determine changes and potential implications for the region. Hydrophilic interaction liquid
chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS) was utilized to determine the presence of any known and emerging PSTs in sample extracts.
2. Adapted from :
The exchange process frequently observed in polypyrrane condensations is proposed to occur by the acid-catalyzed fragmentation of a polypyrrane into pyrrolic and azafulvene components.15 As illustrated in Scheme 2, recombination of and can form a new polypyrrane that cannot be formed by direct condensation of the dipyrromethane and aldehyde. Ultimately this process leads to the production of a scrambled mixture of porphyrins. The factors that promote the scrambling process in MacDonald-type 2 + 2 condensations are poorly understood, but suppression of scrambling is essential for preparing large quantities of pure trans-porphyrins. In this paper we describe a study of a wide range of reaction conditions for the 2 + 2 condensation that has led to refined synthetic procedures for the preparation of trans-porphyrins.
3. Adapted from :
In the present paper, we focus on laser wake field acceleration in a new, highly non-linear regime. It occurs for laser pulses shorter than λ(p) but for relativistic intensities high enough to break the plasma wave after the first oscillation. In the present relativistic regime, one should notice that the plama wave fronts are curved and first break new the wave axis and for lower values than the plane-wave limit. This has been studied in 2D geometry in [14-17]. Here, we present 3D PIC simulations of two representative cases. The case (I) is just marginally above and the case (II) is far above the breaking threshold.
[bg_faq_start]
Good gap and fill signaling phrases are italicized.
1. “The factors that promote the scrambling process in MacDonald-type 2 + 2 condensations ….”
“ a study of a wide range of reaction conditions for the 2 + 2 condensation that has led to refined synthetic procedures for the preparation of trans-porphyrins.”
2. This question is a little trickier! The authors use “In the present paper…,” then, “In the present regime…,” and finally, “Here…,” all of which sound like signaling words for filling the gap. But where is the gap? We have to look closely at what exactly is being said. It is true that the first statement appears to be somewhat of a gap fill, although they haven’t yet given us a gap statement. The authors go on to say “This has been studied in 2D geometry,” which brings us back to move 1(iii), identifying critical evidence from the literature.
Thus, the is not explicit. It is a combination of stating that this concept has been studied in 2D, followed by announcement that the authors will study it in 3D.
: “ 3D PIC simulations of two representative cases.”
Although the first sentence (“… we focus on laser wake field acceleration…”) could also be considered part of the fill, because it comes before the gap statement and is also less descriptive, it functions more as an introduction to these moves.
3. According to the national monitoring program in Portugal, G. catenatum along the Portuguese coast during the 10-year period from 1995 to 2005.”
to fully characterize the toxin profile of G. catenatum strains isolated from the NW Portuguese coast before and after the 10-year absence of blooms to
determine changes and potential implications for the region.”
[bg_faq_end]
[bg_faq_end]
[bg_faq_start] Find 3-4 primary research articles (not reviews) from reputable journals in your field. Underline the gap statement and circle the gap fill. Remember that not all papers follow this exact move structure, so if you can’t seem to find either of these moves, you might have to look carefully at different parts of the introduction and ask yourself: [bg_faq_end] |
Anthony Newman
Researching is an ongoing task, as it requires you to think of something nobody else has thought of before. This is where the research gap comes into play.
We will explain what a research gap is, provide you with steps on how to identify these research gaps, as well as provide you several tools that can help you identify them.
Senior Publisher, Life Sciences, Elsevier
Anthony Newman is a Senior Publisher with Elsevier and is based in Amsterdam. Each year he presents numerous Author Workshops and other similar trainings worldwide. He is currently responsible for fifteen biochemistry and laboratory medicine journals, he joined Elsevier over thirty years ago and has been Publisher for more than twenty of those years. Before then he was the marketing communications manager for the biochemistry journals of Elsevier. By training he is a polymer chemist and was active in the surface coating industry before leaving London and moving to Amsterdam in 1987 to join Elsevier.
Researcher Academy on Twitter
From research discovery to gap finding
The aim of all research is to add to or enhance existing knowledge. Arguably, we can only achieve this once we understand the work that has already been carried out in a given field. There are varying opinions, depending on the field of inquiry and methodological approach involved, regarding the level of familiarity a researcher should have with existing literature prior to commencing fieldwork, however it is generally accepted that research should fill gaps in the literature. It is perhaps surprising, then, that so little is written about just how to find a “research gap” in the first place.
The most obvious way to find a research gap is simply to read and analyse the relevant literature. However, this is easier said than done, as the volume of published literature can be staggering. Fortunately, there are some excellent bibliographic databases, which can speed the process of searching for relevant literature. Literature analysis may then be approached either qualitatively or quantitively.
A qualitative analysis may involve the development of a concept matrix (Webster & Watson, 2002) or similar.
Figure 1: Example of a concept matrix (adapted from Webster & Watson, 2002)
Legend: O (organisation), G (group), I (individual)
The concept matrix assists researchers to organise the literature they have read, according to the concepts it relates to. It can be adapted, depending on the area of interest. In the example above, for instance, units of analysis are included.
Quantitative analysis of literature may be carried out using a variety of tools, from systematic reviews to meta-analyses, citation analyses, and text mining (Marrone, 2017). Choice of tools may be determined to some extent by the ability of the researcher to acquire or access the technical expertise to leverage them.
Reading and analysing the literature may reveal gaps which can be explored, however Alvesson & Sandberg (2011) suggest that research gaps may also be created by the researcher. By linking together work which has previously been considered separately, a researcher can uncover uncharted territory. In this way, opportunities to contribute to existing knowledge are constructed (Locke & Golden-Biddle, 1997) rather than merely identified.
Several authors have sought to characterise research gaps, describing the various forms they can take, whether considered from the perspective of objectively identifiable existing gaps in research (gap finding) or as opportunities to construct new “gaps” (gap creation). Some examples are summarised below.
Figure 2: Characteristics of research gaps (Click to see image bigger)
Step-by-step guides to finding research gaps are hard to come by, however in the field of medical epidemiology, a framework for identifying research gaps from systematic reviews of literature has been published (Robinson et al., 2011). In this field, the PICOS framework (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Setting) is commonly used to characterise a research gap. Robinson et al. (2011) suggest that an analysis of the reason for the existence of the gap can further inform the development of research questions. The reasons elucidated by Robinson et al. (2011) for the existence of research gaps are similar to the characteristics of gaps described by other authors, as shown in figure 2 (Characteristics of Research Gaps).
There are many ways to go about identifying research gaps, perhaps so many that the options may on occasion be overwhelming. A considered approach, coupled with knowledge and utilisation of the tools available to assist in research gap-finding, is likely to result in improved research design.
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Conquer Research! How to Identify Gaps & Uncover Groundbreaking Topics
The first step in carrying out any sort of research is identifying the research gap. Choosing an unexplored area in your research field will enable the smooth and successful completion of your research work with a good number of publications . But the big question is, how to identify the research problem from the existing literature. Some researchers have a clear idea about the research problem they want to pursue. However, some researchers, especially those who are at an early stage of their career, find it difficult to choose a research problem that is unique and novel. So, the best way to handle this is to identify the gap in existing research i.e., identifying the research gap!
In this article, iLovePhD explains the research gap and discusses six important tips to identify the gap.
Here are the 6 effective tips to identify the research gap.
The first step in gap analysis is to do a systematic review of existing literature relevant to your research. A comprehensive literature survey would provide a clear understanding of the existing works. Conduct a systematic review of relevant scholarly articles, books, conference papers, and other reliable sources. This will not only help you to understand the depth of work but also provide an opportunity to ask questions that can lead you to identify research gaps.
Also Read: How to Write a Literature Review ?
When you are reading research articles, focus more on the Introduction section where the authors explain the importance of their research and the gaps they have identified and attempted to fill through their research. Reading review articles on a particular area of research is more important and also it is the easiest way to understand the gap in your research in a short time. Read meta-analyses and review papers to learn more about the developments and trends in research over the years in your field of research.
Pay attention to areas where there are conflicting results, contradictory theories, or unanswered questions. These areas often indicate potential research gaps that you can explore further.
It is always a good practice to note all the questions that cross your mind while reading articles. You can use tables, charts, or tools to record this. You know, it will help you in the long run when you are developing your idea into a research problem or even when writing your manuscript.
Skim-reading the literature in the sense, you don’t need to read the articles from start to end. Instead, you need to focus on these three key sections. They are:
Abstract – Here you will get to know what the work is all about and their key findings.
Introduction – It will give you more detail about the context and background of the study, as well as how the researchers filled the gap with their novel and unique research work.
Conclusion – Another useful way to find a research gap is to focus on the recommendations for future research or the conclusion section in the research or review article. It will give you directions or suggestions for future research that could be highly interesting and inspiring.
By skimming through these three sections of any research and review article, you will gain a reasonable idea of what each study was about, without taking much of your time.
FRIN stands for “Future Research is Needed”. This is an easy method to identify the research gap. You will have to search for a few specific phrases in the articles you read. The phrases are
…investigation on this is still required/needed….
