Research Proposal: Ovarian Cancer Screening Effectiveness in the US

This research proposal examines the effectiveness of ovarian cancer screening in the United States, specifically focusing on postmenopausal women. It addresses the problem of ovarian cancer being a leading cause of death and investigates whether screening reduces mortality rates. The study aims to identify the effectiveness of screening in treating ovarian cancer patients who have reached menopause, understand the challenges faced by women due to menopause, cancer, and the economic burden of tests, and address gaps in medical literature regarding these women's experiences and family support. The research will employ a qualitative design using an inductive approach, focusing on data collection and analysis to develop theories. Data collection will involve staff with relevant academic backgrounds through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews in public and private hospitals in Chicago. The research will use non-probability sampling, specifically convenience or judgmental sampling, to reach oncologists in hospitals. The study also details ethical considerations, timelines, resources, and a budget for the research project.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

1
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
Table of Contents
Introduction/Background.................................................................................................................2
Description of the research topic.................................................................................................2
Addressed problem or issue.........................................................................................................3
Research Objective......................................................................................................................4
Research Questions......................................................................................................................4
Study description.............................................................................................................................5
Staff..............................................................................................................................................5
Research design...........................................................................................................................5
The context and setting for the proposed research......................................................................7
Sample.........................................................................................................................................8
Data collection tools....................................................................................................................8
Procedures for data collection.....................................................................................................9
Timeline and resources....................................................................................................................9
Budget........................................................................................................................................13
Potential ethical issues...................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15

2
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
Topic: Effectiveness of ovarian cancer screening after menopause to reduce rate of ovarian
cancer in US.
Introduction/Background
Description of the research topic
According to the American Cancer Society in United States of America, ovarian cancer is
the fifth highest cause of death and has been reported the as the primary cause of death among
women. It has been reported as the highest cause of gynecological death in USA. It has been
found that 95 per cent of the ovarian cancer deaths occur among who are 45 years and older (Siu,
2015). The Preventive Services Task Force (UPSTF) have reviewed several evidence on the
potential harm and benefits of screening of patients with ovarian cancer. In this case, high risk
includes for these female cancer patients specific hereditary cancer syndromes that would
heighten their risk of ovarian cancer. Some of the outcomes of ovarian cancer include quality of
life, cancer mortality, false positive rate, rates of surgical complication and surgery, and the
mental health condition post the screening (Neuman, 2013). According to USPTF, it was found
that the belief that the screening of ovarian cancer reduce ovarian cancer is false. On the
contrary, screening of ovarian cancer can cause potential harm to the cancer survivors. There are
situations when the cancer survivors have to undergo surgical procedures that have been found as
unnecessary by a section of doctors and scholars specializing in science & technology studies.
Transvaginal ultrasonography is considered an important part of ovarian cancer screening trials.
There is the scenario where there is lack of mortality benefit of screening to test the results
relevant to surgery. It has concluded that there is moderate certainty about the potential harms of
screening of screening that is higher compared to the benefits. The positive value of ovarian
cancer has been low and the number of women who have incurred positive predictive value are

3
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
not the ones detected with cancer. It has further been found that depending on the kinds of test
used, the danger on the lives of women varies. TVS (Transvaginal ultrasonography) has been
understood as effective for detecting the pathological condition in ovarian volume of the female
patients and their morphology. However, Transvaginal ultrasonography has been considered by
experts to be less reliable in distinguishing between benign from the malignant tumour.
Addressed problem or issue
The critical review of the existing literature along with the engagement with the
government sources on the impact of screening on the ovarian cancer survivors have found that
there are ambivalent views. Cancer has been understood as one the main causes of death and
ovarian cancer is being looked as the fifth highest cause of death in United States. The broader
research question of this study is to identify whether screening is effective for the
postmenopausal patients who have survived ovarian cancer. Menopause has been defined as the
juncture in the life of a woman when her menstrual cycle creases owing to the depletion of the
ovarian oocytes as a result of ageing. Some of the symptoms of menopause are low estrogen
production in women that leads to vasometer instability like night sweats and hot flashes,
psychological changes, genital tract atrophy, changes in the skin, insomnia amongst others.
Another symptom of menopause is abnormal bleeding in the vagina and the low production of
androgen hormones. Cancer being one of the highest causes of death all over the world
especially in United States, it is important to conduct a study that is committed in understanding
the revolution of technology (in this case screening) and its scope in ameliorating the condition
of ovarian cancer patients in their menopausal stage.

