Essentials of Research Methodology

Scientific research plays a very important role in our efforts to maintain health and combating diseases. Research helps us to create new knowledge and develop proper tools for the use of existing knowledge. This Book on “Essesntials of Research Methodology” is primarily aimed at health science students. It is also hoped to be useful for other individuals who would like to understand the basic principles and undertake health research.

The literature on research methodologies is vast. Researchers and scientists worldwide nowadays have access to enormous, and growing, information resources which provide in-depth knowledge, training, and education to enhance and improve research. This book for Health Researchers is, however, quite unique. It is different in that it is not a classical textbook on research methodology, but focuses directly on those who carry out health research or aspire to do so in the future. It embodies the seriousness, the sincerity, and the passion of the author to guide and direct the reader in her or his pursuit of research to seek new knowledge, identify problems and provide answers. This book is more than a text on research methods. It is a guide to the theoretical concepts of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. There is a strong belief that this book will serve as a guideline for undergraduate health science students as they are required to identify the most important health problems and carry out some research work.

I am immensely grateful to all those who have helped me directly and/or indirectly in preparing the content of this book. I firmly believe that there is always scope for improvement and accordingly I shall look forward to receive suggestions for further enriching the quality of the text.