…it is important to understand this…
…have not been reported…
…the key question remains unanswered…
…it is important to address…
These expressions indicate the gaps or issues related to the main question that still need extensive scientific study. Therefore, it is important to take notice of them and use this information to develop novel research that is worth exploring.
Discuss the issues and problems with your research Supervisor or advisor to get their suggestions. These conversations can provide valuable insights and help you to refine your research focus. They can help you to identify the blind spots in your thinking.
You can use digital tools as they can save time and make your search easy. Tools like Essential Science Indicator – identify the most cited articles in your field to know which topics are considered important. You can also use Google Trends to learn more about the popular questions related to your research area. This will ease your search for an unexplored area.
Consider conducting a laboratory-scale study to test the feasibility and viability of your research problem. A lab-scale study will provide you with initial data and you also get an idea on how to design your experiments. It can help you to identify any potential limitations or challenges that need to be addressed before undertaking a full-scale research study.
Also Read: Comparison Between Laboratory-Scale, Pilot-Scale, and Full-Scale Studies in Research
Once you have a list of potential research gaps that could be explored, you need to systematically evaluate them to choose a good research problem. This will help you to avoid duplication of work. The key factors to be considered are listed here.
Originality and Novel – You need to ensure that the research problem should be original, unique, and novel.
Data Collection and Analysis – You need to check whether the data collection and sampling methods are easy and feasible. Also, check the instrumentation facilities are available for the study.
Costs – Check for any additional costs involved in data collection and analysis.
Time frames – Check that you can complete the research works within the timeframe specified by your university.
Supervisor’s guidance – The most important factor is, to ensure that your supervisor is comfortable in guiding you in your chosen topic throughout your research work.
According to Robinson, Saldanhea & McKoy (2011), Muller-Bloch, & Kranz (2015), and Miles (2017), the research gap has been classified into seven categories .
Evidence gap : Little or no evidence to address the research problem.
Knowledge gap : Knowledge may not exist in the actual field. It might be the case that the result of a study differs from what was expected.
Practical-Knowledge gap : When professional behavior or practices deviate from research findings or are not covered by research.
Methodology gap : A distinction in research methods is needed to have new insights or to avoid ambiguous findings.
Empirical gap : Research findings need to be evaluated or empirically verified.
Theoretical gap : Theory should be applied to certain research issues to generate new insights; a lack of theoretical knowledge may lead to a gap in research.
Population gap : Type of research gap that deals with a population that is not adequately represented or under-researched in the prior research (Eg., Gender, age, race).
By following the above-said tips, I am sure that you can very well identify the research gaps in your area of research. Unique research topics emerge from research gaps, so it’s important to do a gap analysis before you attempt to define a topic. Once you have identified a potential research gap and resultant topic, frame your objectives, then develop a clear methodology, and carry out your experiments, and this will certainly lead to breakthrough results.
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Do you want to contribute original research and make an impact in your field? If so, it's important to look for research gaps, or areas of study that are either under-researched or currently unexplored. In this article, we'll explain in detail the best way to identify a research gap—by performing a comprehensive literature review—so you can dive deep into your research topic and analyze articles critically and effectively. For more tips and tricks on identifying potential research gaps and how to proceed when you find one, read on.
Tip: Look for both quantitative and qualitative research, if applicable to your field. This will give you a broader overview of the current research.
Tip: Conducting a literature review is often a very time-consuming task. However, it’s also an essential part of identifying a research gap. Additionally, you can use the notes you take during your literature review when it comes time to write your article, thesis, or dissertation.
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A research gap is a specific area within a field of study that remains unexplored or under-explored. Identifying a research gap involves recognizing where existing research is lacking or where there are unanswered questions that could provide opportunities for further investigation. Understanding research gaps is crucial for advancing knowledge, as it helps scholars and researchers focus their efforts on areas that can contribute significantly to their field.
It is actually a question or any issue that needs to be solved by any pre-existing work or research in your area of study. A research gap can also exist where some new idea still needs to be studied.
Research always plays an essential role in acquiring more knowledge and addressing the gaps in different fields. When you are identifying a research gap, you are taking a very important step in the whole research process. This aids the researchers in contributing meaningful insights and triggers the knowledge boundaries.
Understanding the Literature You Are Studying: In order to identify any research gap, it is essential to have an excellent advertising of the preexisting literature in your study field.
Here, you need to conduct a review of many books, scholarly articles, conferences, and other relevant sources. In this way, you can get a good foundation as well as insights into any present state of in-depth knowledge in your own study area.
Defining Your Own Research Question: After getting a good knowledge of the pre-existing literature, you need to define a concise and clear idea of the research question. This research question needs to be very specific, attainable, measurable, time-bound and relevant. An acronym for this entire thing is known as SMART. This also needs to address any significant issue that still needs to be fully solved or adequately answered.
Identifying Your Study Objectives: Here, you need to identify the major objectives of your research paper. All these objectives need to be aligned with the identified research gap. These objectives always guide the researcher and aid you in determining the direction and scope of your research study.
Analyze the Existing Studies: Here, you need to analyze very carefully all the existing studies that are related to your research question. Here, it would help if you looked at the most common recurring findings, themes, and patterns of the discussed literature. Here, you also need to pay a lot of attention to the conflicted areas with the results, unanswered questions, and contradictory theories. These areas show the research gaps that can be explored later.
Consider The Practical Relevance: You always need to evaluate the very practical relevance of the research question as well as its potential impact on society. Here, it would help if you always considered the importance of addressing your own research gap as you identified it.
Here, you also need to assess whether your findings can contribute to the original theoretical framework and offer all the practical solutions for leading to the policy recommendations. These practical ads are relevant to the research paper and trigger its impact.
Consulting With the Experts and Peers: You always need to engage you’re discussing with your mentors, peers, and experts in your own field of study. Here, you always need to seek their opinions and perspectives on the research question to identify potential research gaps.
These can provide valuable insights into assumption challenges, and this helps you refine your research work. Your peers and experts can give you a new idea and help you identify the errors in your thinking.
Conducting Your Pilot Study: You need to conduct it to test the viability and feasibility of the research question. This pilot study provides you with feedback and data on the research design, approach and methodology.
This also helps you identify the potential limitations or challenges that need to be solved before conducting the full research studies.
Reflecting and Refining: You need to vividly reflect on the research progress to refine your research preferences. You need to add the objectives. As you go deeper into your research process, additional research gaps may be uncovered to refine your own research needs.
If you follow this process, you can adapt your own approach to ensure the research gaps.
As per the example of the research gap, identifying your research gap allows your research to contribute to gaining more knowledge to address the pre-existing limitations.
This way, you will understand the existing literature to define a crystal clear research statement. You can identify the research gaps by analyzing the existing studies to consider their relevance. According to the research gap finder, if you consult with your peers, doing all the pilot studies reflects on your research process progress.
If you follow the guide mentioned above, you can always embark on meaningful research studies to trigger your knowledge in your subject area and make a prominent contribution to your field.
Also Read: Struggling with Research Paper Writing?
Identifying research gaps is essential for advancing knowledge in any field. Research gaps are areas where more information is available or existing research needs to be more consistent or conclusive. Here are different types of research gaps:
This gap occurs when no empirical evidence supports certain theories, practices, or interventions. It can also refer to areas where existing studies need to sufficiently cover the topic or lack rigorous methodological approaches.
Example: A need for randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of a new drug.
This gap refers to areas where there is a deficiency in understanding or awareness about a particular topic. It can be due to outdated information, incomplete research, or the absence of research on emerging issues.
Example: Limited knowledge about the long-term effects of exposure to new environmental pollutants.
Theoretical gaps arise when existing theories do not fully explain certain phenomena or when there is a lack of theoretical frameworks to guide research in a particular area.
Example: More theoretical models need to be developed to explain the psychological impacts of social media usage on teenagers.
Methodological gaps exist when current research methods are inadequate for addressing certain research questions or when there is a need for new or improved methodologies.
Example: More robust qualitative methods are needed to study the experiences of marginalized communities.
This type of gap occurs when certain populations are underrepresented in research. It can involve demographics like age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or geographic location.
Example: Lack of research on the mental health of older adults living in rural areas.
Geographical Gap
Geographical gaps refer to areas or regions that are under-researched. These gaps highlight the need for studies in different geographic contexts to understand local issues better.
Example: Limited studies on the effects of climate change in the Arctic regions.
Understanding and addressing these gaps is crucial for advancing research and knowledge across various domains.
Read More: How To Get A+ Grade In Research Paper?
A Research Paper Example gives you a very clear idea of how to find your research gaps and examples in textual forms. A few examples are given below:
Also Read: Why Research Is Essential For Students? 20 Common Reasons!
After getting a very clear idea of various types of research gaps, the vet’s next question comes to mind is how to find a research gap. There is a basic 2 step strategy to find the research gap.
In the beginning, you need to find a lot of literature reviews, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews covering your research area of interest. Moreover, it would help if you dug into the very recent journals for wrapping your head in your own knowledge area.
Here, you can also study the current theses and dissertations, especially those in the doctoral degree courses. A number of dissertation databases, such as Open Access, EBSCO, Pro-Quest, etc., are very useful in this regard. Here. You also need to ensure that you are always looking for the most recent sources.