4
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
Research Objective
 To identify the effectiveness of screening in the treatment of ovarian cancer patients who
have attained menopause.
 To understand the plight of women due to their biological condition of menopause,
cancer and the economic burden of these test.
 To compensate for the lacunae in medical and healthcare literature in delving into the
lives of these women and the family support received by them during the process of
screening and after that.
Research Questions
 What are the effectiveness of screening in the treatment of ovarian cancer patients who
have attained menopause?
 What are the plight of women due to their biological condition of menopause, cancer and
the economic burden of these test?
 Whether there has been a lacunae in medical and healthcare literature in delving into the
lives of these women and the family support received by them during the process of
screening and after that?
Study description
Staff
According to Farr and Cressey (2015), staff perspectives in the domain of healthcare
services, developing, and analyzing the different performance is important to understand the
status of healthcare. Having an understanding of the perspectives of the staff is important as it

5
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
enable in understanding the quality of healthcare and seeking mechanisms about the different
mechanisms in assessing and managing quality of healthcare. The staff who will be in charge of
conducting the research will be students in their masters degree pursuing medical sociology,
anthropology of health and students in community health. The rationale behind the deployment
of students for the collection of data as it will give them an opportunity to understand the
nuances of fieldwork, familiarity with participant observation and it will give them a firsthand
experience of fieldwork. The staff of the research will be students who have completed their
masters degree and would be available during the summer period for conducting the research.
The staff will be comprised of Anne, Rheson and Harry. Anne has completed her masters in
science health sociology; Rheson has completed her masters in medical anthropology and Harry
who has earned his master’s degree in science in community health.
Research design
The term research philosophy or epistemology refers to the belief or principle of data
collection about a particular phenomenon (Lewis, 2015). This indicates about the source of
knowledge and the ways in which knowledge should be pursued and provides the direction about
the way in which knowledge will be interpreted and presented. The term research design refers to
the systematic plan of action that guides the researcher about the actions and thoughts that would
be used for conducting the research. The approach that would be adopted by the study is
inductive approach. The thrust of inductive approach is to develop theory or look into the pattern
of meaning during the phase of data collection. In this case, the approach of data collection and
subsequent analysis will be methodical but at the same time would allow greater opportunity for
flexibility compared to quantitative research (Ritchie, Lewis, Nicholls & Ormston, 2013).

6
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
There can be different kinds of epistemologies- positivist, post-structuralist, interpretivist,
and constructivist, Marxist, critical social science research and post-modernist. Given the nature,
quintessence and thrust of the study I would like to employ the qualitative research design. The
feature of qualitative research is that strive to produce an understanding from the data to the
analysis of the data. The research design of the qualitative study is quite different from the other
kinds of research design especially quantitative research design. Unlike quantitative research
where there is a hypothesis to guide the researcher, the qualitative research begins with a broader
research question. It has been found that qualitative research is not usually preemptive. The
indications, forms and scope of the research is obtained from the question (Sanjari,
Bahramnezhad, Fomani, Shoghi & Cheraghi, 2014). Designing a qualitative research is both
challenging and at the same time insightful for the researcher. As the research problem has been
identified, the first step is to design the pacing of process and determine the strategies that are to
be used in the research. There is also the need to look after the project as a whole. The aspect of
pacing of the project includes planning and sequencing of the components and the movement
between the phase of collection of data and the analysis. The term research design is concerned
with being moulded and cast by the method and is conducive to the context of research.
An efficient research design draws from the scope of the research and the nature of data
to be collected. The scope of research refers to the domain of inquiry, reach and coverage of the
project. The scope of research is concerned with the strength, possibilities as well as the
limitations of the research along with the areas that are to be researched. It has been found that
definitions of the topic and the pertinent concepts and theories as envisaged by the researcher. It
is important for the researcher to process the data and then analyze the data. In qualitative
research the scope of the sample and the selection of the setting are guided by two key principles.

