Free Essay

Research

In:

Submitted By nicanne
Words 2371
Pages 10
Evidence-Based Dentistry

Stabilization Splint Therapy for the Treatment of Temporomandibular Myofascial Pain: A Systematic Review
Ziad Al-Ani, B.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D.; Robin J. Gray, B.D.S., M.D.S., Ph.D., M.F.G.D.P.; Stephen J. Davies, B.D.S., M.D.Sc., D.G.D.P.; Philip Sloan, B.D.S., Ph.D., F.R.C. Path. F.D.S.; Anne-Marie Glenny, B.Sc., M.Med.Sci.
Abstract: The aim of this review is to establish the effectiveness of stabilization splint (SS) therapy in reducing symptoms in patients with myofascial pain. Searching of electronic databases, handsearching of relevant key journals, and screening of reference lists of included studies were undertaken. There was no language restriction, and unpublished research was sought. The selection criteria were randomized controlled trials comparing splint therapy to either no treatment or another active treatment. Data extraction and validity assessment were carried out independently and in duplicate. Studies were grouped according to treatment type. Twenty potentially relevant Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) were identified. Only twelve met the inclusion criteria. There is insufficient evidence either for or against the use of stabilization splint therapy over other active interventions for the treatment of temporomandibular myofascial pain. However, it appears that stabilization splint therapy may be beneficial for reducing pain severity at rest and on palpation and depression when compared to no treatment. The authors suggested the need for well conducted RCTs that pay attention to method of allocation, blind outcome assessment, sample size, and duration of follow-up. Various measures were adopted to assess the outcomes of treatment. Standardization of the methods used to measure outcomes of the treatment of myofascial pain should be established in future RCTs. Dr. Al-Ani is Clinical Lecturer in Restorative Dentistry, School of Dentistry; Dr. Gray is an Honorary Fellow in Dental Medicine and Surgery, School of Dentistry; Prof. Davies is a Lecturer in Dental Practice, School of Dentistry; Prof. Sloan is a Professor of Experimental Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry; and Ms. Glenny is a Lecturer in Evidence-Based Oral Health Care, Cochrane Oral Health Group, MANDEC, School of Dentistry—all at the University of Manchester, UK. Direct correspondence and requests for reprints to Dr. Ziad Al-Ani, TMD Unit, School of Dentistry, University of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, UK M15 6FH; 44-0-161-275-6717 or 6788 phone; 44-0-161-275-6797 fax; ziad.al-ani@manchester.ac.uk. Key words: temporomandibular joint disorders, myofascial pain, systematic review, myofacial pain, stabilization splint, pain dysfunction syndrome Submitted for publication 8/3/05; accepted 8/22/05

yofascial pain is the most common temporomandibular disorder (TMD). There are many synonyms for this condition including facial arthromylagia, TMJ dysfunction syndrome, myofacial pain dysfunction syndrome, craniomandibular dysfunction, pain dysfunction syndrome (PDS), and myofacial pain dysfunction.1 The etiology of myofascial pain is multifactorial. Consequently, many different therapies, some conservative and reversible, others irreversible, have been advocated for patients with myofascial pain. A number of successful treatment outcomes have been reported, including occlusal splints, physiotherapy, muscle-relaxing appliances, and pharmacological interventions.

M

There are various types of occlusal splints (bite plates or intra-oral appliances of variable designs used in the management of TMD) described in the literature; they have different indications and functions. The stabilization splint (SS), one such type of occlusal splint, is also known as the Tanner appliance, the Fox appliance, the Michigan splint, or the centric relation appliance. The stabilization splint is a hard acrylic splint that provides a temporary and removable ideal occlusion (ideal contact between the teeth for the muscles and the temporomandibular joints).1,2 Providing an ideal occlusion by the use of splint therapy reduces abnormal muscle activity and produces “neuromuscular balance.”2 Normally, it is suggested that

