Research

H O W TO PUT TOGETHER A RESEARCH PAPER

RESEARCH PAPER CONTENT

• Title Page

• Abstract

• Introduction

• Review of literature/Background

• Methods

• Results

• Discussion

• Conclusion

• References

H O W TO FORMULATE YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION

• See information on topic of interest from authoritative sites such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

• Find review papers to build a foundation on what information is out there

• Formulate Questions:The P I C O Format • Once the important relationships have been identified, these relationships need to be expressed as focused

questions. Focused questions in the evidence analysis process generally include the following elements:

• (P) Population with a specificproblem

• (I) Intervention, procedure, or approach (for example,the type, amount, or timing of Medical Nutrition Therapy)

• (C) Comparison intervention (other approaches to care)

• (O) Outcome ofinterest

• Incorporating these four elements is referred to as the “PICO” format.

Evidence Analysis Manual 2012

H O W TO FORMULATE YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION: PICO FORMAT

Evidence Analysis Manual 2012

POOR QUESTIONS VS G O O D QUESTIONS

• Questions should be specific enough to focus our search for applicable research, but broad enough to not overly limit the scope of the literature search. For instance:

• Poor questions: • Is a one-shot motivational interviewing session effective for reducing after-school soda consumption among

teens? (too specific)

• Is Medical Nutrition Therapy effective? (too broad)

• Good questions: • How effective, in terms of weight loss and maintenance, are low carbohydrate diets (defined as <35% kcals from

carbohydrate) in healthy adults?

• What is the relationship between consuming nuts and the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with hyperlipidemia?

• Always explicitly include the population of interest in the question.

Evidence Analysis Manual 2012

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN EVIDENCE APPRAISAL

1. Diagnosis and Screening: Is a nutrition related problem or condition present? How do you determine

when and how the problem is treated?

• Is there a validated questionnaire that can be used to determine readiness for nutrition intervention and

behavior change for adults with weight issues?

• Among overweight and obese adults, what factors indicate who should be screened for metabolic

syndrome?

2. Natural History and Prognosis: What is the progression of the nutrition related problem prior to

and after diagnosis?

• What risk factors have been associated with the onset of unintentional weight loss in nursing home

residents?

Evidence Analysis Manual 2012

TYPES OF QUESTIONS IN EVIDENCE APPRAISAL

3.Therapy, Prevention and Control, Performance Improvement [Treatment/Intervention]: What action is effective

in a given situation?

• For a patient with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, what distribution of carbohydrate maintains normoglucose throughout the

day? Should lower carbohydrate be recommended at breakfast?

• For asymptomatic adults with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), what is the most effective intervention

for reducing serum LDL-C: access to US Dietary Guidelines for Americans, MNT for hyperlipidemia provided bya registered

dietitian, or physician-provided dietary advice?

• What is the probability of cardiac decompensation for heart failure patients with and without sodium restricted diets?

4. Etiology, Causation, Harm: What is the potential for positive and/or negative consequences of a specific aspect of

nutritional care (or its absence)?

• Is the recommendation for healthy adults to increase fish consumption associated with mercury? Evidence Analysis Manual 2012

QUESTION FORMULATION IS A N ITERATIVE PROCESS

• Questions should not be too specific, and not too broad, but“just right.”

• Of course, as the evidence analysis proceeds, the expert panel and evidence analysts may

find that a question is answered by an unmanageable amount of research and needs to be

narrowed down to the most relevant and important aspect of the overall question.

• Alternatively, the evidence analysis team may find that there is simply not enough

research to answer a particular question and so the question may need to be broadened

or refocused.

Evidence Analysis Manual 2012

PARTS OF THE RESEARCH PAPER

TITLE PAGE

• Make sure to include a title page which contains:

• Your title/research question

• Your name

• Your school

• Title of the Course

ABSTRACT EXAMPLE

• The following is an example how

the abstract section should be

formatted in your paper.This

example is from an article in the

Journal of Academy of Nutrition and

Dietetics.

ABSTRACT EXAMPLE

• The following is an other example

how the abstract section should be

formatted in your paper.

Pediatrics. 2008 Apr;121(4):766-76. doi: 10.1542/peds.2007-0054.

Growth and nutrient intakes of human milk-fed preterm

infants provided with extra energy and nutrients after

hospital discharge.

INTRODUCTION

Societal Context

Prevalence of Problem

Knowledge Gap

Purpose Statement

Research Questions

Coccia PPT

INTRODUCTION

• Societal Context – the environment of people that surrounds something’s creationor

intended audience. Social context reflects how the people around something use and

interpret it.The social context influences how something is viewed

• Prevalence of Problem – how prevalent is the problem that you arestudying

Coccia PPT

INTRODUCTION

• Knowledge Gap – defines the gaps in the literature and how your study

will help to fill this gap. Not being done before is not enough of an argument

to justify conducting a research study so get creative and look at

interventions or area of research that may be similar to yours

Coccia PPT

INTRODUCTION

• Purpose Statement – this is a broad statement that underlines what

you are trying to do with your study. This should summarize the specific

topic or goals of your paper

• Research questions – these are specific questions that you are asking

within the context of your study

Coccia PPT

REVIEW OF LITERATURE/ BACKGROUND

• Set up history of topic

• Review articles or meta-analysis of topic

• Clarity of subject matter (key terms/definitions)

METHODS

• In this section, you explain how you found your articles.

