A simple, easy-to-follow step-by-step guide on how to Start, Conduct and Translate research, with specific tips for childhood obesity, for any clinician, novice researcher, clinician-researcher, health professional or system decision-maker.
Proudly created in partnership with The University of Queensland
Research shows for every $1 invested in health prevention, there is a return of $14 to the wider economy. The creation of knowledge through research activities underpins improvements in Australia’s health service delivery and intervention. Research activities attempt to create this knowledge through the systematic investigation of a topic, guided by research questions. This new knowledge then needs to be effectively translated into changes in clinical practice and policy to benefit the population of interest, in this case, children and adolescents who live with obesity and their families.
Research is a careful consideration of study regarding a particular concern or problem using scientific methods. The short answer is, yes! Research is everyone’s business. Anyone can do research, provided they have the right support, resources and tools. If you work in any capacity within a health service across Queensland, you can contribute to and lead research.
A research “gap” is simply an unanswered question in the research literature. A research gap is an area that is yet to be explored or hasn’t been explored thoroughly. Gaps can be related to any aspect of research, such as a specific population, research method, an intervention or innovation, types of data collected, data analysis methods or other conditions.
The first step to finding a gap is to conduct a literature review. You could do this by searching for journal articles, books or grey literature (reports, government documents, policy statements) in your area of interest. It may be useful to create a search strategy to help you. You may also be aware of gaps simply from practising as a clinician. It’s important to confirm your practice gap is a research gap by thoroughly searching for any existing evidence about your gap.
As you search through the literature, it’s helpful to use the Discussion (especially Limitations), Future Research and Conclusions sections of journal articles to understand where a research gap may lie.
A good research question is the foundation of all research. It clearly states the problem you are trying to solve, whether that be a knowledge or practice problem.
How and What statements are typically the most useful.
Two examples of good research questions related to childhood obesity are:
Every team needs an experienced leader, especially a research team. An experienced research leader may hold a Honours or Masters degree, or a PhD, hold a Research Fellow or Officer position, be affiliated with universities/academia and/or be an expert in research processes, such as ethics and governance. A strong research leader can help to guide you through the major and minor details of research, right from developing your research question and applying for ethical approval, to writing a journal article and translating your findings into practice.
It’s important to first identify what your research needs are and who is best placed to support these. Research needs may relate to:
There are two main types of research – quantitative and qualitative. These types of research may be performed separately; however, in practice they are often combined (“mixed-methods”) to enhance the quality of research.
Typically:
Typically:
There are many different types of research studies and it’s important to choose the type that best answers your research question. Here are some examples:
“I want to combine data from multiple different studies to see if an intervention is effective across multiple groups and populations”
Meta-analysis guidelines:
“I want to summarise data from multiple different studies and evaluate their similarities, differences and results”
See paediatric obesity example
Systematic review guidelines: PRISMA
Using PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison Outcome) terminology to guide searching
“I want to randomly test an intervention on a population of children and see if it works in comparison to a control group”
See paediatric obesity example
Randomised controlled trial guideline: CONSORT
“I want to measure one or various factors in a population and see how they change over a long period of time compared to a control population”
See paediatric obesity example
Cohort/Longitudinal guideline: STROBE
“I want to create a test to correctly determine a target condition or behaviour”
“I want to measure something at a particular point in time”
See paediatric obesity example
Cross-sectional guideline: STROBE
Sources of funding are numerous and varied. Liaise with your local clinical service, University and philanthropic organisations (such as the Children’s Hospital Foundation, The Smith Foundation) to find out what grant or funding opportunities may be available to apply for. The Queensland Government Grants Finder is a good place to start.
Before applying for funding, it’s important to understand what exactly you might need funding for. Here are some typical funding considerations:
Collaboration and partnership present opportunities to strengthen your research.
Benefits of research partnership include shared ownership, enhanced intellectual contribution, strengthening the team to apply for competitive research funding, access to equipment and infrastructure, wider participant reach and assistance in disseminating research findings (via Conferences or peer-reviewed publications).
Typically, the first step is simply starting a conversation. You may like to ask who is a research leader within each organisation. From there, it is important to liaise with your organisation’s partnerships, governance or legal team to determine what is legally and ethically required to engage in partnership.