After gathering a good collection of these resources, you need to focus on further research opportunities. In this section, you need to state explicitly where more studies are needed. It would help if you also looked at the present research study’s limitation areas and where the research gaps might exist.
Following this procedure will help you become oriented to the present research area. This can serve as a foundation for finding the potential research gaps. Then, you need to shortlist the main ideas and evaluate them as per the given topic. It would help if you also looked only for the recent articles here.
Also Read: Expert Literature Review Writing Services
In any project, a literature review is always very important. It helps you in identifying your excusing knowledge, methods and theories in your own field. However, conducting a literature review has its own challenges.
Last but not least, never copy from any source; it will be considered plagiarism, and your paper will be cancelled then and there. Thus, write only from your own creativity and not from the writing and articles of other writers.
Read More: Dissertation Literature Review For Masters & PhD
Writing a research paper is a challenging task. It would help if you had a lot of Research Skills to accomplish it. You will be given a Research topic on which you have to write. Your ultimate aim in writing the research paper is to get the top grade. This can be done by availing of the best online Case Study Help Service from a reliable provider. The Casestudyhelp is the best choice for you in this respect.
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Table of Contents
If you are a young researcher, or even still finishing your studies, you’ll probably notice that your academic environment revolves around certain research topics, probably linked to your department or to the interest of your mentor and direct colleagues. For example, if your department is currently doing research in nanotechnology applied to medicine, it is only natural that you feel compelled to follow this line of research. Hopefully, it’s something you feel familiar with and interested in – although you might take your own twists and turns along your career.
Many scientists end up continuing their academic legacy during their professional careers, writing about their own practical experiences in the field and adapting classic methodologies to a present context. However, each and every researcher dreams about being a pioneer in a subject one day, by discovering a topic that hasn’t been approached before by any other scientist. This is a research gap.
Research gaps are particularly useful for the advance of science, in general. Finding a research gap and having the means to develop a complete and sustained study on it can be very rewarding for the scientist (or team of scientists), not to mention how its new findings can positively impact our whole society.
How many times have you felt that you have finally formulated THAT new and exciting question, only to find out later that it had been addressed before? Probably more times than you can count.
There are some steps you can take to help identify research gaps, since it is impossible to go through all the information and research available nowadays:
Keeping track of all the new literature being published every day is an impossible mission. Remember that there is technology to make your daily tasks easier, and reviewing literature can be one of them. Some online databases offer up-to-date publication lists with quite effective search features:
Of course, these tools may be more or less effective depending on knowledge fields. There might be even better ones for your specific topic of research; you can learn about them from more experienced colleagues or mentors.
Find out how FINER research framework can help you formulate your research question.
The expression “literature gap” is used with the same intention as “research gap.” When there is a gap in the research itself, there will also naturally be a gap in the literature. Nevertheless, it is important to stress out the importance of language or text formulations that can help identify a research/literature gap or, on the other hand, making clear that a research gap is being addressed.
When looking for research gaps across publications you may have noticed sentences like:
…has/have not been… (studied/reported/elucidated) …is required/needed… …the key question is/remains… …it is important to address…
These expressions often indicate gaps; issues or topics related to the main question that still hasn’t been subject to a scientific study. Therefore, it is important to take notice of them: who knows if one of these sentences is hiding your way to fame.
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What is a research gap.
A research gap is a question or a problem that has not been answered by any of the existing studies or research within your field. Sometimes, a research gap exists when there is a concept or new idea that hasn't been studied at all. Sometimes you'll find a research gap if all the existing research is outdated and in need of new/updated research (studies on Internet use in 2001, for example). Or, perhaps a specific population has not been well studied (perhaps there are plenty of studies on teenagers and video games, but not enough studies on toddlers and video games, for example). These are just a few examples, but any research gap you find is an area where more studies and more research need to be conducted. Please view this video clip from our Sage Research Methods database for more helpful information: How Do You Identify Gaps in Literature?
It will take a lot of research and reading. You'll need to be very familiar with all the studies that have already been done, and what those studies contributed to the overall body of knowledge about that topic. Make a list of any questions you have about your topic and then do some research to see if those questions have already been answered satisfactorily. If they haven't, perhaps you've discovered a gap! Here are some strategies you can use to make the most of your time:
Please give these suggestions a try and contact a librarian for additional assistance.
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Speaker 1: One of the most frequently asked questions that I am asked all the time across my social media platforms, across my YouTube, across my comments, is about the research process. So how do you start? Where do you even begin? You need to submit a dissertation, you need to submit a research proposal, you need to think of a hypothesis, you need to think of a problem statement, you need to find a gap in literature where do you even begin with the whole research process now it isn't as hard as it seems it's just one of those things that you're never told or you're never taught how to do it's one of those things that you just kind of figure out so hopefully in today's video i will be talking to you about the overview and kind of a quick beginner's guide to the research process, giving you the steps of how you get from zero to having something, having a question, having a hypothesis, having somewhere to start. I'm going to be making this into a bit of a series so in today's video I'm going to be giving you an overview as to the different chapters, the different sections of the process, how you get from nothing to something and then in the following videos I will be going through each of those sections in a bit more detail and hopefully if you are someone who is within one of those kind of parts you can just jump to that video and have a have a quick quick watch if you are someone who is just starting off then this is the best place for you to begin have a little think about how you're going to navigate your research process and how you're going to get from the start to the end it is not difficult but it does require a few steps, a few technicalities, which I'll talk you through today. I'll leave the timestamps down below so you feel free to go and jump to the different sections that you are interested in watching. And if you do enjoy this kind of video and you want to see the rest of the videos from me, then don't forget to subscribe to see more on my channel. So step number one is to choose a topic. Now this is the beginning of something beautiful. This is where you choose what you're actually going to be studying and when you're actually going to be reading about now it's really important that you have chosen a topic that you are interested in that there is an interest in within the research space that has something missing so you don't want to choose a topic that we know everything about you want to choose a topic that we don't know everything about and there are things that we want to try to find more about you want to choose a topic that is within your university guidelines so as much as i would love to do a research on the solar system about space well if my course is to do with cell biology well then i can't so you have to think about your limits think about what you are allowed to do within your university guidelines as well but you do need to think about taking that broad topic and making it into something a bit more narrow so it's not good enough to just say i want to do research on alzheimer's okay alzheimer's fine you've got a topic, but you now need to narrow it down. So what about it are you looking at? Are you looking at the risk factors? Are you looking at what happens once you have Alzheimer's? Are you looking at a specific group of people? Are you looking at a specific cell type? What is it that you are looking at? You need to narrow that down. In order to narrow it down, you need to do a bit of a literature search. So whilst choosing a topic, whilst in this first stage, you need to look at literature. So to find literature you want to go to different websites where you have literature and this could be for example Google Scholar is a good place to start, PubMed is a good place to start. These are places where you can find literature about that topic and kind of read around the subject and identify whether firstly is it something that you are actually interested in and secondly is there enough information for you to gather to be able to write your literature review in the future so that first step your first step of your research process is thinking about the topic because without a topic you there's nothing you can't do anything else so the first step has to always be to find a topic and think about it now once you've thought about a topic and you've narrowed it down to the thing that you're interested in at this stage you will then go to your supervisor to your lecturer to your professor to your mentor to your tutor and you will ask them do you think this is a good topic and that is where you will get some feedback and most likely you'll have to go back have another think or try to refine a bit more or try to think about it in a different way but that is always the first step. In the video that I make about finding a good topic we'll talk about it in a lot more depth but to start off with to introduce this is always the first step. So the second step is to identify a problem and this is what we like to call in as you know in research the gap in literature. So a problem slash gap in literature is the part of research that we that is missing. So when you do research in fact in order to graduate from a PhD you have to and this is one of the criteria you have to produce research it has to be in a thesis or in a in a published paper it has to be research it has to be a finding that is new something that we do not know before we did not know before your research right and that is the number one criteria for for actually getting a phd it is the fact that it has to be something new has to be something novel that you have discovered okay so you need to think about the gap in literature where is there a missing piece i understand this i understand that we know this we know that but what is there that we don't quite know and that is the bit that you are then going to try to identify during your research process right chosen a topic now we need to find the problem where is the missing information now in order to do this you need to have read a lot of papers around your topic. So that's why I said initially, you need to have had approval from your committee, from your tutor, your supervisor to say, right, that's okay. It's good for me to go there. Now you've got that topic that you're looking at. You then want to try to find the gap. Where are you going to slot in? What is it that you are going to provide in terms of knowledge? Now, the identifying a problem is actually quite an important and quite critical part of the research process it's almost impossible you to continue on with your research without having identified the problem because if you don't have a problem you don't know what it is you're looking at you don't know what methods you're using you don't know what your research question is going to be or your hypothesis so at this stage you have to have a very well-defined research problem and your question in order to continue on to the next steps so when i say research problem and we'll talk about this more in in the following video that i'm going to produce about it but when i talk about research problem it could be a number of different things so it could be that