• See next slide for example of how to document your search plan in table format (Be sure

to title and number the table, as well as explain what is described in the table with a brief

statement written above the table):

Evidence Analysis Manual 2012

METHODS: INFORMATION TO INCLUDE

• Sample • Gender

• Age

• Ethnicity

• Number of participants

• Research design • Longitudinal

• Cross-sectional

• Research Instruments • Survey

• Laboratory

• Focus groups Coccia PPT

METHODS: H O W TO ORGANIZE YOUR METHODS WITH A TABLE

Methods

The following table explains the methods for the five

primary articles analyzed in this review.

Table 1:The effects of food advertisements on the

weight status of children aged 2-7 years

• This is an example of a template which can be used for the methods section (though not necessary. See

other way to put together methods in the next

slide)

• Make sure to include what was done in the study and the study population

• Make sure to number (Table 1,Table 2) and title the table

• Keep limitations of the study out of this section (Limitations can be included in the discussion).

Focus only on what procedures were done in the

study

Evidence Analysis Manual 2012

OTHER WAY TO PUT TOGETHER THE METHODS SECTION

• The methods section can also be written in a paragraph format, separating the discussion of the methods of each study by using the author’s name. This helps to explain the methods in a more organized format.

• For example:

Methods

Kim et al.

*discuss methods of this study*

Yi etal.

*discuss methods of this study*

RESULTS

• The results should answer the research questions.

• Provide a paragraph describing results of each presented article

• Describe statistics

• Pure results that pertain to your research question

Abel PPT

DISCUSSION

• This section should include:

• Heading for discussion (Title)

• Compare and contrast the research articles

• Overall summary of the reviewed research articles. Was youe research question answered by

these articles?

• Gaps in the research

• Overall strengths of the research articles

• Overall weaknesses of the research articles

• Needed future work in the field (discuss further practice and research implications)

CONCLUSION

• This section should include:

• Summary of objectives and approach of the paper

• Restate the purpose of the paper

• Summarize the major findings of the paper

• Important implications of the paper’s findings

• Recommendations based upon the review of the research articles

CITATIONS

• The citation style for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style.

General Formatting for Reference Lists:

• References should be listed in the order that they appear in the academic work.

• References should be single-spaced within each listing and double-spaced between each listing.

• List the authors’ names in the order that they appear in the published source.This order is determined by their role in the research described in the article. Do not list the names alphabetically.

• When listing an author’s name, use the last name first, followed by the first and middle initials.There is no comma after the last name, and no commas, spaces, or periods between first and middle initials.

• With the exception of the first word and proper nouns, the title of an article should be in all lowercase letters.

• Include up to 6 authors.

• For more than six, provide the names of the first three author and then add et al. JAND Citation PDF

CITATIONS CONT.

General Formatting for Reference Lists Cont.

• For journal titles,use the NLM catalog (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals) to look up the NLM TitleAbbreviation, which is used in the reference.

• For example: In a reference, Journal of Pediatrics and Mother Care would be abbreviated as JPediatr Mother Care (note that the journal should be italicized as well in the reference).

• One-word journal titles are written in full. Examples: Pediatrics, Cancer,Diabetes.

• Periodical and book titles are italicized and capitalized.

• For periodicals, there is no space between the year, the volume, or the page numbers.

• Page numbers are always written as "257-259", not "257-59."

• Web site material that is only online (i.e. not an online version of a journal or other print publication) should include author or organization, the title of the page, the URL, and the access date.The title should not be italicized.

• Publication and update dates, and access dates for Internet sites cited must be included. For example: Smith J.Risk Factors for Cancer. Cancer Risk Factors Web site. http://www.cancerriskfactors.gov .Published December 1, 2000. Updated January 15, 2008.Accessed

February 1,2008. JAND Citation PDF

CITATION EXAMPLES

Scholarly JournalArticles

• Basic Format • Author AA.Title of article.Title of Journal.Year;Volume(Issue):Pages.

• Example • Seagle HM, Strain GW, MakrisA, Reeves RS. Position of theAmerican Dietetic Association: weight

management.JAm Diet Assoc. 2009;109(2):330-346.

Books

• Basic Format • Author AA.Title of Book. Publisher City, Publisher StateAbbreviation: Publisher;Year.

• Example • Whitney E, Rolfes SR. Understanding Nutrition. 12th ed.Belmont, CA:Wadsworth; 2011

JAND Citation PDF

CITATION EXAMPLES

Chapter in a Book

• Basic Format

• Author AA of the book chapter. Chapter title. In: Book author(s). BookTitle. Place of publication:

Publisher; year of publication: page number(s) of chapter.

• Example

• Solensky R. Drug allergy: desensitization and treatment of reactions to antibiotics and aspirin. In:

Lockey P,ed.Allergens andAllergen Immunotherapy.3rd ed.New York, NY: Marcel Dekker; 2004:585-

606.

JAND Citation PDF

CITATION EXAMPLES

Government Publications

• Basic Format • Author.Title. Publisher City, Publisher State Abbreviation: Publisher;Year.

• Example • U.S.Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition.

Washington,DC: U.S.Government Printing Office; 2010.

Websites

• Basic Format

• Author AA.Title of article. Name of web site.Web site url: .Publication month date, year.Access month date, year.

• Example

• DeNoon DJ. FDA Panel Opposes New Type of Diabetes Drug.WebMD Web site. Available at: http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20110719/fda-panel-9-6-no-vote-on-new-typediabetesdrug. Published July19, 2011.Accessed August 19,

2011. JAND Citation PDF