Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Turato,Egberto Ribeiro
Data de Publicação: 2006
Outros Autores: Machado,Alexandre Cason, Silva,Douglas Fini, Carvalho,Guilherme Machado de, Verderosi,Natalia Reis, Souza,Thiago Ferreira de
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: São Paulo medical journal (Online)
Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802006000400011
Resumo: CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Medical literature should consist of knowledge applicable to professional education; nevertheless, the profusion of articles in databases provokes disquiet among students. The authors considered the premise that scientific production in the field of health follows a mechanical description of phenomena without the clarity of motivating questions. The aim was to interpret material from expert reports, applied by medical students to analyze articles from renowned journals. DESIGN AND SETTING: This research project was exploratory, searching for latent meanings regarding methodological problems in a sample of papers. It was performed in a Brazilian medical school. METHODS: The sample was intentionally built, consisting of articles related to original research in the field of health, published over the previous five years. The results came from text content analysis, performed by a professor and his medical students. RESULTS: (1) Failure to state a hypothesis is an equivocal practice: articles did not show clarity of hypothesis to demonstrate that their authors had epistemological knowledge of the methods chosen. (2) There is a certain belief that in normal scientific practice, hypotheses are unnecessary: studies without explicit hypotheses led to suppositions that they merely repeat dominant models. (3) Presentation of common sense as scientific conclusions: research brings together what would have mobilized the researchers initially. CONCLUSIONS: Absence of formal hypotheses leaves scientific production vulnerable when put under epistemological discussion. Conclusions from scientific articles are often confounded with common-sense statements. Quantitative research is suggested, for studying the frequency of occurrence of these dubious methodological points.
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spelling Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusionsMedical educationKnowledgeMethodsQualitative researchResearch designCONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Medical literature should consist of knowledge applicable to professional education; nevertheless, the profusion of articles in databases provokes disquiet among students. The authors considered the premise that scientific production in the field of health follows a mechanical description of phenomena without the clarity of motivating questions. The aim was to interpret material from expert reports, applied by medical students to analyze articles from renowned journals. DESIGN AND SETTING: This research project was exploratory, searching for latent meanings regarding methodological problems in a sample of papers. It was performed in a Brazilian medical school. METHODS: The sample was intentionally built, consisting of articles related to original research in the field of health, published over the previous five years. The results came from text content analysis, performed by a professor and his medical students. RESULTS: (1) Failure to state a hypothesis is an equivocal practice: articles did not show clarity of hypothesis to demonstrate that their authors had epistemological knowledge of the methods chosen. (2) There is a certain belief that in normal scientific practice, hypotheses are unnecessary: studies without explicit hypotheses led to suppositions that they merely repeat dominant models. (3) Presentation of common sense as scientific conclusions: research brings together what would have mobilized the researchers initially. CONCLUSIONS: Absence of formal hypotheses leaves scientific production vulnerable when put under epistemological discussion. Conclusions from scientific articles are often confounded with common-sense statements. Quantitative research is suggested, for studying the frequency of occurrence of these dubious methodological points.Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM2006-01-01info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontext/htmlhttp://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802006000400011Sao Paulo Medical Journal v.124 n.4 2006reponame:São Paulo medical journal (Online)instname:Associação Paulista de Medicinainstacron:APM10.1590/S1516-31802006000400011info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessTurato,Egberto RibeiroMachado,Alexandre CasonSilva,Douglas FiniCarvalho,Guilherme Machado deVerderosi,Natalia ReisSouza,Thiago Ferreira deeng2006-10-30T00:00:00Zoai:scielo:S1516-31802006000400011Revistahttp://www.scielo.br/spmjhttps://old.scielo.br/oai/scielo-oai.phprevistas@apm.org.br1806-94601516-3180opendoar:2006-10-30T00:00São Paulo medical journal (Online) - Associação Paulista de Medicinafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions
title Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions
spellingShingle Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions
Turato,Egberto Ribeiro
Medical education
Knowledge
Methods
Qualitative research
Research design
title_short Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions
title_full Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions
title_fullStr Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions
title_full_unstemmed Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions
title_sort Research publications in the field of health: omission of hypotheses and presentation of common-sense conclusions
author Turato,Egberto Ribeiro
author_facet Turato,Egberto Ribeiro
Machado,Alexandre Cason
Silva,Douglas Fini
Carvalho,Guilherme Machado de
Verderosi,Natalia Reis
Souza,Thiago Ferreira de
author_role author
author2 Machado,Alexandre Cason
Silva,Douglas Fini
Carvalho,Guilherme Machado de
Verderosi,Natalia Reis
Souza,Thiago Ferreira de
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Turato,Egberto Ribeiro
Machado,Alexandre Cason
Silva,Douglas Fini
Carvalho,Guilherme Machado de
Verderosi,Natalia Reis
Souza,Thiago Ferreira de
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Medical education
Knowledge
Methods
Qualitative research
Research design
topic Medical education
Knowledge
Methods
Qualitative research
Research design
description CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Medical literature should consist of knowledge applicable to professional education; nevertheless, the profusion of articles in databases provokes disquiet among students. The authors considered the premise that scientific production in the field of health follows a mechanical description of phenomena without the clarity of motivating questions. The aim was to interpret material from expert reports, applied by medical students to analyze articles from renowned journals. DESIGN AND SETTING: This research project was exploratory, searching for latent meanings regarding methodological problems in a sample of papers. It was performed in a Brazilian medical school. METHODS: The sample was intentionally built, consisting of articles related to original research in the field of health, published over the previous five years. The results came from text content analysis, performed by a professor and his medical students. RESULTS: (1) Failure to state a hypothesis is an equivocal practice: articles did not show clarity of hypothesis to demonstrate that their authors had epistemological knowledge of the methods chosen. (2) There is a certain belief that in normal scientific practice, hypotheses are unnecessary: studies without explicit hypotheses led to suppositions that they merely repeat dominant models. (3) Presentation of common sense as scientific conclusions: research brings together what would have mobilized the researchers initially. CONCLUSIONS: Absence of formal hypotheses leaves scientific production vulnerable when put under epistemological discussion. Conclusions from scientific articles are often confounded with common-sense statements. Quantitative research is suggested, for studying the frequency of occurrence of these dubious methodological points.
publishDate 2006
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2006-01-01
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802006000400011
url http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802006000400011
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv 10.1590/S1516-31802006000400011
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv text/html
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Sao Paulo Medical Journal v.124 n.4 2006
reponame:São Paulo medical journal (Online)
instname:Associação Paulista de Medicina
instacron:APM
instname_str Associação Paulista de Medicina
instacron_str APM
institution APM
reponame_str São Paulo medical journal (Online)
collection São Paulo medical journal (Online)
repository.name.fl_str_mv São Paulo medical journal (Online) - Associação Paulista de Medicina
repository.mail.fl_str_mv revistas@apm.org.br
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