we understand or we have the knowledge of a certain situation but now you're comparing it to a different situation so it could be more theoretical where you're comparing two things to each other that haven't been compared before so that would be fine as long as what you have is something original or you may be trying to explore a specific relationship let's say for example in my case with my PhD I was looking at two different proteins and the relationship between them so that is one type of research that you can do as well and so just think about your topic and think about where the gap is in the literature you have to read a lot to be able to find this and a question I get a lot emailed to me and directed to me is about this problem so how do I find a problem like how do i find a gap in literature and it's almost impossible for me to to give you any answers because i have to have read all the papers within your topic in order to answer that question which is almost impossible so it's something that you have to do independently and you can always discuss with me you can discuss kind of trying to refine that question but for the most part you need to read around your subject yourself to get that question then step number three is to actually write down your research question now this is usually in the form maybe of a hypothesis or maybe it could be just a you know a standalone question so this is just you saying this is what i'm looking at so i'm looking at whether actin and myosin bind together to have an impact on the motility of the cortex like that is my question and then i'll have a hypothesis saying actin and myosin bind together and they do this so this is just my question and you're just following on from your problem so you've identified your topic you found the problem the gap in literature and then you write down what your question is so what it is exactly that you are looking for and this will be like your guiding star this will be the thing the question the statement that you have at the top you know at the top of your mind whenever you are looking at literature whenever you're writing a literature review whenever you speak to someone you have that question in mind and so that needs to be something that's really well defined it should also be really specific so it can't just be saying is obesity caused by i don't know fatty food i'm just giving a random example that is too vague is obesity in children in male in female different ages what fatty foods what like you need to be very very specific so specific that someone else should be able to pick up your research question and know what it is you're looking at they need to be able to know sort of what methods you're using is it qualitative or is it quantitative what type of research are you actually doing that should really be in the research question so a good research question is one where that is really well defined then step number four is to write a research design so this is where you're kind of creating a bit of a method a bit of a process within a process so you are now writing down and you're now thinking about how you're going to conduct this research so to follow this will be the research proposal but at this stage here you're just thinking about your research design so how are you going to get this research done what are the factors that you need to think about who are the people the participants that you may need are you doing a lab-based thing do you need cells are you you know what do you need humans do you need animals is it just a review paper so do you just need to think about researchers out there what kind of study are you going to conduct in order to find out the results and the answer to your question essentially the research design is a practical framework so it's giving laying out that frame for you in order to answer your research question. And here, it's more of a thinking process. It's more of a discussion. You might want to ask your supervisor, you might want to ask your tutor to talk about it. How are we going to get the answer to this question? And then to finish off the research process, you now want to write a research proposal. And I have a really good video about this, and I'll leave the link for it down below, where you are detailing all the steps for your research so you're detailing your the background of your research the literature review and you're justifying that there is a need for this research you then want to detail your methods your materials the aim your you know your timeline how long it's going to take you to do these things and then that document is what you take with you to your supervisor and say look this is my research proposal you might take it to a potential phd supervisor and say look this is what i've found and this is what i'm really interested in and here is the proposal and you have it all outlined there for you or it's a document that you're able to use in order to build upon your dissertation and so if you're writing an essay dissertation you are able to use that as well so with your research proposal you are detailing the context you are detailing the purpose the plan and your aims the whole process going from finding a topic finding a problem finding the research question defining the actual research and then now you're compiling all of that and you're putting it into a document called the research proposal and all of this information is in there someone should be able to pick that up see what you found find the review of the literature and say right this is a good study this is a good bit of research we are going to approve this and then you can go on and plan the rest of your research so i hope this video helped you summarizing the steps of the research process to begin with and as i mentioned i'm going to be doing each of these five steps as single videos so i can expand on them and i'll make it into a playlist so you're able to sort of follow up and click on the next couple videos but for now i hope this did help with thinking about the research process and thinking about maybe what stage you are at if you are at any of them if you do want further support you can contact me on thepagedoctor.com where i give support and we have a team of consultants top consultants and top editors that can support you through the process of writing your research proposal or even through the post process of thinking about how you're going to find a gap in literature how you're going to find you know your hypothesis and define that for you so don't forget to leave me a comment and let me know if this was helpful and don't forget to leave me a thumbs up and subscribe to see more from me and I'll see you in my next one. Bye.
Interventions have shown success to address this persistent pay issue.
Intro: What is the Gender Pay Gap?
The classic definition of the gender pay gap is the average difference in earnings between men and women in the workforce . The fact that women earn less than men is repeatedly touted in the media – particularly on “Equal Pay Day” .
The definition conjures images of a woman and a man doing the same job, but the woman earns less. Researchers have studied this problem in depth and the evidence is eloquently summarized in a 2023 report by the Pew Research Center. While overt discrimination is sometimes the case, the gender gap more often arises from women and men choosing different jobs and female jobs paying less than male jobs, women working fewer hours than men in the same jobs, and women leaving paid employment for periods of time for caregiving responsibilities and thus lowering their earning potential. In other words, there are obvious factors that explain differences in earnings between men and women.
The good news is that progress has been made. A key finding from decades of research is that the pay gap narrowed steadily from the 1960s to the 1990s. Jobs are less strictly gendered. Men have entered traditionally female occupations such as teaching and nursing and women have entered traditionally male occupations such as engineering and management. Companies are less likely to discriminate as legal repercussions have become more dire. Although gender-based pay differences were historically driven by discrimination, gender stereotypes, and occupational sorting, this explanation no longer holds.
When talking about the gender pay gap, it is important to understand the difference between adjusted and unadjusted differences. The unadjusted gender pay gap is a straightforward comparison of the average earnings of all men in the workforce versus the average earnings of all women in the workforce, without considering any other factors. So, when we hear that women earn 84 cents for every dollar men make , it usually implies an unadjusted pay difference. Meanwhile, the adjusted gender pay gap takes into account various factors that can influence earnings, such as education, occupation, years of experience, hours worked per week, industry, and location. If after controlling for these factors, there is still a difference in pay, then one might assume that it is an adjusted gender pay inequity.
Unfortunately, progress in narrowing both adjusted and unadjusted gender pay gap has stalled. Women still earn less than men in absolute numbers. Even more so, Blau and Kahn found that in 2010, traditional factors like education and work experience accounted for only a small portion of the gender wage gap due to the reversal of the gender differences in education and significant reduction in the gender experience gap. Instead, differences in occupation and industry distribution remained significant contributors to the gap. This progress slowed down after 1989, especially for highly skilled and executive-level workers where men still had an advantage compared to women.
What is Behind the Current Pay Gap between Men and Women?
Over time there has been a lot of effort put into closing the pay gap between men and women but the problem remains. The question is why.
Claudia Goldin , the 2023 Economic Sciences Nobel Prize winner, offers an answer. Goldin argues that the main culprit is the structure of work and compensation. She demonstrates that pay is not a linear function of the number of hours worked. Instead, overtime is compensated at a higher premium. While this has long been true for hourly workers who earn a 1.5x or 2x overtime premium, the premium is much higher in high-paying occupations. This is surprising because we typically think of high-paying occupations – doctor, lawyer, consultant – as salaried positions. How are these workers earning an overtime premium? Goldin argues that the returns to overwork arise because people are promoted more quickly, are recruited to firms that have higher work hour demands but also pay much more, and have the market power to command higher wages based on their accrued experience and expertise. This is a different kind of “sorting” that explains the gender pay gap. Here men and women have the same educational credentials and the same nominal job, but the pay gap arises from differences across firms. Thus the gender pay gap persists despite women entering higher paying jobs and being willing to put in the same amount of effort and time as men to attain the positions.
The highest paying firms demand that employees be flexible and constantly available. Unfortunately, this has been shown to be significantly more challenging for women, as they continue to bear the primary responsibility for the majority of household chores and caregiving duties. [Goldin and Pew Research Center ]
So, Goldin’s main points are that overtime work is prevalent in high-paying occupations and that women continue to assume the primary responsibility for managing households. These factors, together, lead to women having fewer opportunities to engage in overtime work and thereby reap the benefits of high-paying jobs. Thus, this helps to explain some of the persistent pay gap between men and women, even in the absence of overt discrimination.
While employers have no control over the household division of labor of their employees, what could they do to close the gap?
Recommendations: What Can Be Done Differently?
Closing the gender-based pay gap is a multi-step process that requires the involvement of various parties. While governments can tackle the problem from the policy perspective, companies can make a positive contribution and lead by example in solving the pay inequity problem.
Track the Issue
The first thing that companies should do is to start tracking the pay parity between their male and female employees. According to Just Capital’s 2023 study of the Russell 1000 companies, only 32% (or 302 companies) disclose that they conduct a gender pay gap analysis. While it is still a small number, the study acknowledges the positive trend when compared to previous years, increasingly more companies conduct a pay inequity evaluation. Moreover, when conducting a gender pay gap analysis, it is crucial to look at the adjusted pay differences by controlling for various factors that can affect differences in pay like occupation, education, etc. Interestingly, only 130 companies calculate the adjusted pay gap.
Disclose the Results
The next step is for companies to publicly disclose the pay parity index. By doing so, companies will be able to take accountability for addressing the gender pay gap issue, especially when the pay is not equitable among their employees.
