Research Organization Document

Section 1
***Your topic must be approved by the instructors before you can begin working on
this assignment
The purpose of this document is to organize your ideas and keep in mind the key
research components as you begin working through your research. Please refer to this
document often so that you remember the key questions you are answering and to update
the research components as you research them.
First, you will outline the 3 key components to selecting a research topic: a problem
that needs to be solved, evidence of gap in the literature (a summary of different journal
articles that support a similar topic or a journal article that says further research should be
conducted on the topic you are interested in researching), an active “references” page that
you update continuously to keep track of your research information.
For the “problem that needs to be solved section,” you need to decide what the
problem is for your research. This includes addressing a set of 5-7 questions that you need
to refer to often in your research to make sure that you are staying on topic. Key questions
should be your active research questions. When you have finished writing your research
paper, you reader should be able to address and answer these questions easily.
Now that you have identified your problem, you need to demonstrate that there is a
gap in the literature and therefore, a need for a topic to be researched. You will use your
outside resources to demonstrate that there is a gap in the literature. Refer back to your
literature gap assignment and follow that same process here. **It’ important to
differentiate between a topic that hasn’t been researched and a topic that shouldn’t be
researched. Not all topics that haven’t been researched should be.
The “references to support your research section” should include all of the references
you have used for your research in AMA formatting. Use this as a place to keep track of
your articles and update this often as you get into your research.
Finally, you will indicate the title of your official research topic. This may change as
you begin your research so it is important that you keep your topic updated so that the
instructor may track your progress through the research paper progression.
For most groups, this information was decided in the conference call with the
instructor so it should be easy to answer these questions.
All data, supporting research, drafts, outlines ect., will be kept in OneDrive. Each
group will have their own OneDrive folder to house all of this data and keep it in one place.
Throughout the development of your paper, instructors will review your folder to make
sure you are on track so it’s important that all of your resources be located there.
Instructors may periodically check-in on your data collection process, so it is ESSENTIAL
that all documents are labeled accurately and appropriately in OneDrive.
Problem that needs to be solved

Key questions that need to be answered

Evidence of gap in literature

References to support research

Finalized Research Topic

 Research approach
Section 2
The next section of your research organization document contains your research
template to follow as you begin your data collection. This section will change often but it
will help you to follow your goals closely as you progress.

Basic Study Components

1. Do any group members need to obtain IRB approval? (To determine if you need IRB
approval from your clinical site to conduct research, ask your clinical preceptor. The
preceptor should be aware of the protocol for your site or will be able to direct you
to the correct resource. If you DO need IRB approval you will most likely need to
prepare a formal research proposal and submit to the IRB.)

2. Will your study by prospective or retrospective?

3. Number of patients for data collection

4. Type of study (Ex: Comparison of planning techniques, comparison of OAR ect)

5. Roles of each group member (members may have multiple roles)

Group Leader (someone who will keep the group on track, make sure group
members are adhering to deadlines, be the direct point of contact for the
instructor with overall questions, update the research organization
document throughout the course of research)
Data Collector(s) (someone who will be doing the data collection and data
reporting in excel; maintaining journal entries)
Data analysis (someone who will be responsible for analyzing the raw data,
running any statistical tests and providing conclusive data for the writer)
Writer (someone who is responsible for writing the outline (later in the
course) and the paper; usually the best writer of the group takes this role)
Editor (someone who is responsible for checking each draft for errors and
providing feedback and corrections to writer)
**The roles must be assigned in such a way that all of the work is divided equally.
For example, if 2 of 3 group members are data collectors, the 3rd group member
should be the writer. Only 1 group member can write the paper so that the tone
of paper is consistent. Because the writing is such a large part of the research
paper, the writer should have a smaller part in the other aspects of the research
paper.
Data Collection Details
1. How many clinical sites will you be collecting data from?

2. What information are you interested in (if a planning study, list structures for
evaluation; if a study survey, list your study questions)?

3. What are your inclusion criteria? Exclusion criteria?

4. How will you limit the number of variables in your study? (For example, if you are
doing a planning study, only 1 person should be doing the planning to eliminate the
variables.)

5. Read through Chapter 20 in your textbook. Are you interested in completing a

statistical analysis on this data? If so, what parameters will you be analyzing? (p-
value, mean, t-test ect.). (Keep in mind that anything beyond the test listed might be
required for your paper. The UWL stats center is an excellent resource for students
need a more complex statistical analysis. If you don’t know if you should do a more
in-depth analysis, reach out to the stats center and they will be able to provide you
with insight. It is also important to note that statistical analysis of any kind will add
robustness and validity to your research study!) Why do you think that those
metrics will be best for your topic?

6. Where will you house your data? (Excel ect., this will all be housed in OneDrive).
7. How will you anonymize your patients? (It is often necessary to transfer data sets or
patient information between group members. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you
respect HIPPA protocols! If you need to transfer data sets between facilities, we can
assist you through ProKnow. If you simply need to transfer data using a
spreadsheet, you must anonymize the patient information. It is up to you to decide
how to do this).

8. What resources (in addition to the literature search) are available for you to use?

9. Previous research study that will be used for data analysis (ex: RTOG study
constraints):

10. List a loose weekly deadline for your data collection. (If you want to add writing
deadlines as well, feel free. However, paper due dates will be assigned in Research II
and Research III). It is very easy to be overwhelmed with this project, therefore, it is
ESSENTIAL that you set yourselves up for success and set deadlines within your
group to stay on track. We cannot set the deadlines for you because every project
develops at a different rate and with differing complexities. Based on your
deadlines, we will setup conference calls with each group to check-in. Remember
that this project will continue from now until graduation. You will get busy with
other courses and clinicals therefore, it’s essential to lay the foundation for success
with this project.
This document will serve as your research organizer and research guide. Refer to it often so
that you stay on track with project development. This document may change as your study
progresses and that’s perfectly fine.