Research methodology in dentistry: Part II - The relevance of statistics in research

Difficulties experienced by endodontics researchers in conducting studies and writing papers

Objectives

The study investigated the difficulties experienced by endodontics researchers around the world in conducting studies and writing papers.

Materials and Methods

A survey consisting of 18 questions on the difficulties experienced by endodontics researchers in performing studies and writing papers was e-mailed to academics in the field of endodontics working at 202 universities. The independent risk factors were analyzed using binary logistic regression at a significance level of 0.05.

Results

A total of 581 individuals (10.7%) agreed to participate in the study. Almost half the participants (48.2%) reported that they had received some type of training in conducting studies and writing papers. In response to the question, "Do you get help from a statistician to perform the statistical analyses of your studies?," 77.1% answered "yes." Around 40% of the participants stated that the need to obtain ethical approval negatively affected their desire to conduct studies. The participants' regions had no effect on the reported difficulties associated with writing papers in English or conducting statistical analyses (p > 0.05). Most participants (81.8%) reported difficulties in writing the Discussion section, regardless of their region, academic degrees, or years of experience.

Conclusions

The participants stated they experienced difficulties in many areas, such as conducting statistical analyses, finding new ideas, and writing in English. Engaging in a detailed examination of ethics committee rules, expanding biostatistics education, increasing the number of institutions providing research funding, and increasing the number of endodontics journals can increase the enthusiasm of endodontics researchers to publish papers.

CRIS Guidelines (Checklist for Reporting In-vitro Studies): A concept note on the need for standardized guidelines for improving quality and transparency in reporting in-vitro studies in experimental dental research

In vitro studies form a pivotal role in dental research contribution to a substantial evidence base. The reporting standards of these studies are not uniform thus resulting in lacunae in evidence reported. The effort of this concept note is to propose a Checklist for Reporting in vitro Studies (CRIS guidelines) that would promote quality and transparency in reporting in vitro studies.

Periodontal Research: Basics and beyond - Part II (Ethical issues, sampling, outcome measures and bias)

A good research beginning refers to formulating a well-defined research question, developing a hypothesis and choosing an appropriate study design. The first part of the review series has discussed these issues in depth and this paper intends to throw light on other issues pertaining to the implementation of research. These include the various ethical norms and standards in human experimentation, the eligibility criteria for the participants, sampling methods and sample size calculation, various outcome measures that need to be defined and the biases that can be introduced in research.

Periodontal Research: Basics and beyond - Part III (Data presentation, statistical testing, interpretation and writing of a report)

Statistical analysis is the backbone of research and however befuddling it is to a clinician, it is crucial for a researcher to understand the various assumptions underlying the statistical methods. This paper aims at simplifying the various statistical methods that are routinely used in periodontal research. Data presentation, the relevance of clinical as against statistical significance and writing of a report are also discussed.