A lecture was presented on research methodology in South Asia University, Dhaka; Bangladesh

1. Notes on Research Methodology in Public Health and Life ScienceNotes on Research Methodology in Public Health and Life Science
Presented by
Prof. Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam MondalProf. Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam Mondal
Department of Population Science
and Human Resource Development
University of Rjshahi
Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh
E-mail: nazrulupm@gmail.com
Presented to the Seminar onPresented to the Seminar on
Importance of Research Methodology in Public Health & Life Science
University of South Asia
Banani, Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh
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2. OutlinesOutlines
– Meaning of research and research methodology
– Research objectives
– Motivation of research
– Research phases
– Desirable qualities of research
– Types of research
– Research problem and ways to find out
– Justifying the merit of research proposal
– Research design
– Data collection
– Article structure
– Issues of health research
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3. Meaning of research and research methodologyMeaning of research and research methodology
ResearchResearch
A scientific inquiry aimed at learning new facts, testing ideas, etc.
It is the systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data to
generate new knowledge and answer a certain question or solve a
problem.
Health research
Health research is the application of principles of research on health.
It is the generation of new knowledge using scientific method to
identify and deal with health problems.
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4. Health system researchHealth system research
• It is an important component of health research
• Health systems support is a core focus of the SDGs.
• This is reflected by the fact that UHC is central to the
overall health goal as set out in the SDG declaration,
and is assigned a specific target (3.8) under the SDG
health goal. 4

5. ImportanceImportance of researchof research
• Research teaches scientific and acceptable thinking and it
promotes the development of logical habits of thinking and
organization.
• Research provides the basis for nearly all government policies in
the economic system.
• Research has its special significance in solving various operational
and planning problems of health system, business and industry.
• Research is equally important for health scientists in studying
health factors’ relationships and in seeking answers to various
health problems.
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6. Roles of health researchRoles of health research
• The public health research aims to provide all aspects of
information necessary for planning and the effective
implementation of a health system. For all communities,
whether rich or poor, health research is the top priority.
• The research questions are challenging: how to join with policy
makers and communities in assessing priority needs, planning,
financing and implementing programs, and evaluating them in
terms of coverage, efficiency and effectiveness.
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7. ResearchResearch mmethodologyethodology
• A way to solve the research problem systematically and
scientifically.
• The instruction of the acceptable ways of doing research
• Defines:
–How to proceed
–How to measure progress
–What constitutes a success
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8. A methodology aims at answering the questionsA methodology aims at answering the questions
i. What kind of people were interviewed?
ii. How the research problem has been defined?
iii. In what way and why the research hypothesis has been
formulated?
iv. How many individuals provided the answers on which the
researcher’s conclusions were based?
v. What categories and techniques were used to analyze data?
vi. What level of evidence was used to determine whether or not to
reject the stated hypothesis?
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9. Objectives of researchObjectives of research
The main aim of a research is to find out the truth which is hidden
and which has not ben discovered yet.
• To gain familiarity with a phenomenon or to achieve new insights into
it.
• To illustrate accurately the characteristics of a particular individual,
situation or a group.
• To determine the frequency with which something occurs or with which
it is associated with something else.
• To test a hypothesis of a causal relationship between variables (such
studies are known as hypothesis-testing research studies).
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10. Motivation of researchMotivation of research
What makes people to undertake research? This is a question of fundamental
importance. So, the possible motives for doing research may be either one or
more of the following:
oTo get research degree along with its consequential benefits
oTo face the challenge in solving unsolved problems
oTo get intellectual joy of doing some creative works
oTo be of service to society
oTo get respectability
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11. Research motivationResearch motivation
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12. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivationIntrinsic and extrinsic motivation
• Intrinsic motivation - the love of the work itself. Intrinsic motivations
include: interest; challenge; learning; meaning; purpose; creative
flow.
• The higher levels of intrinsic motivation are strongly linked to
outstanding creative performance.
• Extrinsic motivation - rewards for good work or punishments for
poor work. Extrinsic motivations include: money; fame; awards;
praise; status; opportunities; deadlines; commitments; bribes;
threats.
• Too much focus on extrinsic motivation can block creativity.
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13. Personal and interpersonal motivationPersonal and interpersonal motivation
• Personal motivation - individual values, linked to personality. Examples
include: power; harmony; achievement; generosity; public recognition;
authenticity; knowledge; security; pleasure.
• Each of us prioritizes some values over others; understanding your own
values and those of people around you is key to motivating yourself and
influencing others.
• Interpersonal motivation - influences from other people. Much of our
behavior is a response to people around us, such as: copying; rebellion;
competition; collaboration; commitment; encouragement.
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14. Thus, all four of those factors are important to get success in a research activity
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15. Researchers’ characteristicsResearchers’ characteristics
• A strong foundation for the research is the querying/asking attitude.
• Everything and anything is questionable and these questions make way
for a research. So a researcher should carry out the research continuously.
• Knowledge in the arena of proposed research topic, analytical/
numerical/experimental skills are the prerequisites for a researcher.
• The hard work, consistency and immense patience are a few desirable
qualities of a researcher apart from the skills and knowledge .
• A researcher needs to be committed to the research work to find fruits in
the research.
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16. Phases of researchPhases of research
– Idea-generating phase
– Problem-definition phase
– Procedures-design phase
– Observation phase
– Data-analysis phase
– Interpretation phase
– Communication phase
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17. Types of Research
 Library research
 Fileld research
 Laboratory research
Again it has been classified as:
• Descriptive vs. Analytical
• Applied vs. Fundamental
• Quantitative vs. Qualitative
• Conceptual vs. Empirical
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18. Classification of health researchClassification of health research
• Health research is the application of principles
of research on health.
• In most cases, health research has been
divided into three overlapping groups:
– i. Essential health research
– Ii. Clinical health research
– Iii. Biomedical research
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19. 19
Discussion of the types of research
1. Descriptive vs. analytical research
• Descripetive research includes surveys and fact-finding
enquires of different kinds. The major purpose of it is
description of the state of affairs as it exists at present.
• In analytical research, the researcher has to use facts
or information already available, and analyze these to
make a critical evaluation of the materials.

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2. Applied vs. fundamental
• Research can be either be applied (or action) research or
fundamental (or basic or pure) research. Applied
research aims at finding a solution for an immediate
problem facing a society or an industrial/business
organization.
• The fundamentamental research is mainly concentrated
with generatizations and with the formulation of a
theory.

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3. Qualitative vs. quantitative
• Qualitative research is based on the measurement of ammount.
It is applicable to the phenomena that can be expressed in terms
of quantity.
• Qualitative research is concerened with qualitative phenomenon.
• It is especially important in the behavioral siences where the aim
is to discover the underlying motives of human behavior.
• Qualitative research is concerned with finding the answers to
questions which begin with: why? How? In what way?
• Quantitative researchQuantitative research, on the other hand, is more concerned with
questions about: how much? How many? How often? To what
extent? etc.

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4. Conceptual Vs. emperical
• Conceptual research involves investigation of
thoughts and ideas and developing new ideas or
interpreting the old ones based on logical reasoning.
• In contrast empirical research is based on firm
verifiable data collected by either observation of facts
under natural condition or obtained through
experimentation.

23. Research problemResearch problem
• A research problem is one which requires a researcher to find out the
best solution for it.
• A research problem is a definite or clear expression [statement] about
an area of concern, a condition to be improved upon, a difficulty to be
eliminated, or a troubling question that exists in scholarly literature, in
theory, or within existing practice that points to a need for meaningful
understanding and deliberate investigation. A research problem does
not state how to do something, offer a vague or broad proposition, or
present a value question.
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24. Ways of finding a problem
• Brain storming is the best way of finding a research problem;
• Problems are raised in the current news papers and professionals
journals;
• Many reseach papers, theses and dissertations raise many issues which
could not solve. These may be used as good sources of problems;
• Seminars, wrkshops and conferences disuss many social, political,
economic and other problems,
• Some organizations ask for dealing with specific problems;
• Problems are raised in encyclopedia;
• Problems are also raised in the books of relavant subjects and so on.
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25. Desirable qualities of research proposalDesirable qualities of research proposal
• Purpose clearly defined
• Research process detailed
• Research design planned
• Ethical issues considered
• Limitations revealed
• Adequate analysis ensured
• Findings unambiguously presented
• Conclusion justified
• Researcher’s experiences reflected
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26. Justifying the merit of a research proposalJustifying the merit of a research proposal
i. Relevance
ii. Avoidance of duplication
iii. Feasibility
iv. Political acceptability
v. Applicability
vi. Urgency of data need, and
vii. Ethical acceptability.
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27. Evaluating the proposed research
1. Relevance Scores
i. Not relevant 1
ii. Relevant 2
iii. Very relevant 3
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28. 2.2. Avoidance of duplicationAvoidance of duplication ScoresScores
i. Sufficient information already available 1
ii. Some information available but major issues not covered 2
iii. No sound information available to base problem solving 3
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29. 3.3. FeasibilityFeasibility ScoresScores
i. Not feasible considering available resources 1
ii. Feasible considering available resources 2
iii. Very feasible considering available resources 3
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30. 4. Political AcceptabilityPolitical Acceptability ScoresScores
i. Not acceptable to high level policymakers 1
ii. More or less acceptable 2
iii.Fully acceptable 3
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31. 5. ApplicabilityApplicability ScoresScores
i. No chance of recommendations being implemented 1
ii. Some chance of recommendations being implemented 2
iii.Good chance of recommendations being implemented 3
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32. 6.Urgency Scores
i. Information not urgently needed 1
ii. Information could be used right away but a delay of some
months would be acceptable 2
iii.Data very urgently needed for decision making 3
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33. 7.7. Ethical acceptabilityEthical acceptability ScoresScores
i. Major ethical problems 1
ii. Minor ethical problems 2
iii.No ethical problems 3
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34. Research designResearch design
It is an arrangement of conditions for collecting and analyzing
data in a manner that aims to combine relevance to the
research purpose with economy in procedure.
Specifically, a research design will be aimed at answering
broadly the following questions:
i. What techniques will be used to gather data?
ii. What sampling methods will be employed?
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Research design satisfy the following questionsResearch design satisfy the following questions
i. What is the study about?
ii. Why is the study being made?
iii. Where will the study be carried out?
iv. What type of data is required?
v. Where can the required data be found?
vi. What periods of time will the study include?
vii. What will be the sample design?
viii. What techniques of data collection will be used?
ix. How will the data be analyzed?
x. In what style will the report be prepared?

36. Methods of data collectionMethods of data collection
Types of Data
Data are the raw materials for research. Investigators generates data through some
processes of measurement, counting or observations. The tools and techniques to
be employed to collect data depend largely on the objectives of the study.
There are two types of data:
i Primary Data
The primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and
thus happened to be original in character.
ii. Secondary Data
The secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else
and which have already been passed through the statistical process.
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37. Method of collection of primary data
There are four methods of collection of primary data:
(i) Observation Method
(ii) Interview Method
(iii) Questionnaire Method
(iv) Schedule Method
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38. Sources of secondary dataSources of secondary data
There are seven sources of secondary data:
(i) Various publications of local and central government
(ii) Various publications of foreign government or international bodies
(iii) Technical and trade journal
(iv) Books, magazine and news papers
(v) Reports and publications of various association connected with business
and industry, bank, stock exchange etc.
(vi) Reports prepared by research scholars, universities, economist etc.
(vii) Public report and statistics, historical documents and other published
documents.
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39. Data analytical tools and softwareData analytical tools and software
• To analyze the data some statistical tools are
used.
• Central tendency, dispersion, correlation, Chi-
squared test, regression analysis (simple,
multiple, logistic, etc.), path analysis, etc.
• Software: SPSS, STATA, R, MATLAB, MedCal,
etc.
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40. Research at a glanceResearch at a glance
• Article structure
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41. Article structureArticle structure
• -Title: Factors Affecting Child Malnutrition in Bangladesh
• Authors with institutions, Field of study, Corresponding author
with full address
• Abstract
• Background:
• Methods:
• Results:
• Conclusions:
• Keywords:
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42. Introduction
•Brief description of the study field
•Global situation
•Country situation and study area situation (set up arguments to select the study
area)
•Literature review (related to the study field, study area; most recent articles are
suggested)
•Importance of the study (rationale of the study)
•Identify the research gaps
•Objectives
•Expected benefits
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43. Data and methodsData and methods
• Data sources
• Sapling design (sample size, sample size determination
technique, data collection techniques, time frame, Ethical
consideration, …)
• Variables selection (Dependent, independent variables
selection, cofactors, … )
• Statistical tools (brief description)
• Statistical software with reference
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44. • Results
• Presentation the results in Tables
• Indicate the most important results (only significant results)
• Discussion
• Explain the results and compare the results with previous studies
• Give a brief description and raise the arguments in favor the results obtained
• Explain why these results differ (if any) from others
• Limitations of the study and further study
• Conclusions
• Conclusion would the summary of the results
• Recommendations would be on the basis of the results
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45. • Acknowledgements:
• Authors’ contributions:
• Conflict of interest:
• Abbreviations:
• References:
• Tables
• Figures
• Appendix
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46. Recent issues of public health researchRecent issues of public health research
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i. Over population
ii. Higher and lower fertility
iii. Higher life expectancy and healthy life expectancy
iv. Trade name versus generic name of drugs
v. Polypharmacy
vi. Healthcare management
vii. Health system
viii. Drug ingredients
ix. Street foods
x. Obesity
xi. Caesarian section
xii. Antibiotic consumption
xiii. Late marriage or less marriage
xiv. HTN
xv. Infertility, etc