While 32% of companies disclose that they track their gender-based pay equity situation, only 14% (or 130 companies) publicly report the results. Interestingly, among those companies that chose to disclose their results, all reported figures are close to gender pay equity. One might assume that the decision to disclose the figures depends on how well the company is doing in terms of paying its employees fairly. Alternatively, it can simply indicate that companies, which report their results, have done their job in closing the gap in the first place.
Close the Gap
While it is important to track and report the information on the gender pay gap, it is also crucial to make a positive change. Among 14% (or 130) of companies that disclose the pay information, only 42 report pay equity between their male and female employees. Therefore, the next step is for companies to close the observable gap in workers’ compensation, once it has been identified.
In the meantime, companies that offer their employees an equal pay for equal work might try to close the gender pay gap even further. They can re-evaluate the job demands, especially for higher-paying positions and see if both men and women have equal access to career opportunities.
Furthermore, they can help all employees recognize the shared responsibility of housework and caregiving. One of the ways companies can promote it is by providing their employees with negotiation and interpersonal skills training that can be deployed both at work and at home. During these trainings, employees can learn how to negotiate better career opportunities at work and more equal division of housework at home.
While worker enthusiasm for life-long learning is growing in an AI-driven world, employers aren’t meeting the moment with the right upskilling opportunities and training
LISLE, Ill – Aug. 27, 2024 – Today, DeVry University released its second annual report on upskilling and reskilling the U.S. workforce in the age of AI. In partnership with Reputation Leaders , the research reveals that while employees are more enthusiastic about opportunities for ongoing learning, current employer upskilling and reskilling efforts are not meeting the moment with the right opportunities to reach, engage and train all employees. This can lead to greater organizational and talent risk.
The report, Closing the Gap: Upskilling and Reskilling in an AI Era , surveyed more than 1,500 employees and 580 hiring decision-makers across sectors to uncover gaps and opportunities for upskilling in this rapidly evolving landscape.
"Generative AI and high-volume data analytics are fundamentally transforming how we learn and work, leading to significant disruption in the job market. While some roles are vanishing, many are quickly evolving in ways we’ve never seen before,” said Elise Awwad , president and CEO of DeVry University. “This swift evolution underscores the urgency for upskilling and reskilling to meet rising expectations, while also preparing for the emergence of entirely new roles and career paths. Our research provides critical insights into how both employers and employees are adapting to this fast-paced change, highlighting what can be done better to meet future demands."
The research uncovered four key insights about the challenges of upskilling and reskilling in an AI-driven world:
Workers Have More Access, Time and Energy for Upskilling—But Still Aren’t Taking Action
While more workers say they face no barriers to upskilling (30% in 2024 vs. 22% in 2023), employers estimate only about half (55%) of workers participate in upskilling opportunities available at work. Nearly 9 in 10 employers (87%) say they offer upskilling. This represents a slight increase compared to last year's study (78%) in both availability of upskilling and utilization of programs, but across industries, the survey still found a substantial gap between what workers and employers say versus what they do.
Workers Believe in Their Current AI Skills More Than Their Employers Do
Workers and employers both acknowledge the ubiquity of AI and the importance of embracing skills in this new technology as an essential component of the near-future workplace. Yet, employers are underestimating the AI fluency of their current workers. According to the survey, employers say that 32% of their workers are merely novices at AI; however, workers feel far more strongly about their skill sets with only 3% describing themselves as such.
Women Are Falling Behind When It Comes To AI
Amid growing access to and deployment of AI tools, women are falling behind men in uptake of skills and use of AI tools. Only 41% describe their AI proficiency as intermediate or higher, in comparison to 55% of men. And, while 43% of men regard AI as a way to help them get ahead, only 27% of women agree. Women see less value in the adoption of AI in comparison to men on every measure, with only 49% seeing the benefits of AI as making their work easier in comparison to 58% of men.
Current Upskilling Approaches—Including in AI—May Expose Companies to Long-Term Risk
The data raises ethical questions about the choices employers make in providing access to AI training and skills development. Seventy-two percent of employers say they do not provide upskilling benefits to all workers, and 42% of employers say they are not confident that their organization understands how to train workers on AI effectively. When more than half of workers (56%) say they are using AI tools at work at least weekly, many are doing so without training and without guardrails for any ethical or security considerations.
“Inequitable access to AI learning and resources and use of AI tools in the workplace without guardrails, threaten to create new and avoidable organizational risks. The solution is integrated planning for the use of AI and holistic training that prepares all workers for seamless deployment of the new technology. At DeVry, we believe intentional education of employees and the broader U.S. workforce around AI is imperative for companies and organizations to successfully navigate an increasingly technology-focused marketplace,” commented Awwad.
About the Survey
DeVry University engaged Reputation Leaders, an independent research firm to conduct research from June 11-26, 2024, about artificial intelligence (AI) in connection to upskilling and reskilling. We surveyed workers and employers about their attitudes and experiences on the topic. The worker sample consisted of a total of 1,526 American adults between the ages of 25 and 45. The respondents were employed, underemployed, or unemployed but expecting to start work in the next 12 months. The employer sample consisted of 581 hiring decision-makers from a mix of industries, with a particular focus on the technology sector and HR managers.To view all the findings of Closing the Gap: Upskilling and Reskilling in an AI era, click here .
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FDA News Release
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved and granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) to include a monovalent (single) component that corresponds to the Omicron variant KP.2 strain of SARS-CoV-2. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been updated with this formula to more closely target currently circulating variants and provide better protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death. Today’s actions relate to updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by ModernaTX Inc. and Pfizer Inc.
In early June, the FDA advised manufacturers of licensed and authorized COVID-19 vaccines that the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) should be monovalent JN.1 vaccines. Based on the further evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and a rise in cases of COVID-19, the agency subsequently determined and advised manufacturers that the preferred JN.1-lineage for the COVID-19 vaccines (2024-2025 formula) is the KP.2 strain, if feasible.
“Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “These updated vaccines meet the agency’s rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants.”
The updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines include Comirnaty and Spikevax, both of which are approved for individuals 12 years of age and older, and the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, both of which are authorized for emergency use for individuals 6 months through 11 years of age.
What You Need to Know
Individuals who receive an updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccine may experience similar side effects as those reported by individuals who previously received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and as described in the respective prescribing information or fact sheets. The updated vaccines are expected to provide protection against COVID-19 caused by the currently circulating variants. Barring the emergence of a markedly more infectious variant of SARS-CoV-2, the FDA anticipates that the composition of COVID-19 vaccines will need to be assessed annually, as occurs for seasonal influenza vaccines.
For today’s approvals and authorizations of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, the FDA assessed manufacturing and nonclinical data to support the change to include the 2024-2025 formula in the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. The updated mRNA vaccines are manufactured using a similar process as previous formulas of these vaccines. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to hundreds of millions of people in the U.S., and the benefits of these vaccines continue to outweigh their risks.
On an ongoing basis, the FDA will review any additional COVID-19 vaccine applications submitted to the agency and take appropriate regulatory action.
The approval of Comirnaty (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) (2024-2025 Formula) was granted to BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH. The EUA amendment for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (2024-2025 Formula) was issued to Pfizer Inc.
The approval of Spikevax (COVID-19 Vaccine, mRNA) (2024-2025 Formula) was granted to ModernaTX Inc. and the EUA amendment for the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine (2024-2025 Formula) was issued to ModernaTX Inc.
The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, radiation-emitting electronic products, and for regulating tobacco products.
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County-level death counts for Florida and Ohio based on Datavant data that link mortality records to voter registration files against the CDC data. Each observation represents a single county. Additional details on the data are provided in the eMethods in Supplement 1 .
Weekly excess deaths for Florida and Ohio based on mortality records linked to voter registration files. A, Overall excess death rates in Florida and Ohio. B, Excess death rates by registered party. C, The percentage-point difference between the registered parties, after adjusting for age and state-level differences; the smooth brown curve was fit with locally estimated scatterplot smoothing. A-C, Excess death rates were calculated for each week by comparing the observed deaths in that week with expected deaths based on a Poisson model. The 95% prediction intervals (shaded areas) were determined using simulations from the Poisson coefficient and outcome distribution, with SEs clustered at the county level. Additional details on the excess death methods and statistical analyses are presented in the eMethods in Supplement 1 .
The analyses were additionally adjusted for age and state-level differences in subgroup analyses where these covariates were not used for stratification. The 95% prediction intervals (horizontal lines) were determined using simulations from the Poisson coefficient and outcome distribution, with SEs clustered at the county level. Additional details on the excess death methodology and statistical analyses are presented in the eMethods in Supplement 1 .
