What is Research?
Resident Research Series:
 
 
The Hypothesis
 
RESEARCH is ……………...
"a systematic investigation, including research
development, testing and evaluation, designed to
develop or to contribute to generalizable
knowledge ……
Department of Health and Human Services
What is Research Really?
 
RESEARCH is ……………...
Step 1: Having an IDEA
Asking Questions
I know there s an idea in
here somewhere. I just have
to find it!
Bob s Axiom
The only sure weapon against
bad ideas is better ideas.
(Adapted from a quote by Alfred Whitney Griswold)
Put together a
working group.
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OK! I have an idea.
What s Next?
Step 2: Formulate A
Mechanistic Hypothesis
What Is An Hypothesis?
Elementary School Definition
  A
An hypothesis is an educated guess
  A
guess?
prediction?
I hypothesize that if I drop my pen, it
will fall to the floor.
Statistical Definition
A speculation concerning the distribution
of a defined population or the distributions
of several defined populations.
I hypothesize that men are, on
average, taller than women.
Scientific Definition
An hypothesis provides an explanation of how
or why something happens.
It generates
predictions which can be tested by
experimentation, the results of which will either
confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis.
I hypothesize that Alzheimer s disease is
caused by exposure to aluminum
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Is This An Hypothesis?
Problem: Patient has a fever.
We hypothesize that administering aspirin will
reduce the fever.
No. This is a prediction. We predict that…
Is This An Hypothesis?
Problem: Patient has a fever.
We hypothesize that administering aspirin will
reduce the fever by inhibiting cyclooxygenase,
thereby reducing the formation of
prostaglandin E2 which acts on the
hypothalamus to produce fever.
Yes. This is an hypothesis. It offers an
explanation of how and/or why something
happens.
Is This An Hypothesis?
Problem: What is the best treatment for MRSA
in pediatric patients?
We hypothesize that vancomycin will produce
better outcomes than linezolid in pediatric
patients with MRSA.
Is This An Hypothesis?
Problem: What is the best treatment for MRSA
in pediatric patients?
We hypothesize that IV vancomycin will
produce better outcomes than oral linezolid in
pediatric patients with MRSA, by avoiding
negative GI side effects.
No. This is a prediction.
Yes. This is an hypothesis. It offers an
explanation of how and/or why something
happens.
Is This An Hypothesis?
Is This An Hypothesis?
Problem: ER visits are costly. Many poisonrelated visits to the ER are unnecessary, which
drives up costs.
We hypothesize that most of the unnecessary
poison-related visits to the ER occur because
patients/clients lack knowledge about the most
common sources of poisoning and proper
treatment methods.
We hypothesize that increasing public
awareness of and access to poison information
services will decrease poison-related visits to
the ER and reduce costs.
No. This is a prediction.
Yes. This is an hypothesis. It offers an
explanation of how and/or why something
happens.
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Prediction
The Guiding Force
Therefore, we predict that increasing public
awareness of and access to poison information
services will decrease poison-related visits to
the ER, as well as the number of poison-related
incidents in the general population, thereby
reducing costs.
What Happens If You Don t
Have a Well Articulated
Mechanistic Hypothesis?
  Lack
of direction
of focus
  Difficulty drawing &
justifying conclusions
  Lack
Summary
  Step
  Step
1: Come up with an idea
2: Develop a mechanistic hypothesis
Next Steps
  Make
predictions based on the hypothesis
predictions via experimentation
  Analyze and interpret results
  Test
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