The Newly Discovered Autoimmune Disease - Essay Example

Topic: A Research Project Proposal for the Newly Discovered Autoimmune Disease, AutoX Problem Identification and Rationale A pilot study was conducted to 45 participants to investigate the proportion of people with a newly discovered autoimmune disease, AutoX. The proportion of this sample positively tested for AutoX antibody was 23% and none of those who tested positive with AutoX experienced the symptoms of disease such as joint pain and deterioration of knee movement. However, this research study was completely restricted by time and other practical considerations such as the sample size and the type of volunteers who participated in the study. It should also be noted that in this study, there is a bias when it comes to the representation of gender in such a way that only 5 females were selected and participants were only restricted to university students ages between 18 and 25 years old. Devane et al (2004) noted in their study that health care researchers should consider carefully the inherent aspect to estimate the sample size of the study. This consideration is important to avoid possible errors in the study. Inappropriate techniques employed by researchers provide the risk of misinterpreting the findings due biased samples.  Developing Project Objectives 1. To investigate the occurrence of the newly discovered autoimmune disease, AutoX, amongst larger test population. 2. To investigate the distribution of “AutoX” between male and female ages 18 to 49 years old and 50 years and above. Research Questions 1. Are there any variations and significance of test results using larger test population? 2. Are there any observable variations of AutoX in male and female ages 18 to 49 years of age and 50 years and above? Solution Description What size sample will you require The previous research study was restricted by time, sample size and volunteers, it is therefore necessary to use a large sample size population composed of 200 male and female populations (100 male and 100 female). The test population should be randomly selected. To equally distribute the test population and to avoid any biases, the population should include 50 female ranging from 18 to 49 years of age and 50 female population ages 50 years old and above as well as 50 male population ranging from 18 t0 49 years of age and 50 male population ages 50 years old and above. How will you achieve this? 1. Randomly select 50 male and 50 female ages 18 to 49 years old and 50 male and 50 female ages 50 years old and above test population in the local area. 2. The test population will be informed regarding the objective of the study and the benefits of the study to the community in general. 3. The test population will be acquainted on the procedure and the researcher has to see to it that the volunteers understand the procedure completely. 4. The consent of the test population will be obtained and a consent paper must be signed individually. 5. After signing the consent paper, the individual must submit to the test for AutoX antibody determination. 6. By doing this, a drop of blood must be obtained from these individuals using the finger – prick method. 7. An immunoassay kit that contains monoclonal antibody must be used to detect the presence of AutoX antibody in the bloodstream. 8. Individuals who are positive or negative for this antibody will be recorded. 9. After the test, the individuals who are positive for AutoX antibody must be interviewed for any signs and symptoms related to the disease such as joint pains and deterioration of knee movement. How will your conclusions be affected if your results show a bigger or smaller difference in proportion than the one you used in your power calculations? The conclusion of the research study will be greatly affected if there is a big difference in proportion than the one that is used in the power calculation. As the power increases, the chances to have an error will decrease. Hence, studies with bigger difference are statistically significant. In contrast, studies having smaller difference may not be statistically significant. In a typical manner, research design evaluations must have an 80% - 90% power, and this would mean that the data gathered and the statistical method that would be used allows one to conclude that the intervention employed by the researcher is effective. Moreover, it was noted that the larger the sample size, the larger is the power and the variation in the outcome measure will be less (Larsson 2001). Where will your volunteers come from and how long might it take? The test population who will volunteer for the study are the locals in the community where the researcher resides. The researcher will have one week to inform and gather the locals of the corresponding age group who are interested to participate in the study. One day will be utilized to orient the interested participant on the research project. Another one day will be used to collect blood samples and to test the blood samples for the presence of AutoX antibody. Another one day will be spent to investigate the individuals who are positive for the antibody for any corresponding signs and symptoms of the disease such as joint pains and deterioration of knee movement. Where will data the collection take place? The data will be collected in the local community where the researcher lives. A function room will be rented so that the data and blood samples can be collected. What data will you collect? Apart from the data from blood analysis, what other questions should be asked of your volunteers, or data recorded, and how will these data be used to achieve the aims of your study? The name of the person being studied will be withheld and instead, these individuals will be addressed as volunteers 1 – 50, male belonging to age bracket 18 – 49, and volunteers 1 – 50 males belonging to age 50 years old and above. The same holds true in recording the female population. The height and the weight will also be obtained. The result of the blood test will be recorded and participants who manifest the corresponding signs and symptoms will be noted. What statistical analyses will you carry out in order to answer your research questions? For this research study, the statistical method that the researcher will preferably use is observational study. To collect observations, the researcher must use the survey in the specific area of interest (Rosebaum 2002). To avoid selection biases, the test group will be selected randomly (Horgan 2001). References Devane D, Begley C and Dphil M, 2004, ‘Methodological Issues in Nursing Research’, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 47(3): 297 – 302. Hoff C, 2001, ‘Statistics and Research Design,’ University of Utah School of Medicine Database Horgan G, 2001, ‘Statistical Analysis of Nutritional Studies’, British Journal of Nutrition, 2001(86): 141 – 144. Larsson T, 2001, ‘Statistical Issue’, Safety Science Monitor, 11(3), pages 77 –84. Rosenbaum P, 2002, Observational Studies, Springer Series in Statistics, 2nd Edition, Spinger: NY. Read More