The diamonds are binned means; counties with similar vaccination rates were binned to form 8 equally sized bins. The curves were fit to the underlying data using locally estimated scatterplot smoothing. In the pre–COVID-19 period (before April 2020), excess death rates for both Republican and Democratic voters hover around 0. During the beginning pandemic but before open vaccine eligibility (April 2020 to March 2021), the association between excess death rates and county-level vaccination rates were generally negative and nearly identical for Republican and Democratic voters. However, in the period after open vaccine eligibility (April 2021 to December 2021), there was a clear difference between Republican and Democratic voters, with higher excess death rates for Republicans concentrated in counties with lower overall vaccination rates and minimal differences in counties with the highest vaccination rates.
eMethods . Supplemental Description of Methods
eFigure 1. Excess Death Rates by Age in Florida and Ohio: 2018-2021
eFigure 2. Excess Death Rates in Florida: 2018-2021
eFigure 3. Excess Death Rates in Ohio: 2018-2021
eFigure 4. Excess Death Rates and Vaccination Rates in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using October 1, 2021, Vaccination Rates
eFigure 5. Excess Death Rates and Vaccination Rates in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using March 1, 2021, Vaccination Rates
eTable 1. Summary Statistics
eTable 2. Sensitivity of Estimated Difference in Excess Death Rates Between Republican and Democratic Voters to Alterations in Excess Death Methodology and Statistical Model
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For this paper to be accurate, voting records must be accurate. Ohio has historically had inaccurate voting records, so much so that a recent Supreme Court Decision recently went against the state of Ohio, see https://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Jon-Husted-Ohio-Secretary-of-State-v.-Philip-Randolph-Institute-et-al.-decision-16-980.pdf.
Also this paper contradicts more recent studies that have showed that mRNA vaccination decreases death rates from COVID, but increases deaths from other causes, so that all cause mortality is unchanged, with a relative risk of dying of 1.03 in the vaccinated group vas the unvaccinated group. https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)00810-6
This is a very interesting and informative study of public health value, but the findings are not unexpected.
It demonstrates the value of preventing disruption of health, and perhaps equally importantly emphasizes the direct and indirect economic loss to the society and the state when public health is compromised.
Political affiliation should not influence health care. Medicine is beyond politics!
Wallace J , Goldsmith-Pinkham P , Schwartz JL. Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(9):916–923. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.1154
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Question Was political party affiliation a risk factor associated with excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida and Ohio?
Findings In this cohort study evaluating 538 159 deaths in individuals aged 25 years and older in Florida and Ohio between March 2020 and December 2021, excess mortality was significantly higher for Republican voters than Democratic voters after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults, but not before. These differences were concentrated in counties with lower vaccination rates, and primarily noted in voters residing in Ohio.
Meaning The differences in excess mortality by political party affiliation after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults suggest that differences in vaccination attitudes and reported uptake between Republican and Democratic voters may have been a factor in the severity and trajectory of the pandemic in the US.
Importance There is evidence that Republican-leaning counties have had higher COVID-19 death rates than Democratic-leaning counties and similar evidence of an association between political party affiliation and attitudes regarding COVID-19 vaccination; further data on these rates may be useful.
Objective To assess political party affiliation and mortality rates for individuals during the initial 22 months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design, Setting, and Participants A cross-sectional comparison of excess mortality between registered Republican and Democratic voters between March 2020 and December 2021 adjusted for age and state of voter registration was conducted. Voter and mortality data from Florida and Ohio in 2017 linked to mortality records for January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021, were used in data analysis.
Exposures Political party affiliation.
Main Outcomes and Measures Excess weekly deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic adjusted for age, county, party affiliation, and seasonality.
Results Between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021, there were 538 159 individuals in Ohio and Florida who died at age 25 years or older in the study sample. The median age at death was 78 years (IQR, 71-89 years). Overall, the excess death rate for Republican voters was 2.8 percentage points, or 15%, higher than the excess death rate for Democratic voters (95% prediction interval [PI], 1.6-3.7 percentage points). After May 1, 2021, when vaccines were available to all adults, the excess death rate gap between Republican and Democratic voters widened from −0.9 percentage point (95% PI, −2.5 to 0.3 percentage points) to 7.7 percentage points (95% PI, 6.0-9.3 percentage points) in the adjusted analysis; the excess death rate among Republican voters was 43% higher than the excess death rate among Democratic voters. The gap in excess death rates between Republican and Democratic voters was larger in counties with lower vaccination rates and was primarily noted in voters residing in Ohio.
Conclusions and Relevance In this cross-sectional study, an association was observed between political party affiliation and excess deaths in Ohio and Florida after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults. These findings suggest that differences in vaccination attitudes and reported uptake between Republican and Democratic voters may have been factors in the severity and trajectory of the pandemic in the US.
As of May 2023, there had been approximately 1.1 million deaths from COVID-19 in the US. 1 There is evidence that Republican-leaning counties have had higher COVID-19 death rates than Democratic-leaning counties and similar evidence of an association between political party affiliation and attitudes regarding COVID-19 vaccination, social distancing, and other mitigation strategies based on political party affiliation. 2 - 6
Prior studies 7 , 8 have found that Republican-leaning counties have had higher COVID-19 death rates than Democratic-leaning counties. It is unknown whether this county-level association persists at the individual level and whether it may be subject to the ecologic fallacy. 9 The ecologic fallacy is the incorrect assumption that associations observed at an aggregated level (eg, a county) will be the same at the individual level. Republican-leaning and Democratic-leaning counties differ in ways other than political party affiliation, 10 , 11 such as racial and ethnic composition, rurality, and educational levels, making it difficult to establish whether the differences in COVID-19 death rates are associated with political party affiliation or other differences in county-level characteristics. Research before the COVID-19 pandemic has also found evidence of higher death rates in Republican-leaning counties than Democratic-leaning counties. 12
To assess the association between political party affiliation and excess mortality for individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic, we linked voter registration data in Florida and Ohio to mortality data at the individual level to calculate excess death rates for Republican and Democratic voters and compare excess death rates before and after vaccines became available to the full adult population. 13 , 14 Because individual-level vaccination status was not included in the available data, we were able to assess excess death rates and vaccination rates only at the county level.
The eMethods in Supplement 1 provides additional details of all the methods. We obtained detailed US weekly mortality data from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021, from Datavant, an organization that augments the Social Security Administration Death Master File with information from newspapers, funeral homes, and other sources to construct an individual-level database containing 10 325 730 deaths in the US to individuals aged 25 or older during this period. This data set, which includes deaths reported to Datavant through March 31, 2023, covers approximately 83.5% of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention death count for individuals who died at age 25 or older during the period from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021. Because the Datavant mortality data do not contain state identifiers, we are unable to assess data completeness in our individual study states of Florida and Ohio. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Datavant mortality data have been used in other peer-reviewed 15 and publicly available 16 research on excess mortality. The Yale University Institutional Review Board exempted the study from review because the data were deidentified, and reporting adheres to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology ( STROBE ) reporting guideline.
We linked the mortality data at the individual level to 2017 Florida and Ohio voter registration files; these were the only states for which historical publicly available voter registration data were readily available. The linkage was performed from April 11 to 14, 2023. For each record, the linked data included week of death, age of deceased, county of residence, and 2017 political party affiliation. Political party affiliation in Ohio was defined by whether an individual voted in a party’s primary election within the preceding 2 calendar years; in Florida, political party affiliation was based on party registration. We excluded individuals whose political party affiliation was independent and those who were affiliated with third parties. Because COVID-19 deaths are most common at older ages, 17 we included only death records for individuals who died at age 25 years or older.
We also obtained death counts for the study period from the National Center for Health Statistics 18 and county-level vaccination rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 19 We selected May 1, 2021, as the date for the county-level vaccination rate—1 month after eligibility for vaccines opened to all adults in the study states—because it represented the approximate date when all adults would have had the opportunity to receive at least 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine if they so desired, taking into account the time that states required during April 2021 to schedule and administer vaccines to newly eligible adults seeking them. As a robustness check, we assessed the sensitivity of our findings to using county-level vaccination rates on alternative dates before (March 1, 2021) and after (October 1, 2021) May 1, 2021.
We aggregated weekly death counts from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021, at the county-by-party-by-age level. The age ranges used were 25 to 64, 65 to 74, 75 to 84, and 85 years or older. The observed death counts included all the deaths from our mortality data that linked to Republican or Democratic voters who were registered in Florida and Ohio as of 2017.
To calculate the number of excess deaths, we estimated the number of deaths we would expect in the absence of the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we estimated expected weekly deaths at the county-by-party-by-age level by fitting a Poisson regression model to observed weekly death counts at the county-by-party-by-age-level for January 1, 2018, through December 31, 2019. 20 , 21 We then predicted expected deaths over our full sample. Excess deaths were defined as the difference between observed and expected deaths for January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021. As a check on the model, we used predictions from the model in the weeks before the onset of COVID-19 (January 1, 2018, to March 31, 2020) to estimate excess deaths during this period.
We calculated excess death rates (the primary outcome) as the ratio of observed deaths (the numerator) to expected deaths (the denominator). To obtain estimates of excess death rates at aggregated levels, we used a weighted average of estimated excess death rates in each of the underlying cells (eg, county-by-party-by-age), weighted by their expected death counts. We estimated Poisson 95% prediction intervals (PIs), simulating from the coefficient distribution and outcome distribution, with SEs clustered by county. 22 We additionally adjusted estimated differences in excess death rates between Republican and Democratic voters—the primary estimate of interest—for differences in excess death rates by age group and state during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intuitively, this approach compared excess death rates between Democratic and Republican voters of the same age residing in the same states during the same week of the pandemic and then weighted those differences in excess death rates to either the weekly level, when plotting weekly differences in excess death rates, or to 3 broader time periods: (1) April 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (the part of the study period overlapping the COVID-19 pandemic); (2) April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021 (the period during the pandemic before open vaccine eligibility for all adults); and (3) April 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021 (the period during the pandemic after open vaccine eligibility for all adults).