7
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
The setting in the research is purposively selected. This entails selecting the most optimal
illustration of the phenomenon and the setting in which the research is to be conducted. Once the
setting is decided and selected by the researcher, the next step is to engage in thorough
observations of the setting. Given the nature of the research, the setting or the universe of study
of the research will be public hospitals and private hospitals in Chicago , United States.
This research will integrate both primary collection of data as well engaging with the
secondary sources of data. The primary data will be collected by the staff and the sampling of
the research will be done through probability sampling (Siu, 2016). The term research population
refers to the population on whom the research will be conducted and the sampling population
refers to the population that is representative of the characteristics of the research population.
The independent variable of the study is screening of the ovarian cancer survivors who are
menopausal and the dependant variable of the study is effectiveness of screening to reduce
ovarian cancer in USA. Since this qualitative research there is no hypothesis. Instead, a broader
researcher question has been discussed in the study description section of the research.
The context and setting for the proposed research
To accomplish the goals and objectives of the research, the setting or the universe of
study for the research will be private and public hospitals. The rationale behind choosing the
public and the private hospitals is to find the relevant stakeholders of the healthcare organization
like the doctors, nurses and patients suffering from ovarian cancer. However, the major focus
will be to select hospitals where there is a thrust of cancer research and cancer treatment.

8
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
Sample
The term research population refers to the group that is compatible for the purpose of the
research. However, a research cannot accommodate all the people in the given population
therefore a sample population is selected for the purpose of the research to study the given
phenomenon. The sample population possess the characteristics that is representative of the
research population (Suri, 2011). Considering the qualitative research design, the sampling
framework for this study will be non-probability sampling. This refers to the researcher being
aware about the location of the research participants. Convenience or judgmental sampling
technique will be adopted for the purpose of the research for reaching out to the oncologists in
five public hospital and five private hospital (Taylor, Bogdan, & DeVault, 2015). The rationale
behind selecting oncologists for the purpose of the study is to derive information about cancer,
ovarian cancer, profiling of the patients and the impact of screening on postmenopausal ovarian
cancer survivors.
Data collection tools
Focused group discussions will be conducted with the patients in the community hall of
Chicago where the patients will be shown a documentary about ovarian cancer and the impact of
screening that would be followed by discussion. Focused group discussions will be taking place
for three times. Each time the group will comprise of 10-12 participants and the role of the
researcher would be moderate the discussion. Clinical records will be used for the purpose of
secondary data analysis this provide an insight into the recent spate of research on the outcomes
of screening on the ovarian cancer patients who are in their postmenopausal stage. Face-to-face
personal interviews with the research participants will enable in establishing rapport with the

9
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
research participants and understanding their viewpoints regarding the effectives of screening for
ovarian cancer treatment (Siegel, Miller & Jemal, 2018).
Procedures for data collection
The doctors and registration notebooks possessed by the hospital authority will contact
the patients through the medical records possessed. Another technique of contacting the ovarian
cancer patients will be through the snowballing process. The number of oncologists who will be
interviewed for the study is 20 and the number of patients who will be interviewed for the study
is 30. However, the numbers may change depending on the progress of fieldwork. Ethical
measures will be followed by seek by informing a priori about the purpose of the research.
However before the actual research, a pilot study will be conducted to test whether the given
interview schedule in effective in understanding the proposed research objectives. After the
collection of data, the data will be coded and transcribed and analyzed through the appropriate
theories.
Timeline and resources
1st week 2nd week 3rd
wee
k
4th week 5th
wee
k
6th
wee
k
7th week 8th
wee
k
9th
and
10th
wee
k
Drafting of
the research
proposal
Yes
(resource
s at this
stage will

10
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
be online
literature
collected
from
scopus,
proquest,
google
scholar
and
journal
of
medical
ethics)
Literature
review and
secondary
data research
Yes Yes
Pilot study Yes
(resources
that will be
used at this
stage be
questionnaire
)
Yes Yes
Fieldwork or
collection of
Yes
(resources
Yes Yes

11
RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HEALTH SERVICE
data(intervie
w, focused
group
discussion
and case
study)
that will be
collected at
this stage
will
projector for
screening a
documentary
,
questionnair
e, semi-
structured
interview
schedule
Coding and
Transcription
of data
Yes (the
resource
require
in this
stage
will be
print
and
online
literatur
e to link
the
findings