for weight loss in young adults: A randomized controlled trial. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 6, 10. http://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-6-10 (Link to Abstract)

Theander, K., Jakobsson, P., Jörgensen, N., & Unosson, M. (2009). Effects of pulmonary rehabilitation on fatigue, functional status and health perceptions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A randomized controlled trial. Clinical Rehabilitation, 23(2), 125–136. http://doi.org/10.1177/0269215508096174 (Link to Abstract)

* Portney, L.G. & Watkins, M.P. (2015). Foundations of clinical research: Applications to practice (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis