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Choosing a specific research problem
The first steps you should take in your search for research
dollars are to choose a research problem, formulate a sound
hypothesis(es), and define the research or research training program
you are interested in pursuing.
Young researchers in particular must address an abundance of
questions in choosing the research problem they want to tackle.
Foremost among these are:
- Is the research question important?
- Will the research yield a novel or important observation
(i.e., foundation for further research)?
C. Ronald Kahn, MD has written a useful, pithy treatise on the
subject, titled "Picking a Research Problem - The Critical
Decision", to which young researchers are referred for help in
identifying their research problem of choice. Published in the May
26, 1994 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, it
is also available
online to Journal subscribers.
Reviewing the funded research of other surgical oncologists will
help you formulate a specific research problem. It will provide you
with an idea of what is already being studied in surgical oncology
and where gaps in the research exist that offer opportunities for
novel or sustained research. For a look at currently funded
research, search existing, online federal research portfolios.
Particularly useful portfolios include NCI's online Cancer
Research Portfolio, where you can search a database of current
NCI grants and their corresponding clinical trials, and the CRISP database,
which contains data on studies funded by the NIH.
Online literature searches such as those you can perform using PubMed will give you
an idea of what has already been established in your area of
research, and what further studies are needed. PubMed provides
abstracts of published research findings. CTEP's State of the Science
(SOTS) Web site may give you an idea
of where the cutting-edge lies in your area of interest.
Additionally, you should consult NCI's Progress Review Group (PRG)
reports, which highlight exciting areas of research for specific
cancer sites. It is likely your grant application will garner
special attention at NCI if it cites a PRG report to support the
importance of your proposed research. Perusing cancer trials
currently underway may also clarify your research objectives. You
can search trials using the Physician Data
Query (PDQ), NCI's comprehensive cancer database, or ClinicalTrials.gov.
Finally, a visit to NIH's
Recently Cleared Concepts for RFAs and PAs will inform you of
ideas developed by NIH that will likely turn into RFAs or PAs. Some
concepts require clearance by the NCI Board of Advisors; most do not
(e.g., renewals). By clicking on a recently
cleared concept, an archived
cleared concept, or a concept
not requiring clearance, you can view the title, contact
information, and objective of the proposed research. The Concepts
listings provide a good tool for tracking seminal research
initiatives, particularly newly developed concepts.
To map out and define your research program, you must ask
yourself:
- What are your research interests?
- What disease or disease subspecialty do you want to study?
- What patient population?
- What type of research do you want to pursue - e.g.,
prevention, early detection and diagnosis, treatment,
epidemiology, health services delivery, outcomes and survivorship
issues?
Other, broader considerations to keep in mind in defining your
proposed project include the following:
- Short- and long-term goals (5- and 10-year goals)
- Family imperatives
- Board requirements
- Institutional commitments
- Personal research skills
- Available resources, including mentors
Developing your
hypothesesCritical to the definition of your
research program is the development of clear, specific hypotheses.
Your hypothesis(es) can make or break your grant application: it is
the single most important criterion for the successful evaluation of
your application.
What makes a good hypothesis? A hypothesis should be:
- Highly specific
- Founded on previous research findings
- Relevant to the extent that failure of your results
to support your hypothesis still adds value to the body of
research. (You should, however, make sure that a large amount of
negative data do not already exist for your hypothesis.)
- Somewhat new, in that it is not redundant to other, existing
studies.
- Testable in a practicable way using the methods you
propose.
To find examples of specific hypotheses, read through the opening
and closing sections of peer-reviewed journal articles addressing
research problems related to your own proposed problem. These
sections illustrate how investigators justify their research to the
reader by presenting a mini-review of the research literature so far
published on their subject. This selective review points to gaps or
trends in the research that require further investigation and that
will be addressed by the proposed research.
The links listed throughout the discussion above should provide
you with some foundation on which to develop good hypotheses.
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Choosing a specific research problem
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