Yes – if you’re doing human research. Human research is research conducted with or about people, or their data or tissue. Participation in research involves taking part in surveys, interviews or focus groups, undergoing psychological, physiological or medical testing or treatment, undergoing observation by researchers, researchers having access to personal documents or other materials, the collection and use of body organs, tissues or fluids or access to information as part of an existing published or unpublished source or database.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research guides all research involving human participants.
For research involving children and young people, there are unique ethical concerns such as:
Other ethical concerns involving children and young people living with overweight or obesity include:
A Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) reviews research proposals that involve human participants to ensure they comply with ethical standards. A HREC decides if it is ethical for you to conduct your proposed research. In Australia, these ethical standards are part of the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. It outlines the national standards for the ethical design, review and conduct of human research.
Ethical reviews by HREC’s are undertaken at various risk levels, depending on the degree of risk to human participants in your research, or if you are conducting research in priority populations, such as children and young people or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
If you’re unsure, contact your local HREC to discuss your research proposal risk level and what is required to submit a research proposal for ethical review. Working closely alongside your respective HREC for the duration of your study allows for greater flexibility in the in the conduction of research and collection of research outcomes.
Research governance refers to the processes used to ensure that research is conducted in-line with ethical principles, guidelines for responsible research, legislation and local and institutional policy. Elements of research governance include:
If you’re unsure, contact your local Research Governance Office and Research Governance Officer. Your local HREC will be able to point you in the right direction.
Public health organisations are required to conduct Site-Specific Assessment (SSA) of each research project to ensure that the organisation is a suitable site. This includes consideration of physical resources, staffing, insurance and indemnity requirements, and funding.
The SSA and HREC ethical review may occur at the same time, but decisions on SSA approval will only be made after the HREC has granted ethical approval. Each state or territory has a specific SSA form to be completed and submitted to the relevant research officer.
Research agreements are required for research with multiple partners, e.g. Universities, Research Organisations, private companies, or external health organisations. The agreement will outline the conditions of any collaboration for research, and the requirements of all parties in meeting their obligation in relation to the research project. The completion of this agreement is a collaboration between researchers and the governance officers, using the protocol and agreed processes to guide the details. A signed copy of the research agreement will be required to ensure approval of the SSA.
A research protocol is essential to produce high quality research outcomes. Protocols generally follow a conventional layout outlining the following details of the project:
| Study title | Hypothesis | Study procedures |
| Investigators | Study design | Statistical considerations and data |
| Introduction | Study setting/location | Analysis |
| Background | Study population | Ethical considerations |
| Aim | Participant eligibility criteria | Outcomes and significance |
| Objectives | Study outcomes | References |
The preparation of a protocol is important in the planning phase of a research project as:
It states the research question you aim to answer and how it will be answered
It encourages adequate consideration and planning of project details prior to commencement
It allows co-investigators to contribute to a dynamic document, including early review before completion
It acts as a record of the initial project aims and procedures, enabling the monitoring of project progress
It provides a basis for funding or human research ethics applications
The Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service provides a general protocol template, aiming to offer medical, nursing, midwifery and allied health researchers a generic guide suitable for a broader range of clinical and scientific research enquiries.
Here is an example of a published research protocol in obesity in Australia.
Participation in research is a choice made by an individual, parent, family or child. Consent is a requirement for all research involving human participants, under the conditions[1]:
A child or young person (age 0-17 years) cannot legally give consent on their own behalf to participate in research. A child or young person does have the ability to express their approval to participate or decide to withdraw from participation.
It’s important to consider a child’s level of maturity and the complexity of the research when asking for their assent. An assent form can help provide information in a clear, understandable way for the child or young person.
It’s critical to gather data about the participants in your research to understand their background. Demographic data can help provide new insights into your research, and link and explain results. It can also help to understand if you have recruited your target population, and what sort of populations you might like to recruit next.
Demographic data to consider collecting that are relevant to paediatric obesity, for example, include:
(as an indicator of socioeconomic status)
Outcome measures are directly related to your research question – what is it that you’re trying to determine, and what exactly do you need to measure to do this? Measuring outcomes is crucial to understanding the effectiveness of something.
Relevant to obesity and chronic disease, outcome measures may be measurable changes in:
Outcome measures may also refer to economic indicators, such as:
They may also be collected narratively (i.e. qualitative) – a research participant’s thoughts, attitudes and beliefs towards an aspect of your research are outcomes, and equally important in understanding the impact of your research impact.
