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Mike Saks is Professor and Pro Vice Chancellor (Research and Academic Affairs) at the University of Lincoln, UK. He was previously Dean of Health and Community Studies at De Montfort University. He has published extensively on health research in books such as Developing Research in Primary Care (Radcliffe Medical Press, 2000), Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Challenge and Change (Routledge, 2003) and Orthodox and Alternative Medicine: Professionalization, Politics and Health Care (Sage, 2003). He has been a member/chair of many NHS committees at all levels, including on research and development. Mike Saks has also acted as an adviser to the UK Department of Health, most recently on health support workers and the Shipman Inquiry. He has been a central participant in a number of funded international health projects and is President-elect of the Executive of the International Sociological Association Research Committee on Professional Groups.

Judith Allsop is Professor of Health Policy at the University of Lincoln, UK. She is also Emerita Professor at London Southbank University. She has written a number of books and articles on health policy, the professions, consumers and complaints. Recent books include, with Mike Saks, Regulating the Health Professions (Sage, 2002) and, with R. Baggott and K.Jones, Speaking for Patients, Health Consumer Groups and the Policy Process (Palgrave, 2005). She has been a policy adviser to various government bodies and most recently was commissioned by the Department of Health to undertake studies of health professional regulation in the UK and medical regulation in an international context.

Chapter overview

The chapter sums up the main cross-chapter themes: methods and research questions are closely linked; mixed methods are commonly employed; and research design and planning are essential. The challenge of writing up research findings and getting published are discussed together with the conventions related to writing up quantitative and qualitative research.

Chapter links

Chapter 3 - Doing a Literature Review in Health
Chapter 11 - Statistical Methods for Health Data Analysis
Chapter 16 - Mixed Methods and Multidisciplinary Research in Health Care

Suggested Online Readings

Elliott, S J., O'Loughlin, J., Robinson, K., Eyles, J., Cameron, R., Harvey, D., Raine, K. and Gelskey, D. (2003) ‘Conceptualizing dissemination research and activity: The case of the Canadian heart health initiative’, Health Education and Behaviour, 30 (3): 267-82.

This paper presents conceptual and analytic frameworks that integrate several approaches to understanding and studying how information on health care be disseminated in public health systems. It draws on the Canadian Heart Health Dissemination Project, a research programme examining a national heart health dissemination initiative. The primary focus is on the development of a systematic protocol for measuring levels of capacity and dissemination, and determining successful conditions for, and barriers to, capacity and dissemination, as well as the nature of the relationship between these key concepts.

Jasper, M.A. (2005) ‘Using Reflective Writing within Research’, Journal of Research in Nursing, 10 (3): 247-60.

Reflective writing has become established as a key component of reflective practice, and central to the notion of learning from experience in a way expected of competent researchers. The paper considers the features of reflective writing and its use in qualitative research as a method in its own right, as a data source and within the analytical processes. It is argued that, although reflective writing is expected in qualitative research reports, reflexivity is also an essential component in writing about methodology and the choice and use of research methods.

Wolcott, H. F. (2002) ‘Writing up Qualitative Research...Better’, Qualitative Health Research, 12 (1): 91-103.

This paper argues that traditional techniques for determining the order in which research is presented in written form, the "Chapter Two" in many studies, and the segregation of topics - such as the literature review, theory, and method - should be reconsidered. These components should be integrated into a report only as needed. It suggests that in qualitative research based on participant observation, the emphasis on methodology can detract from the insights contained in a narrative. The paper concludes that writing style can be more engaging when writers are free to break with tradition and present their findings in discovery-oriented ways.

Further Reading

Becker, H.S. (2000) Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. 2nd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

In this book, Becker, a master of research and pioneer in qualitative methods, provides a readable and stimulating account of the writing process based on long experience of teaching doctoral students at universities in the United States.

Johnson, M. (2004) Effective Writing for Health Professionals: A Practical Guide to Getting Published. London: Routledge.

This book provides insights and strategies for publishing and has the advantage of being specifically directed towards a health professional audience.

Schober, J. and Farrington, A. (2000) ‘Presenting and Disseminating Research’, in Saks, M., Williams, M. and Hancock, B. (eds.) Developing Research in Primary Care. Abingdon: Radcliffe Medical Press.

This chapter provides concisely expressed advice on writing up a research project, as well on presenting and disseminating research in the health field.

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