1242

Journal of Dental Education ■ Volume 69, Number 11

patients wear the splint only at night. The splint needs to be adjusted (rebalancing of the splint to the new position of the jaw by grinding some of its surface points, since the lower jaw will adopt a new position as a result of wearing the splint) over several visits as the masticatory muscles relax until a consistent jaw relationship is reached. The patients then should be reviewed at regular intervals. After a period of successful splint therapy (normally between two to three months), patients can be weaned off the splint.2 The splint is constructed after taking impressions of the upper and lower dental arches, face bow registration, and recording of centric relation. A face bow is a calliper-like device used to record the spatial relationship of the upper teeth to some anatomic reference point or points and then enable transfer of this relationship to an articulator. It orients the dental cast in the same relationship to the opening axis of the articulator as the teeth relate to the jaw joints in the patient. A number of clinical studies have specifically evaluated the treatment of myofascial pain by SS therapy, and articles demonstrating clinical success have been published.3-5 When properly adjusted, the SS delivers a good method of providing centric relation occlusion (the position of the jaw relative to the skull when the muscles are at their most relaxed and least strained position), eliminating posterior interferences (any predominant contacts between the back teeth that interfere with or hinder harmonious jaw movement), providing anterior guidance on anterior teeth (the contact between the anterior teeth without any posterior contact during jaw movements), reducing neuromuscular activity, and obtaining stable occlusal relationships with uniform tooth contacts throughout the dental arch.1,2 The objective of this review was to determine the effectiveness of stabilization splint therapy in reducing symptoms in patients with myofascial pain, compared with any control group. The review was undertaken with the Cochrane Oral Health Group; a more detailed version of the review is available on the Cochrane Library (www.Cochrane.org).

Method
To be included in the review, the identified studies had to meet the following four criteria: 1. Study Design. Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trials (RCTs), in which splint therapy is compared concurrently to no treatment, physiotherapy, relaxing appliances, pharmacological

interventions, other occlusal appliances, or any other active intervention. Data from conference abstracts were not included in the review. 2. Types of Participants. All patients with myofascial pain of all degrees of severity were included. A diagnosis of myofascial pain can be made if the patient exhibits more than one of the following signs and/or symptoms in any combination:5 • Pain on palpation of the temporomandibular joint. • Pain on palpation of associated mandibular muscles. • Limitation and/or deviation of mandibular movement. This was assessed by measuring the range of jaw movement, which is the only measurable parameter that can be objectively recorded in relation to temporomandibular disorder. • Joint sounds and headache. Headache alone or joint sounds alone are not diagnostic of myofascial pain. Joint sounds can be intermittent. Studies examining temporomandibular disorders other than those of primarily muscular origin were excluded. 3. Types of Interventions. Stabilization splint (Tanner appliance, the Fox appliance, the Michigan splint, or the centric relation appliance). Any control group (no treatment, physiotherapy, pharmacological intervention, other occlusal appliances, or any other active intervention). 4. Types of Outcome Measures. The outcome measures considered were improvement in pain of the temporomandibular joint, improvement in pain of associated mandibular muscles, improvement of the range of movement to a normal range of movement, and, when relevant, disappearance of joint sounds. Depression, dysfunction scores, treatment credibility, and quality of life were also examined. Response to treatment must be assessed subjectively and clinically. Subjective assessment requires patients to have recorded their present overall state at review as being cured, improved, static, or deteriorating. Since discrepancies between subjective and objective assessments have been reported,6 improvement in pain should also be confirmed clinically by palpating the muscles and the joints.

Search Strategy for Identification of Studies
For the identification of studies included or considered for this review, detailed search strategies

November 2005



Journal of Dental Education

1243

were developed for each database searched (Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register; The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials [CENTRAL], 2003, Issue 2; MEDLINE, 1966 to June 2001; EMBASE, 1966 to June 2001). This search was combined with the Cochrane Sensitive Search Strategy for RCTs.7 The search strategy developed for MEDLINE was revised appropriately for each database to take into account differences in controlled vocabulary and syntax rules. The search attempted to identify all relevant studies irrespective of language. The reference lists of all relevant trials obtained were checked, along with the reference lists of relevant review articles. In addition, reference lists from prosthetic dentistry textbooks on temporomandibular disorders and splint therapy were also checked. The following journals have been identified as being important to be handsearched for this review for the period 1960 to present: Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, Journal of the American Dental Association, and Journal of Oral Rehabilitation. The results of the searches were screened independently and in duplicate by two reviewers (MZA and RG). The full articles of all studies meeting, or potentially meeting, the defined inclusion criteria were obtained for further assessment.