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48. World Population Trend/Population Dynamics:
2000 years ago 250 million population
1800 978 million
1900 1650 million
1950 2.5 billion
1970 3.6 billion
1980 4.4 billion
1985 4.8 billion
2000 6 billion
2016 7.4 billion

49. Rank Country Highest TFR Country
Lowest TFR
1 Niger 7.6 Korea, South 1.2
2 South Sudan 6.7 Romania 1.2
3 Congo Dem. Rep 6.5 Singapore 1.2
4 Chad 6.4 Taiwan 1.2
5 Somalia 6.4 Bosnia-Herzegovina 1.3
6 Burundi 6.1 Greece 1.3
7 Angola 6.0 Moldova 1.3
8 Mali 6.0 Poland 1.3
9 Mozambique 5.9 Portugal 1.3
10 Uganda 5.8 Spain 1.3
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Top 10 countries with the highest and lowest TFR, 2016

50. Rank Country
2015 population
(in millions)
Country
2050 population
(in millions)
1 China 1376 India 1705
2 India 1311 China 1348
3 USA 322 Nigeria 399
4 Indonesia 258 USA 389
5 Brazil 206 Indonesia 321
6 Pakistan 189 Pakistan 310
7 Nigeria 182 Brazil 238
8 Bangladesh 161 Bangladesh 202
9
Russian
Federation
143
Dem. Rep. of
the Congo
195
10 Mexico 127 Ethiopia 188
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Top 10 countries with the largest populations, 2015-2050

51. Rank Country Population density (Number of people/km2
)
1 Macau 20,848.01
2 Monaco 15,254
3 Singapore 7,987.52
4 Hong Kong 6,442.65
5 Gaza Strip 5,045.5
6 Gibraltar 4,490
7 Holy See (Vietnam City) 1,913.64
8 Bahrain 1,729.06
9 Maldives 1,320.79
10 Malta 1,305.87
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Top 10 densely populated countries

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Effects of overpopulation
• High birth rates
• Lower life expectancies
• Lower levels of literacy
• Child poverty
• Higher rates of unemployment, especially in urban
• Poor diet with ill health and diet-deficiency diseases (e.g. rickets)
• Low per capita GDP
• Increasingly unhygienic conditions
• Government stretched economically
• Increased crime rates resulting from people stealing resources to
survive

53. Top ten highest IMR countries, 2015
1 Afghanistan 112.80
2 Mali 100.00
3 Somalia 96.60
4 Central African Republic 88.40
5 Guinea-Bissau 87.50
6 Chad 87.00
7 Niger 82.80
8 Angola 76.50
9 Burkina Faso 73.80
10 Nigeria 71.20
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54. Population clock, 2016Population clock, 2016
World More developed
countries
Less developed
countries
PopulationPopulation 7,418,151,841 1,254,309,821 6,163,84,2020
Births perBirths per Year 147,183,065 13,714,857 133,468,215
Day 403,241 37,575 365,666
Minute 280 26 254
Death perDeath per Year 57,387,752 12,580,616 44,807,108
Day 157,227 34,467 122,759
Minute 109 24 85
NaturalNatural
increaseincrease
Year 89,795,313 1,134,242 88,661,107
Day 246,015 3,108 242,907
Minute 171 2 169
InfantInfant
deaths perdeaths per
Year 5,226,233 65,229 5,160,998
Day 14,318 179 14,140
Minute 10 0.1 10
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55. World population highlightsWorld population highlights
2.8 million
Metric tons of carbon
emitted by China in 2013,
almost four times the level
of 1992
50%
Percentage of the
population in Niger that is
less 15 years old
$600
GNI per capita of the
Central African Republic
54%
Percentage of the world’s
population living in urban
areas
4.9
Average TFR in Eastern
African countries
729 million
Projected population of
Europe, down from 740 in
2016
38
Infant deaths per 1000 live
births in Bangladesh
34%
Percentage of people in the
lest-developed countries
with access to electricity,
compared to 85% globally
8.3 years
Suffering from disability,
since global LE (71.4 years)
and HLE (63.1 years)
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56. 1360 per1360 per
100,000100,000
Highest maternal
mortality in Sierra Leone
and in Bangladesh 176
2.1 million2.1 million
New HIV infection
17.0 million
living with HIV
10.5 million10.5 million
Living with TB globally
4.5 million
In South-East Asia
362,000
people newly TB infected
in 2015 in Bangladesh
takes place 7th
31 %
Deaths occurred by
CVD globally
212 million
Malaria cases and
429 000 deaths in
2015
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