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Find the meaning of terms and acronyms used by the HRA.

This section will help you with these activities and highlights best practice, legal frameworks and other resources and will also keep you up to date with the latest changes and updates to regulations.

The key to successful research is planning. In this section we provide information and resources about the elements that should form part of your early planning.

Before setting the research question for the project you are planning, we recommend that you conduct a review of the relevant existing scientific literature.

A wide range of bodies fund health and social care research. It is vital to the success of your project that it is costed accurately. Your local research and development office can suggest suitable sources of funding, and advise you on costing your project. It is important to understand the distinctions between research costs, support costs and treatment costs and how they are provided.

Research projects are diverse and so you will need to consider and identify the methodology that is appropriate for your particular project. Key to this activity is being clear about the purpose of the research and formulating your research question.

It is important to ensure you have the right people in the correct roles supporting your project. When it comes to your project based research we would expect your research team to include the following roles, which is in line with policy and legislation; Sponsor; Sponsor’s legal representative; Chief Investigator; and Principal Investigator.

Student studies are those undertaken primarily for the purpose of obtaining an educational qualification. Studies where the main purpose is to undertake the specific research and the educational qualification is secondary do not fall into this category.

The research protocol is an essential part of a research project. It is a full description of the research study and will act as a ‘manual’ for members of the research team to ensure everyone adheres to the methods outlined. As the study gets underway, it can then be used to monitor the study’s progress and evaluate its outcomes.

If your research project involves direct contact with patients, the Research Ethics Committee will want to know how you intend to identify potential participants. There are a number of things to consider including confidentiality and information governance.