Data Assessment and Synthesis
All potentially relevant articles and reports were assessed independently by two reviewers (MZA and RG) using a previously prepared data extraction form. The two reviewers knew the names of the authors, institutions, journal of publication, and results when applying both the inclusion criteria and during data extraction. After assessment of the studies, the results were compared and discussed until consensus was achieved. Disagreements were handled by discussion and by consulting a third reviewer (PS). Additional information was sought from the authors when necessary. To reduce pre-formed opinions of experts in the area that can bias the assessment of the relevance of articles, one reviewer was not an expert in the area. Each study included was quality assessed independently by two reviewers (MZA and RG). In the case of discrepancies, the authors were contacted for details of randomization where necessary. Three main quality criteria were assessed: 1) randomization and allocation concealment; 2) blind

outcome assessment—participants and investigators cannot be blinded to splint therapy; however, it is feasible to blind the outcome assessor and all included studies were assessed for blinding of the outcome assessment; and 3) completeness of the follow-up. Uncertainty about methodology employed during the quality assessment phase was resolved by contacting the authors when necessary. The significance of discrepancies in the estimates of treatment effects from the different trials was assessed by inspection of a graphical display and by means of Cochrane’s test for heterogeneity. The Cochrane Oral Health Group’s statistical guidelines were followed and relative risk (RR) values calculated along with 95 percent confidence intervals (CI) for binary data. Weighted mean difference (WMD) was used for continuous data. Meta-analysis was to be undertaken using a random effects model in the absence of clinical and statistical heterogeneity. Data were analyzed using Review Manager program and the main results of the studies presented separately for pain (TMJ, muscles and jaw movements), movement of the jaw (deviation in mouthopening, range of mouth opening, lateral movements), TMJ clicking, depression level, Helkimo dysfunction score (an index for anamnestic and clinical dysfunction and occlusal state), treatment credibility, and quality of life. If data allowed, a sensitivity analysis had to be conducted to see how the quality of the studies affects the findings.

Results
Twenty RCTs were identified as being potentially relevant. All were published in English. Eight trials were excluded due to use of splint therapy other than stabilization splint or due to the participants’ not meeting the criteria for myofascial pain.8-15 Twelve RCTs fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Details are presented in Table 1. Apart from one study with vague descriptions of the splint used,16 all other studies provided some information about splint construction and adjustment to centric relation. Comparison groups included acupuncture,16,17 bite-plates,18 biofeedback, 19,20 visual feedback, 21 non-occluding splints,22-24 relaxation/hypnorelaxation,25,26 jaw exercises,27 and minimal/no treatment.17,20,22,25 The study participants consisted of patients who had been referred for treatment for myofascial pain to a special clinic. In two studies,22,24 patients

1244

Journal of Dental Education ■ Volume 69, Number 11

were recruited through announcements published in a local journal. The number of participants ranged from twenty18,21 to eighty patients.20 The number of patients per study group was twenty or less in four studies. Five studies gave detailed criteria for inclusion and/or exclusion of patients in the study.17,20,22-24 Information about previous TMD treatment was reported in only one study.17 The number of follow-up visits was standardized in both the study and control treatments in all studies included. However, the period of treatment/ follow-up varied from four to twelve weeks across included studies. The type of outcomes measures varied between the studies (Table 1). Pain was measured using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)17,22,25 and the Pain Severity Scale (PSS), Muscle Palpation Index (PPI),20 and a pain diary.24 Two studies reported number of patients reporting pain on movement of mandible or pain on retrusion of the mandible.16,22 Other outcomes measured included electromyographic analyses,18 quality of life,22 clinical dysfunction scores,17,19,27 depression,20 range of jaw movement, sound, locking, and deviation in opening of mouth.16,21,25 The methodological quality of included studies is as follows: randomization and concealment procedures—one of the included studies reported on the method used to generate the randomization sequence or allocation concealment; blind outcome assessment—blind outcome assessment was clearly stated in only two trials;22,25 and drop-outs—drop-outs were reported in six studies,7 none of which undertook a full intention to treat analysis.2,18,20,22-24

patients showing an improvement in intensity of pain at rest.22 Johansson et al. compared SS with acupuncture and a no intervention control group.17 Both of the treatment groups showed a statistically significant improvement in pain post-treatment compared to the non-intervention group (p