We also assessed county-level vaccination rates (as of May 1, 2021) and excess death rates by plotting average excess death rates for Republican and Democratic voters against the county-level vaccination rate during (1) the pre–COVID-19 pandemic period, (2) the period during the pandemic before open vaccine eligibility for all adults, and (3) the period during the pandemic after open vaccine eligibility for all adults.
In sensitivity analyses, we altered the Poisson model used to predict baseline death counts by including a linear time trend (and in one analysis allowing it to vary by state) and additional seasonality terms to capture higher frequency season-of-the-year trends. 23 For transparency, we calculated differences in the excess death rates between Republican and Democratic voters with no adjustments (removing our state and age group adjustments) and, separately, with a model that included our primary adjustments (state and age group) and additional adjustments for county-by-age differences in excess death rates during the pandemic.
We performed all calculations using R, version 4.1.3 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing). Statistical analyses report 95% PIs using simulations from the coefficient distribution and outcome distribution, with SEs clustered by county. Significance testing was 2-sided, and a P < .05 was considered statistically significant.
Our study included 538 159 deaths for individuals aged 25 years and older in Florida and Ohio between January 2018 and December 2021 linked to their 2017 voter data (eTable 1 in Supplement 1 ). The median age at death was 78 years (IQR, 71-89 years). The pattern of death counts in our linked data and in the National Center for Health Statistics data was similar ( Figure 1 ).
Using these data, we found a 20.5 percentage-point (95% PI, 15.6-25.6 percentage points) increase in weekly death counts in Florida and Ohio in the March 2020 to December 2021 period relative to the expected death counts for those weeks ( Figure 2 A and Table ). By comparison, for the time periods before the pandemic, we found only small fluctuations in excess death rates around 0.
Before the pandemic, excess death rates for Republican and Democratic voters were centered around 0 ( Figure 2 B). In the winter of 2021, both groups experienced sharp increases of similar magnitude in excess death rates. However, in the summer of 2021, after vaccines were available to all adults, the excess death rate among Republican voters began to increase relative to the excess death rate among Democratic voters; in the fall of 2021, the gap widened further. Between March 2020 and December 2021, excess death rates were 2.8 percentage points (15%) higher for Republican voters compared with Democratic voters (95% PI, 1.6-3.7 percentage points) ( Table ). After April 1, 2021, when all adults were eligible for vaccines in Florida and Ohio, this gap widened from −0.9 percentage point (95% PI, −2.5 to 0.3 percentage points) between March 2020 and March 2021, to 7.7 percentage points (95% PI, 6.0-9.3 percentage points) in the adjusted analysis, or a 43% difference ( Table ).
The estimates of differences in excess death rates between Republican and Democratic voters (adjusted for age, time, and state) were small until the summer of 2021, when excess death rates among Republican voters began to increase compared with excess death rates among Democratic voters ( Figure 2 C). The analyses stratified by age showed that Republican voters had significantly higher excess death rates compared with Democratic voters for 2 of the 4 age groups in the study, the differences for the age group 25 to 64 years were not significant ( Figure 3 ; eFigure 1 in Supplement 1 ). Democratic voters had significantly higher excess death rates compared with Republican voters for the age group 65 to 74 years. The analyses stratified by state showed that differences in excess death rates between Republican and Democratic voters were primarily seen in voters residing in Ohio, with smaller, and generally nonsignificant, differences in weekly excess death rates between Republican and Democratic voters in Florida (eFigure 2 and eFigure 3 in Supplement 1 ). In analyses that pooled data from March 2020 to December 2021, Republican voters in Florida did not have a statistically significantly higher excess death rate than Democratic voters in Florida ( Figure 3 ). Additional sensitivity analyses supported our main conclusions (eTable 2 in Supplement 1 ).
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no association between county-level excess death rates, which hovered around 0, and the county-level vaccination rates ( Figure 4 A). During the pandemic, there was generally a negative association between county-level excess death rates and the share of the county population administered at least 1 dose of the vaccine as of May 1, 2021 ( Figure 4 B and C). In the period before open vaccine eligibility for adults (April 2020 to March 2021), the association between excess death rates and county-level vaccination rates was nearly identical for Republican and Democratic voters ( Figure 4 B). In the period after open vaccine eligibility (April to December 2021), there was a clear difference between Republican and Democratic voters, with higher excess death rates for Republicans in counties with lower overall vaccination rates ( Figure 4 C). Sensitivity analyses supported our main conclusions (eFigure 4 and eFigure 5 in Supplement 1 ).
During the initial years of the COVID-19 pandemic, political party affiliation in the US was associated with excess death rates in Florida and Ohio at the individual level. Republican voters had higher excess death rates than Democratic voters, as noted in a large mortality gap in the period after, but not before, all adults were eligible for vaccines in Florida and Ohio. With adjustments for differences in age and state of residence between Republican and Democratic voters, our findings suggest that, among individuals in the same age groups living in the same states, there were significant differences in excess death rates during the COVID-19 pandemic associated with political party affiliation. The results were robust to alterations in the methods used to estimate excess mortality as well as the statistical model used to estimate the difference in excess death rates between Republican and Democratic voters.
Our findings suggest that political party affiliation became a substantial factor only after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults in the US. Although the lack of individual-level vaccination status limited our ability to note further associations, the results suggest that well-documented differences in vaccination attitudes and reported uptake between Republican and Democratic voters 24 , 25 may have been factors in the severity and trajectory of the pandemic. However, one alternative explanation is that political party affiliation is a proxy for other risk factors (beyond age, which we adjusted for) for excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as rates of underlying medical conditions, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or health insurance coverage, 26 - 29 and these risk factors may be associated with differences in excess mortality by political party, even though we only observed differences in excess mortality after vaccines were available to all adults. It is also possible that specific risk factors for excess mortality interact with the emergence of COVID-19 variants (eg, Delta) or changes in vaccine-associated protection over time to be more consequential at different stages of the pandemic. Because data limitations prevented us from directly adjusting for these factors, their potential influence remains an important question for future research.
In addition to vaccines, nonpharmaceutical interventions, including facial masks and restrictions on large gatherings, have been reported to contribute to reductions in transmission of COVID-19 or its severe outcomes, including death, in experimental, quasi-experimental, and modeling studies. 30 - 33 However, differences in support for these measures by political party affiliation emerged early in the pandemic, 34 and the gradual loosening of the strictest government policies regarding the use of facial masks and restrictions on large gatherings predated April 2021, when vaccines became available to all adults in the study states. The extent of public adherence to these and other interventions at various stages of the pandemic, associations between individual political party affiliation and the adoption over time of these interventions in specific geographic areas, and their relative contribution to trends in individual and community COVID-19 mortality over time are also worthwhile areas for further investigation.
Since the fall of 2022, the focus of the US COVID-19 vaccination program has turned to the administration of updated, bivalent booster doses to those who have already received a primary vaccine series and, in many cases, 1 or more prior booster dose. Federal health officials have also begun considering future strategies for COVID-19 vaccination, including annual revaccination campaigns using vaccines reformulated to match circulating variants. 35 Yet more than 2 years into the vaccination effort, more than 50 million adults in the US have not completed a primary series, and these individuals remain at a substantially increased risk of hospitalization and death. 36 The causes of this vaccine hesitancy and refusal are varied and extend beyond political beliefs or party affiliation alone. 37 It therefore remains imperative for public health officials to continue and enhance activities intended to improve initial vaccination coverage, in tandem with current or future booster campaigns. To be most effective, these efforts—and corresponding messages—should be tailored to their intended audiences, address the particular sources of vaccine hesitancy among those groups, and seek to include direct participation from members of those communities as trusted ambassadors of provaccine messages. 38 As part of this work, engagement with conservative and Republican leaders, in particular, has been identified as a promising approach to promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. 38
Our study has several limitations. First, there are plausible alternative explanations for the difference in excess death rates by political party affiliation beyond the explanatory role of vaccines discussed herein. Second, our mortality data, although detailed and recent, only included approximately 83.5% of deaths in the US and did not include cause of death. Although overall excess death patterns in our data are similar to those in other reliable sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics data, it is possible that the deaths that our study data did not include may disproportionately occur among individuals registered with a particular political party, potentially biasing our results. In addition, the completeness of our mortality data may vary across states or time, potentially biasing our estimates of excess death rates. Third, all excess death models rely on fundamentally untestable assumptions to construct the baseline number of deaths we would expect in the absence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourth, because we did not have information on individual vaccination status, analyses of the association between vaccination rates and excess deaths relied on county-level vaccination rates. Fifth, our study was based on data from 2 states with readily obtainable historical voter registration information (Florida and Ohio); hence, our results may not generalize to other states.
