Prep Analysis Study

Conduct a research study investigation on the following PICO question:
“In the case of sexually active MSM, does consistent consumption of Prep in comparison to inconsistent or no usage of Prep lower the prevalence of HIV?”
Follow the following steps:

Population and Sample
In this section (include all bullet points below to receive full points):
• Describe the sampling approach (non-probability versus probability, and the specific type of strategy under the approach you choose [e.g. purposive, cluster, snowball])
o Why are you using this approach?
• Identify the targeted sample, “who” will be part of the study?
• Describe your sampling frame: targeted characteristics (race, age, culture, sexual orientation, gender, mental health status, SES, etc [think of your research question—what characteristics are you interested in; for example, youth (ages 10-15) who have been a victim of violence; Hispanic gay men (ages 50-65) with a history of depression]; how many people will be part of your study, what is your “sample size” . Example: This researcher plans to recruit a sample size of 100 at-risk youth….
• Describe where you will find these people? Location could include, prisons, mental health clinic, schools, hospital, etc. (think about where you are evaluating the program)
• Provide a description of how/where you would find your sample for the study: where would you go, what characteristics would you be looking for (this is called inclusion/exclusion criteria)? How many people will be included?
Study Design
• In this section, describe the research design you will be using. Specifically:
• 1) Identify the type of design: needs assessment*, experimental, quasi, pre-experimental, and then the specific type within the designs (e.g., time series, classic experiment, one-group posttest only)
• i) What is your rationale for using this design? Is your study an outcome evaluation, a needs assessment, a formative study, or process evaluation?
• ii) Draw out the design as in the handout (O X O); visually show the design/graph as an example in the paper (merge this information with section A or
• If selecting a Group Research Design (see hand-out):
• A) Describe the “program” (the intervention outlined in your logic model to address the social problem). Include:
• i) The name of the program/intervention; how long participants are exposed to the program (e.g., 6-weeks, 9-weeks, 3 months, 1 day, etc) and provide details outlining specific components administered throughout the program (if applicable).
• ii) Include who is exposed to the intervention (and who is not, if you have a control group)
• B) Describe the outcome(s) being measured and when the outcome is measured (e.g., pre and posttest; posttest only). Be sure to name the specific outcome variable (e.g., depression; At pre and posttest, depression will be assessed).
• *If selecting a Needs Assessment, describe the rationale for using this design. Describe what you are trying to assess in the needs assessment (e.g. what do you want to uncover in the needs assessment; for example, are you seeking to identify specific types of interventions/services needed to address a problem; are you seeking to uncover barriers to services; are you seeking to obtain client feedback to develop a new program for a need that has not been addressed in the research [few services/programs are available to address the social problem], etc.). If selecting this design, A and B are not applicable. Instead of assessing an outcome (Section B above), you are assessing the “need”.
• 2) Is it a quantitative or qualitative study, will you be using mixed methods?
Suggested length: 1 page
Measures
In this section, describe the outcome measures (DVs)
• Define the outcome variable(s). Example: The main outcome assessed in this study is depression. Depression is defined as …… Then describe how you will measure your outcome variable. For example, Depression will be measured using the CES-D (cite author of the measure). The CES-D is a 10-item questionnaire that…..(what does the literature say about it)? Refrain from using excessive quotes when describing measures, write the information in your OWN WORDS. Keep in mind that you don’t have to use questionnaires or surveys. You could use check-lists, medical records, observations, interviews, etc.
• When describing an existing measure, include how many questions the items has; are there subscales; what are the response choices (how are people supposed to answer the questions): yes or no; true and false; counts/frequencies (# of drinks); Likert scale [on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 = low self-esteem and 5 = high self-esteem]; and, if applicable, how do you score the measure and what does that # means (1-5 no depression; 6-10 mild depression, 11-20 severe depression)
• If you are creating the measure, include a sampling of questions (add to appendix). This section will be worth 5 points.
Suggested length: 1 to 2 pages, depending on how many outcome indicators you have.

Procedures
Now that you described the sample, design, program (intervention) and outcome variables in your study, the last section is to describe “how” you would conduct the evaluation. How is the “data” going to be collected? When will it be collected? Who will collect it? For example, will surveys be given out (if you are using them); will behaviors be observed (if yes, how would you observe behaviors)? In this section, you will need to summarize some of the information your described in other sections to thoroughly explain the “procedures” (for example, the sample will be recruited from XXXX; the program comprised of XXX will be implemented for X months). Think of steps that need to take place before recruiting participants (include information from what you reviewed in the ethical issues section of the course). What are some of the challenges with collecting “data”? How would you overcome these challenges? This may need to be included in this section. If someone else had to conduct the study, explain in detail what they would need to do: step 1, step 2, step 3…etc. (similar to a recipe) so that the evaluation could be replicated. This section will be worth 5 points.