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Research

...The Research Process Writers usually treat the research task as a sequential process involving several clearly defined steps. No one claims that research requires completion of each step before going to the next. Recycling, circumventing, and skipping occur. Some steps are begun out of sequence, some are carried out simultaneously, and some may be omitted. Despite these variations, the idea of a sequence is useful for developing a project and for keeping the project orderly as it unfolds. Exhibit 3–1 models the sequence of the research process. We refer to it often as we discuss each step in subsequent chapters. Our discussion of the questions that guide project planning and data gathering is incorporated into the model (see the elements within the pyramid in Exhibit 3–1 and compare them with Exhibit 3–2). Exhibit 3–1 also organizes this chapter and introduces the remainder of the book. The research process begins much as the vignette suggests. A management dilemma triggers the need for a decision. For MindWriter, a growing number of complaints about postpurchase service started the process. In other situations, a controversy arises, a major commitment of resources is called for, or conditions in the environment signal the need for a decision. For MindWriter, the critical event could have been the introduction by a competitor of new technology that would revolutionize the processing speed of laptops. Such events cause managers to reconsider their purposes or...

Words: 376 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Research

...requirements of talking on the phone.  These predictions were derived from basic theories on limited attention capacities. 2. Microsoft Company has basic research sites in Redmond, Washington, Tokoyo, Japan etc.at these research sites work on fundamental problems that underlie the design of future products. For example a group at Redmond is working natural language recognition soft wares, while another works on artificial intelligence. These research centres don’t produce new products rather they produce the technology that is used to enhance existing products or help new products. The product are produced by dedicates product groups. Customization of the products to match the needs of local markets is sometimes carried out at local subsidiaries. Thus, the Chinese subsidiary in Singapore will do basic customizations of programs such as MS office adding Chinese characters and customizing the interface. APPLIED RESEARCH * INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICE COMPANY Offering customers products and services for ‘connected life and work’  Project: 1. Research focused on the organisation’s tendency to appoint ‘safe’ senior executives, rather than those who were able to drive change through the business, and enable a culture of calculated business risk and growth.  This research led to a programme that created different and improved relationships with executive search agencies, established a positive shift in the interaction between the...

Words: 282 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Research

...Myresearch About 30 million other animals. Animal experimentation by scientists can be cruel and unjust, but at the same time it can provide long term benefits for humanity. Animals used in research and experiments have been going on for 2,000 years and keep is going strong. It is a widely debated about topic all over the world. Some say it is inhuman while others say it's for the good of human kind. There are many different reasons why people perform experiments and why others total disagree with it. Each year 20 million animals are produce and breed for the only purpose but to be tested on. Fifty-three thousands of animals are used each year in medical and veterinary schools. The rest is used in basic research. The demand for animals in the United States is 50 million mice, 20 million rats, and aThis includes 200,000 cats and 450,000 dogs. The world uses about 200-250 million animals per year. The problem with working with animals is that they cannot communicate their feelings and reactions. Other people say that they can communicate and react to humans just a well as one person to another. Some of the animals the research's use are not domesticated which makes them extremely hard to control and handle. The experiments that go on behind closed doors are some of the most horrific things a human could think of too torture somebody or something. Animals in labs are literally used as models and are poked at and cut open like nothing is happening. When drug are tested on animals...

Words: 355 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Research

...Research Methodology & Fundamentals of MR. 100 Marks Course Content 1. Relevance & Scope of Research in Management. 2. Steps Involved in the Research Process 3. Identification of Research Problem. 4. Defining MR problems 5. Research Design 6. Data – Collection Methodology, Primary Data – Collection Methods / Measurement Techniques – Characteristics of Measurement Techniques – Reliability, Validity etc. – Secondary Data Collection Methods – Library Research, References – Bibliography, Abstracts, etc. 7. Primary and Secondary data sources and data collection instruments including in-depth interviews, projective techniques and focus groups 8. Data management plan – Sampling & measurement 9. Data analysis – Tabulation, SPSS applications data base, testing for association 10. Analysis Techniques – Qualitative & Quantitative Analysis Techniques – Techniques of Testing Hypothesis – Chi-square, T-test, Correlation & Regression Analysis, Analysis of Variance, etc. – Making Choice of an Appropriate Analysis Technique. 11. Research Report Writing. 12. .Computer Aided Research Methodology – use of SPSS packages Reference Text 1. Business Research Methods – Cooper Schindler 2. Research Methodology Methods & Techniques – C.R.Kothari 3. D. K. Bhattacharya: Research Methodology (Excel) 4. P. C. Tripathy: A text book of Research Methodology in...