Engaging with a Biostatistician from the early stages of research project development can help to set your project up for success. Biostatisticians can provide valuable advice and input across all stages of the research lifecycle, from concept development to writing a methodology, collecting data, analysing data and presenting data in simple, relatable and accurate ways.
QFAB Bioinformatics is Queensland’s core facility for providing support in bioinformatics, biostatistics and biodata to health researchers across Queensland and provides analysis, training and coaching services to researchers and clinicians. If you are a member of their partner institutions, you can access these services.
It’s a common story – trying to get new evidence or a new guideline into routine practice, but realising just how difficult, complex and challenging it is, and not always knowing if you were successful.
Translating research into practice means transforming our understanding of science and research into meaningful changes in clinical practice or health policy – it addresses the “know-do” gap. Research translation is known by many different names – knowledge translation, research into practice, diffusion, dissemination, knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) and knowledge implementation, as examples. The science of research translation is called implementation science.
The first step to effectively translating research into practice is you – the motivated clinician or researcher who has identified an evidence-based change in practice that needs to occur to improve the health and wellbeing of our population.
Queensland Health hosts a Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) online training program, delivered in partnership with AusHSI and Universities. TRIP training focuses on key aspects of successful research translation:
The initial plan for publication must involve selecting an appropriate journal to submit to, as different journals will have different guidelines to follow when preparing a manuscript. When selecting a journal consider the following [3]:
Many journals will provide a “how-to” guide on how to write and prepare a manuscript for publication acceptance. BMC Submission Guidelines provides an example of the requirements to be addressed for the submission process including [4]:
It is important to consider journal quality when planning to publish, identify journals relevant to your research and evaluate your overall publication metrics (please see research metrics outlined below). The following measures can be used to assess journal quality[5]:
| Indicator | Determining Factors |
|---|---|
| Impact Factor | A measure reflecting the annual average number of citations to recent articles published in that journal[5] |
| Citescore | Citations received in the previous year from all documents published in the previous 3 years. |
| SNIP (Source Normalised Impact Per Paper) | Calculated by citations received in the year from articles, reviews and conference papers published in the previous 3 years. |
| SJR (SCImago Journal Rank) | Citations are weighted on the prestige of the issuing journal, calculated by citations received in the year from articles, reviews and conference papers published in the previous 3 years. |
| Eigenfactor | Citations from highly cited journals influence the score more than citations from lesser cited journals, calculated by citation received in the year from publications in the previous 5 years. |
Increasing the number of ways research findings reach key audiences increases the chances of uptake and action. A dissemination strategy should be planned as part of any implementation research, involving a context-sensitive strategy designed to disseminate particular research findings to specific audiences[6].
A dissemination strategy should include the following:
Who will you engage to amplify your message?
What is the main message of your research findings and how will you frame it to resonate with your target audience?
What is the most effective ay to communicate your message to your target audience (e.g. social media, websites, conferences, traditional media, journals)?
How many people are you trying to reach and how often do you want to communicate with them to achieve the required impact?
Considering different cultural and political perspectives, how will your dissemination be perceived by different groups?
Conferences offer a great opportunity to develop your research career; providing a chance to network, learn about the latest research developments and understand the bigger picture in your respective field. Often you can begin to promote your work during the research phase at conferences [7]. Presenting your paper at a conference can be a valuable way of raising your profile as a researcher and obtaining valuable feedback to improve your research [8].
