Introduction to Research Mock Exam
This mock exam pulls together the core concepts from the Fundamentals of Respiratory Care Research lesson. Use it as a final pass after reviewing the purpose and importance of research, how to review the literature, the steps and feasibility of conducting a study, statistical basics, the structure of a research article, peer review, and the types of research.
Topics Covered
- Overview and importance: becoming an educated consumer of research, finding a mentor, the three missions of academic medicine, and the R.A.C.E. stakeholders.
- Reviewing the literature: bibliographic databases and "My NCBI," search engines (PubMed, SearchMedica), synthesized databases (Cochrane), portals (MD Consult, Ovid), electronic journals and books, general internet resources, and bibliographic software.
- Starting research and feasibility: device evaluation, the IRB, and the M.A.D.S.A.K. feasibility factors.
- Steps in research: developing a study idea, the hypothesis, writing a study protocol, analyzing data (mean and standard deviation, p-value, t-test, ANOVA, chi-square/Fisher Exact), and publishing via abstract, poster, or paper.
- Article structure and peer review: the sections of a research article and the peer-review process and outcomes.
- Types of research: quantitative, qualitative, descriptive, and analytic.
High-Yield Review
| Concept | High-yield point |
|---|---|
| Minimum research expectation | Become an educated consumer of medical research |
| Becoming a researcher | Find a mentor |
| Three missions of academic medicine | Heal, teach, discover |
| R.A.C.E. stakeholders | Researchers, administrators, clinicians, educators |
| Common skill | Read and critically evaluate published scientific reports |
| Most popular search engine | PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine) |
| Leading synthesized database | The Cochrane Collaboration |
| IRB | Required for studies of human subjects |
| Feasibility (M.A.D.S.A.K.) | Measurability, availability of subjects, duration/timing, significance, availability of equipment/funds, knowledge/experience |
| Hypothesis | A supposition or proposed explanation for an observation |
| T-test / ANOVA / chi-square | Two means / more than two means / proportions |
| Ways to present findings | Abstract, poster, paper |
| Article structure | Abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, references |
| Quantitative vs. qualitative | How many vs. why |
| Descriptive vs. analytic | Generates hypotheses vs. tests hypotheses |
Mock Exam
The quiz for this lesson is a cumulative 30-question mock exam covering the full Introduction to Research module.