Words: 5115 - Pages: 21

Premium Essay

Research

...Research Research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict and control the observed phenomenon. Research involves inductive and deductive methods (Babbie, 1998). Inductive methods analyze the observed phenomenon and identify the general principles, structures, or processes underlying the phenomenon observed; deductive methods verify the hypothesized principles through observations. The purposes are different: one is to develop explanations, and the other is to test the validity of the explanations. One thing that we have to pay attention to research is that the heart of the research is not on statistics, but the thinking behind the research. How we really want to find out, how we build arguments about ideas and concepts, and what evidence that we can support to persuade people to accept our arguments. Gall, Borg and Gall (1996) proposed four types of knowledge that research contributed to education as follows: 1. Description: Results of research can describe natural or social phenomenon, such as its form, structure, activity, change over time, relationship to other phenomena. The descriptive function of research relies on instrumentation for measurement and observations. The descriptive research results in our understanding of what happened. It sometimes produces statistical information about aspects of education. 2. Prediction: Prediction research is intended to predict a phenomenon that will occur at time Y from information at an earlier time X. In educational...

Words: 1179 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Research

...STEP 1etasblish the need for research We have to consider if it is a real need for doing a research? Research takes time and costs money. If the information is already available, decisions must be made now, we cant afford research and costs outweigh the value of the research, then the research is not needed. Step 2 define the problem or topic State your topic as a question. This is the most important step. Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question. Problem maybe either specific or general. Step 3 establish research objective Research objectives, when achieved, provide the Information necessary to solve the problem identified in Step 2. Research objectives state what the researchers must do. Crystallize the research problems and translate them into research objective. At this point, we will pin down the research question. Step 4 determine research design The research design is a plan or framework for conducting the study and collecting data. It is defined as the specific methods and procedures you use to acquire the information you need. based on the research objectives, we will determine the most appropriate research design: qualitative and/ or quantitative. • Exploratory Research: collecting information in an unstructured and informal manner. • Descriptive Research refers to a set of methods and procedures describing marketing variables. • Causal Research (experiments): allows isolation of causes and...

Words: 1099 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Research

...Research Article Research is important to every business because of the information it provides. There is a basic process to researching information and that process begins by deciding what information needs to be researched. The next step is to develop a hypothesis, which describes what the research paper is about and what the researcher’s opinion is regarding the topic. The research article chosen for this paper is titled, “The Anchor Contraction Effect in International Marketing Research.” The hypothesis for this paper is, “This raises the issue of whether providing responses on rating scales in a person’s native versus second language exerts a systematic influence on the responses obtained.” Simply explained, the hypothesis of this paper is to determine whether research questions should be in a person’s native language rather than expecting them to respond to questions in a language in which they might not be fluent. The hypothesis of this paper was accepted based on the research data gathered by the research team. This hypothesis was supported by nine studies using a variety of research methods. The research methods provided data that demonstrated the level of inaccuracy based on questions being asked in a language that was not the respondent’s native language. The research data provided insight into the probability of more accurate results when the respondent was asked questions in a manner that related well with their culture. There are several implications...

