Table 2.
Survey questions to assess confidence in research methodology, enjoyment of research, interest in pursuing research during and after residency, and the perception of research importance using a five-point Likert scale
| Survey Questions | Pre-Curriculum Survey Response (n = 25) | Post-Curriculum Survey Response (n = 21) | Difference (95%CI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confidence in Research Knowledge – How confident are you in your ability to… | |||
| appraise the quality of a scientific journal article? | 2.48 | 2.81 | 0.33 (−-0.19, 0.85) |
| to define research? | 3.00 | 3.24 | 0.24 (−0.25, 0.73) |
| identify various types of research? | 2.88 | 3.29 | 0.41 (−0.08, 0.89) |
| recognize stages of clinical/translational research? | 2.32 | 3.00 | 0.68 (0.12, 1.24)* |
| to list different types of epidemiology studies? | 2.17 | 2.57 | 0.40 (−0.19, 1.00) |
| to define key characteristics and limitations of cross-sectional studies? | 2.56 | 2.86 | 0.30 (−0.30, 0.90) |
| define key characteristics and limitations of cohort studies? | 2.52 | 2.86 | 0.34 (−0.25, 0.93) |
| Confidence in Research Skills - How confident are you in your ability to… | |||
| identify an appropriate research mentor and to develop a research project? | 2.56 | 2.67 | 0.11 (−0.52, 0.74) |
| identify steps of the scientific method? | 3.24 | 3.43 | 0.19 (−0.39, 0.77) |
| use PubMed for literature searches? | 3.32 | 3.52 | 0.20 (−0.46, 0.87) |
| use Google Scholar for literature searches? | 3.16 | 3.43 | 0.27 (−0.40, 0.93) |
| identify resources for conducting an effective literature search? | 3.20 | 3.38 | 0.18 (−0.47, 0.84) |
| list the various types of publications? | 2.76 | 3.10 | 0.34 (−0.29, 0.96) |
| describe the elements of a manuscript? | 3.00 | 3.57 | 0.57 (−0.09, 1.23) |
| describe an effective abstract? | 2.88 | 3.10 | 0.22 (−0.42, 0.85) |
| list resources for improving one’s writing skills? | 2.44 | 2.90 | 0.46 (−0.17, 1.10) |
| describe the need for transparency and its impact on the research process? | 3.00 | 3.48 | 0.48 (−0.08, 1.04) |
| describe the need for rigor and reproducibility and their impact on the research process? | 3.12 | 3.48 | 0.36 (−0.28, 0.99) |
| identify approaches to enhance the transparency, rigor, and reproducibility of your research project? | 2.68 | 3.29 | 0.61 (0.02, 1.19)* |
| list resources for study design and data analysis? | 2.29 | 2.86 | 0.57 (0.00, 1.13)* |
| list venues for presenting research projects? | 2.28 | 3.00 | 0.72 (0.07, 1.38)* |
| Interest in Research | |||
| How much do you enjoy conducting research?^ | 2.36 | 1.95 | −0.41 (−0.97, 0.15) |
| I am interested in pursuing research opportunities DURING residency. † | 3.52 | 3.00 | −0.52 (−1.16, 0.12) |
| I am interested in pursuing research opportunities AFTER residency. † | 2.96 | 2.39 | −0.58 (−1.29. 0.13) |
| Perception in Importance † | |||
| Research experience is important to my residency training. | 3.44 | 3.24 | −0.20 (−0.76, 0.35) |
The scale ranged from 1 (Not confident) to 5 (100% confident).
^
Responses ranged from 1 (Not at all) to 5 (It is one of the greatest pleasures of my life).
†
Responses ranged from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). Mean differences with their 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI) performed with Student T-test.
*
P value < 0.05.