• Health research may be either basic or applied. Regardless of the nature or focus, however, research must be scientific and rigorous in order to advance knowledge.

This week, you will be introduced to the scientific approach to research, and you will review important research methodologies used in the health sciences. Finally, the critical elements of a comprehensive and effective research proposal will also be identified and explained.

• You will begin the process of developing a research proposal by selecting a research topic from eight problem areas. From these areas, you will apply standard criteria to the potential problem to determine the feasibility of the research effort.

You will also be introduced to methods for writing a statement of the Neutens, J. J., &Rubinson, L. (2014). Research techniques for the health sciences (5th ed.).

San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings

Research Problem Proposal

Throughout this course, you will identify the steps in developing a research proposal. You will not be conducting the research or writing a full proposal; however, you will become familiar with the research process itself.

Many steps comprise the research process, but the first step is to determine a topic. You can find a topic through personal or professional interest and that is directed toward solving a problem. For the purpose of this course, you will select one of the eight topics presented below.

• Cardiovascular disease in the minority population

Review

you began the process of developing a research proposal by selecting a research topic from eight problem areas. You were also introduced to methods for writing a statement of the problem and research questions.