Words: 322 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Research

...ACE8001: What do we mean by Research? & Can we hope to do genuine Social Science Research (David Harvey)  What do we mean by research? What might characterise good research practice? There is no point in us trying to re-invent the wheel - other and probably more capable people than us have wrestled with this problem before us, and it makes good sense and is good practice to learn what they have discovered.  In other words - we need to explore more reliable and effective methods and systems for the pursuit of research than we have been doing so far. What is research? Dictionary Definitions of Research: * "The act of searching closely or carefully for or after a specified thing or person" * "An investigation directed to discovery of some fact by careful study of a subject" * "A course of scientific enquiry" (where scientific = "producing demonstrative knowledge") Howard and Sharp (HS) define research as:  "seeking through methodical processes to add to bodies of knowledge by the discovery or elucidation of non-trivial facts, insights and improved understanding of situations, processes and mechanisms".  [Howard, K. and Sharp, J.A. The Management of a student research project, Gower, 1983 - a useful and practical “how to do it” guide] Two other, more recent guides are: Denscombe, Martyn, 2002, Ground rules for good research: a 10 point guide for social research,  Open University Press. Robinson Library Shelf Mark: 300.72 DEN, Level 3 (several copies)...

Words: 4067 - Pages: 17

Free Essay

Research

...solve analytic models or whatever, but they often fail to demonstrate that they have thoroughly thought about their papers—in other words, when you push them about the implicit and explicit assumptions and implications of their research models, it appears that they haven’t really given these matters much thought at all.[1] Too often they fall back on saying that they are doing what they are doing because that is the way it is done in the prior literature, which is more of an excuse than a answer. (Of course, once a researcher reaches a certain age, they all feel that youngsters aren’t as good as they were in the good old days!) Therefore, in this class we shall go beyond simply studying research in managerial accounting. For many of you, this is your first introduction to accounting research and to PhD level class. Hence, in these classes we shall also learn how to solve business problems systematically and to understand what it means to have thoroughly “thought through” a paper. We begin not with academic research, but with some real world cases, because we should never forget that ours is an applied research field: accounting research is a means towards the end of understanding business and is not an end in itself, in the way pure science research is. Developing a systematic procedure for solving a real world business problem is the starting point for developing a...

Words: 2437 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Research

...manger know about research when the job entails managing people, products, events, environments, and the like? Answer: Research simply means a search for facts – answers to questions and solutions to problems. It is a purposive investigation. It is an organized inquiry. It seeks to find explanations to unexplained phenomenon to clarify the doubtful facts and to correct the misconceived facts. Research is the organized and systematic inquiry or investigation which provides information for solving a problem or finding answers to a complex issue. Research in business: Often, organization members want to know everything about their products, services, programs, etc. Your research plans depend on what information you need to collect in order to make major decisions about a product, service, program, etc. Research provides the needed information that guides managers to make informed decisions to successfully deal with problems. The more focused you are about your resources, products, events and environments what you want to gain by your research, the more effective and efficient you can be in your research, the shorter the time it will take you and ultimately the less it will cost you. Manager’s role in research programs of a company: Managing people is only a fraction of a manager's responsibility - they have to manage the operations of the department, and often have responsibilities towards the profitability of the organization. Knowledge of research can be very helpful...

Words: 4738 - Pages: 19

Free Essay

Research

...Contents TITLE 2 INTRODUCTION 3 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 3 AIM 4 OBJECTIVES 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 4 LITERATURE REVIEW 5 METHODOLOGY AND DATACOLLECTION 5 POPULATION AND SAMPLING 6 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS 6 PARTICIPANTS IN THE STUDY 7 STUDY PERIOD (GANTT CHART) 8 STUDY RESOURCES 9 REFERENCES 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY 9 APPENDICES: 10 * The Impact of Motivation through Incentives for a better Performance - Adaaran Select Meedhupparu Ahmed Anwar Athifa Ibrahim (Academic Supervisor) Applied Research Project to the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Studies The Maldives National University * * Introduction As it is clear, staff motivation is important in all the sectors especially in the tourism sector where we require highly skilled employees to get the best of their output to reach the organizational goals. Therefore, organizations spend a lot on their staff motivation in terms of different incentive approaches, such as financial benefits, training and development, appreciations, rewards and promotions. As mentioned in the title, the outline of the findings will be focused on the motivation of the staffs on improving their performances by the different incentive packages that they get at the resort. This study will be executed at Adaaran Meedhupparu by giving questionnaire to the staff working in different departments to fill up and return to the scholar to examine the current situation of staff satisfaction on motivation to do...