An abstract is one well-developed paragraph that covers all the essential academic elements of a full-length paper, including the background, purpose, focus, methods, results and conclusion of the research project. An abstract should be coherent and concise, able to be read as a standalone piece of information. Consider the following tips when writing an abstract [9]:
First re-read your paper/report for an overview
Condense each key section into 1-2 sentences, ensuring all major points are covered
Check the word length and further reduce your words if necessary, by rewriting some sentences into a more succinct format
If submitting an abstract for presentation at a relevant conference, ensure your abstract meets all requirements and guidelines outlined by the conference organising body
Make final edits to promote flow and expression of your abstract
Research metrics can provide evidence of influence or performance when applying for grants and promotions, quantify return on research investment when applying for grant renewals, highlight the research value in progress reports and identify who is using your published research[5]. Examples include:
The number of times that a journal article has appeared in the reference list of other articles and books [10]
An author-level metric calculated from the count of citations to an author’s set of publications [10]
An automatically calculated, weighted count of all the attention a research output has received online (as tracked by Altmetric) [12]
There are numerous social media platforms that can be utilised to promote your research. Check if researchers in your profession use a certain platform and focus your dissemination efforts there [7]:
Research and evaluation are often talked about in similar contexts. They both use methods to gather data and answer a question. However, both are different disciplines including different focusses and practices. Some of the key differences include [13]:
Produces generalisable knowledge
Judges merit or worth
Uses scientific inquiry
Includes the policy and program interests of stakeholders
Advances broad knowledge and theory
Provides information for decision making on a specific program
Involves a controlled setting
Is conducted within a range of settings
To be effective, evaluation of a service must be guided by a framework encompassing the following:
Service evaluation seeks to assess how well a service is achieving its intended aims. It is undertaken to improve the quality of a healthcare service to maximise the benefit of the service users. Evaluation results are used mainly to inform local decision-making. Services need to consider the following questions to help direct their evaluations:
Although the actual outcome measures will differ depending on the location, target population, key health professionals involved and capacity of the service being delivered, below are some suggestions to consider:
Capacity and reach of service (child’s appointments booked per week/month, attrition rates, referral sources, treatment/management time frames per child/family, number of families who withdrew or self-discharged from the service, geographical spread of children/families who attended); service costs; accessibility of service; child/family satisfaction with service; health professionals opinions and perspectives of service.
Improved health literacy, increased self-efficacy and confidence to implement healthy changes relating to nutrition and physical activity, a reduction in waist circumference and BMI, decreased blood lipid levels, decreased blood glucose levels and improved indicators of health-related quality of life.
Participating in research
Ethics and consent:
Interacting with the child or young person:
To conduct research successfully among vulnerable cultural populations, projects must include the following [16]:
The following framework has been designed by researchers in the field as an indication of key factors to address when conducting research with Māori and Pacific Islander cultural groups: Te Whetu Rehua: A Guide to Deciding Appropriate Activities for He Oranga Poutama from Developmental Evaluation Exemplars: Principles in Practice. [17]
The Healthier Together (previously Healthy Kids, Healthy Families) project is a community-based, face-to-face and culturally tailored obesity prevention program, targeting Māori and Pacific Islander families living in Logan. This program is part of the Good Start Program, a state-wide preventative health program that provides support for the health and wellbeing of Māori and Pacific Islander children and families. It is an initiative that aims to lower the levels of chronic disease and obesity of families using culturally-tailored education sessions and resources.
Delivered over 8-weeks, the program focusses on building the knowledge, skills and confidence of healthy eating, physical activity and positive parenting practices. The program is not only delivered by Multicultural Health Coaches identifying with a Māori and Pacific Islander cultural background, but it was also designed using a unique co-design methodology. This approach promotes equity and inclusion of all stakeholders, acknowledges and caters for diversity and creates a medium for openness, respect and shared purpose.
The co-design phase followed an evidence-based framework, with the following factors contributing to successful program development:
Read more about the co-design process.
Find out more about the current program, Healthier Together.
You can read more about the outcomes from the program in the following publication: Healthier Together: Implementation and evaluation of a co-designed, culturally tailored childhood obesity community prevention program for Māori and Pacific Islander children and families
Ethical research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and communities should:
Overweight and obesity is a contributing factor to chronic disease and contributes to the gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. [19] Childhood obesity is a significant public health concern leading to an increased risk of developing further chronic diseases later in life. In 2018, the Australian Research Alliance for Children & Youth (ARACY) estimated nationally childhood obesity affects 31.6% of young people (aged 5 – 24 years), however this figure is 40.1% for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. [20]
Engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healthcare workers in culturally based interventions is recommended, given that it is likely to improve receptivity and effectiveness of weight management interventions for children and their families. [21] [22]
The Making Tracks in Children’s Health (MaTCH) project, a partnership between Griffith University, Qld Child & Youth Clinical Network, Children’s Health Qld Hospital and Health Service and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community aimed to address the gap in childhood obesity service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
The project was being conducted in three phases under the advice of a Steering Committee with members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce and community.
Additional Reading
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