Words: 2768 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Research

...goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. This process takes three main forms (although, as previously discussed, the boundaries between them may be obscure): * Exploratory research, which helps identify and define a problem or question. * Constructive research, which tests theories and proposes solutions to a problem or question. * Empirical research, which tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence. There are two ways to conduct research: Primary research Using primary sources, i.e., original documents and data. Secondary research Using secondary sources, i.e., a synthesis of, interpretation of, or discussions about primary sources. There are two major research designs: qualitative research and quantitative research. Researchers choose one of these two tracks according to the nature of the research problem they want to observe and the research questions they aim to answer: Qualitative research Understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior. Asking a broad question and collecting word-type data that is analyzed searching for themes. This type of research looks to describe a population without attempting to quantifiably measure variables or look to potential relationships between variables. It is viewed as more restrictive in testing hypotheses because it can be expensive and time consuming, and typically limited to a single set of research subjects. Qualitative...

Words: 498 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Research

...Volume 3, number 2 What is critical appraisal? Sponsored by an educational grant from AVENTIS Pharma Alison Hill BSC FFPHM FRCP Director, and Claire Spittlehouse BSc Business Manager, Critical Appraisal Skills Programme, Institute of Health Sciences, Oxford q Critical appraisal is the process of systematically examining research evidence to assess its validity, results and relevance before using it to inform a decision. q Critical appraisal is an essential part of evidence-based clinical practice that includes the process of systematically finding, appraising and acting on evidence of effectiveness. q Critical appraisal allows us to make sense of research evidence and thus begins to close the gap between research and practice. q Randomised controlled trials can minimise bias and use the most appropriate design for studying the effectiveness of a specific intervention or treatment. q Systematic reviews are particularly useful because they usually contain an explicit statement of the objectives, materials and methods, and should be conducted according to explicit and reproducible methodology. q Randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews are not automatically of good quality and should be appraised critically. www.evidence-based-medicine.co.uk Prescribing information is on page 8 1 What is critical appraisal What is critical appraisal? Critical appraisal is one step in the process of evidence-based clinical practice. Evidencebased clinical practice...

Words: 4659 - Pages: 19

Premium Essay

Research

...How To Formulate Research Problem? Posted in Research Methodology | Email This Post Email This Post Formulating the research problem and hypothesis acts as a major step or phase in the research methodology. In research, the foremost step that comes into play is that of defining the research problem and it becomes almost a necessity to have the basic knowledge and understanding of most of its elements as this would help a lot in making a correct decision. The research problem can be said to be complete only if it is able to specify about the unit of analysis, time and space boundaries, features that are under study, specific environmental conditions that are present in addition to prerequisite of the research process. Research Process Research process is very commonly referred to as the planning process. One important point to be kept in mind here is to understand that the main aim of the research process is that of improving the knowledge of the human beings. The research process consists of the following stages – 1. The Primary stage :– This stage includes – a. Observation – The first step in the research process is that of the observation, research work starts with the observation which can be either unaided visual observation or guided and controlled observation.It can be said that an observation leads to research, the results obtained from research result in final observations which can play a crucial part in carrying out further research. Deliberate and guided...

Words: 1487 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Research

...activities for the quarter 4 which include weekly class discussion, class participation, midterm and final exam * Learned about what Research is and what Research is not. * Eight characteristics of research. * Sub problem – that is a question or problem that must be address before the main problem is resolved. * Hypothesis- that is a reasonable quests that needs to be proving. * I learned about assumption –that is a statement that is presume to be fact. * Learned about theory * Learned about methodology- that is a process a researchers use to collect data and information is research work. * Learned about internet – A researchers use internet to access information online. * Learned about two types of research report which is Juried or refereed – a reviewed report * Nonjuried or nonrefereed – none reviewed report. E.g. Journal report. * Learned about checklist evaluating research- that a report juried that is judge. * Learned that a research that is not screen or viewed by expert is not valid * Guidelines in reviewing research by going to library to sort for information needed for case study. * I learned as a researcher, you must read more than articles. * I learned about research paper / APA Style – that first thing is to choose the research topic. * Learned about what research paper entails, like cover page, table of content, abstract, introduction, summary, conclusion and references. * I learned about APA...

Words: 1117 - Pages: 5