Our study found evidence of higher excess mortality for Republican voters compared with Democratic voters in Florida and Ohio after, but not before, COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults in the US. These differences in excess death rates were larger in counties with lower vaccination rates. If differences in COVID-19 vaccination by political party affiliation persist, particularly in the absence of other pandemic mitigation strategies, the higher excess death rate observed among Republican voters may continue through subsequent stages of the pandemic.
Accepted for Publication: March 4, 2023.
Published Online: July 24, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.1154
Corresponding Author: Jacob Wallace, PhD, Department of Health Policy and Management, Yale School of Public Health, 60 College St, New Haven, CT 06510 ( [email protected] ).
Author Contributions: Drs Wallace and Goldsmith-Pinkham had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Concept and design: All authors.
Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors.
Drafting of the manuscript: All authors.
Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors.
Statistical analysis: Goldsmith-Pinkham.
Obtained funding: Wallace, Schwartz.
Supervision: Wallace.
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.
Funding/Support: The Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University and the Yale School of Public Health COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Fund funded this study.
Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funding organizations had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 2 .
Disclaimer: The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessary reflect the official views of the supporting organizations.
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Gap ( GAP Quick Quote GAP - Free Report ) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.54 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.39 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.34 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 38.46%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this clothing chain would post earnings of $0.14 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.41, delivering a surprise of 192.86%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times.
Gap , which belongs to the Zacks Retail - Apparel and Shoes industry, posted revenues of $3.72 billion for the quarter ended July 2024, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.93%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $3.55 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
Gap shares have added about 7.3% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 17.2%.
While Gap has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release , the estimate revisions trend for Gap: mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here .
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.58 on $3.81 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $1.76 on $14.91 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year.
Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Retail - Apparel and Shoes is currently in the bottom 42% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
One other stock from the same industry, J.Jill ( JILL Quick Quote JILL - Free Report ) , is yet to report results for the quarter ended July 2024. The results are expected to be released on September 4.
This retailer of women's clothes, shoes and accessories is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.94 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -14.6%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.
J.Jill's revenues are expected to be $155.13 million, down 0.3% from the year-ago quarter.
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Life insurance is a crucial aspect of financial planning, providing a safety net for individuals and their loved ones. In recent years, the mid-market segment has gained prominence in the life insurance industry, showcasing its scalability potential. The mid-market consumer refers to households or individuals who fall into the $50,000 to $200,000 income bracket. These consumers are usually transitioning through key life events such as buying a home, getting married or having children.
In the wake of the pandemic, interest in life insurance is at an all-time high, with 39% of consumers intending to buy life insurance in the next year. 1 However, consumers still lack a general understanding of what life insurance is, how much it costs and how it could help provide them financial security.
According to a recent article by the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA), 52% of American adults have life insurance, highlighting a large gap in unprotected consumers. 1
Additionally, 41% of both insured and uninsured adults believe they could use more coverage. 1
When we look at the differences between generations, there’s also a large gap that needs to be filled, particularly for younger consumers. 1
This gap in coverage for younger generations presents a great opportunity for providers to first educate consumers about the importance of life insurance and second help them find the right coverage for them.
The top reason Americans don’t have life insurance is due to a lack of understanding about how much or what type of coverage is needed. Fewer than one in three Gen Z and Millennial parents express a strong sense of confidence regarding their understanding of life insurance. Additionally, 40% of Gen Z parents and 29% of Millennial parents report abstaining from purchasing coverage due to uncertainties regarding the required coverage amount and the specific type of policy to choose. 1
The biggest misconception behind life insurance is that it’s expensive. Many people believe it’s a luxury to have, and not something that could be afforded by more.
An additional factor that plays into the lack of coverage are economic influences creating turbulent financial conditions for American adults. When households have financial strain, expenses will be cut down, and life insurance is not immune to this. Households with a lower income are less likely to buy a life insurance policy. A broker with access to multiple companies may be able to find affordable coverage for consumers with a lower budget.
As we’ve learned, there is a large gap in young adults’ coverage due to a lack of education and concerns about affordability. Providers wanting to market to these younger consumers should prioritize educating young adults first. To connect and engage with these consumers, you should understand where they spend their time and how they prefer to learn about new products they’re interested in purchasing.
Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to be influenced by social media and online reviews when choosing a life insurance provider. They tend to be savvy consumers who will take the time to research companies and look for vendors offering differentiators that meet their needs.
The mid-market consumer segment in life insurance presents a huge opportunity for providers. The ability to provide accessible, customized solutions to a diverse clientele sets the stage for sustained growth in the industry. By addressing the unique needs of the mid-market segment and leveraging technological innovations, insurers can build a robust foundation for the future, helping individuals across various income levels improve their financial well-being through life insurance.
The views expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of trustage..
1 LIMRA, 2023 Insurance Barometer Study , 2023.
Corporate headquarters 5910 mineral point road, madison wi 53705, © trustage. all rights reserved., gen-6242949.1-0124-0226, kevin cummer, related articles.
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Learn what a research gap is, why it matters, and how to identify four common types of research gaps in your field. Get practical examples and tips on how to write a research gap statement for your dissertation, thesis or research project.
Here are some examples of research gaps that researchers might identify: Theoretical Gap Example: In the field of psychology, there might be a theoretical gap related to the lack of understanding of the relationship between social media use and mental health. Although there is existing research on the topic, there might be a lack of consensus ...
Though there is no well-defined process to find a gap in existing knowledge, your curiosity, creativity, imagination, and judgment can help you identify it. Here are 6 tips to identify research gaps: 1. Look for inspiration in published literature. Read books and articles on the topics that you like the most.
Learn how to find an original research gap (and consequently a research topic) as quickly and efficiently as possible. In this step-by-step walkthrough, we'l...
Identifying a research gap has many potential benefits. 1. Avoid Redundancy in Your Research. Understanding the existing literature helps researchers avoid duplication. This means you can steer clear of topics that have already been extensively studied. This ensures your work is novel and contributes something new to the field.
Learn what a research gap is, the different types of research gaps (including examples), and how to find a research gap for your dissertation, thesis or rese...
These are gaps in the conceptual framework or theoretical understanding of a subject. For example, there may be a need for more research to understand the relationship between two concepts or to refine a theoretical framework. 3. Methodological gaps. These are gaps in the methods used to study a particular subject.
A gap is something that remains to be done or learned in an area of research; it's a gap in the knowledge of the scientists in the field of research of your study. Every research project must, in some way, address a gap-that is, attempt to fill in some piece of information missing in the scientific literature.
About this video. Researching is an ongoing task, as it requires you to think of something nobody else has thought of before. This is where the research gap comes into play. We will explain what a research gap is, provide you with steps on how to identify these research gaps, as well as provide you several tools that can help you identify them.
This is the second part of the video series on research writing. This video explains the step-by-step of research gap analysis. Guided by the 3 rhetorical mo...
Finding the literature. The most obvious way to find a research gap is simply to read and analyse the relevant literature. However, this is easier said than done, as the volume of published literature can be staggering. Fortunately, there are some excellent bibliographic databases, which can speed the process of searching for relevant literature.
Here are the 6 effective tips to identify the research gap. 1. Understand the Existing Literature: The first step in gap analysis is to do a systematic review of existing literature relevant to your research. A comprehensive literature survey would provide a clear understanding of the existing works. Conduct a systematic review of relevant ...
1. Start with a broad topic related to your field of interest. A broad topic allows you more opportunities to find a research gap. Pick a topic that interests you and that you already know something about. As you learn more about your topic, you can narrow it down further to help you find your focus.
A research gap is a specific area within a field of study that remains unexplored or under-explored. Identifying a research gap involves recognizing where existing research is lacking or where there are unanswered questions that could provide opportunities for further investigation. Understanding research gaps is crucial for advancing knowledge ...
An important research gap is one that has significant implications for your field or has the potential to lead to new discoveries. Assess the impact of addressing the gap and consider its relevance to current issues. Finding research gaps is an essential step in conducting meaningful and innovative research. By understanding and identifying ...
Literature Gap. The expression "literature gap" is used with the same intention as "research gap.". When there is a gap in the research itself, there will also naturally be a gap in the literature. Nevertheless, it is important to stress out the importance of language or text formulations that can help identify a research/literature gap ...
Answer: Before writing about gaps in research, you first need to identify them. Identifying research gaps is often the starting point of research. You identify potential research gaps by going through existing literature in the area you are studying. From the various gaps you identify, you decide to explore one in greater detail in your research.
A research gap is a question or a problem that has not been answered by any of the existing studies or research within your field. Sometimes, a research gap exists when there is a concept or new idea that hasn't been studied at all. Sometimes you'll find a research gap if all the existing research is outdated and in need of new/updated research ...
Discover the essential steps of the research process in this beginner's guide. Learn how to choose a research topic, identify gaps in literature, formulate research questions, design your study, and write a compelling research proposal. Perfect for students and researchers at any stage.
Researchers have studied this problem in depth and the evidence is eloquently summarized in a 2023 report by the Pew Research Center. While overt discrimination is sometimes the case, the gender gap more often arises from women and men choosing different jobs and female jobs paying less than male jobs, women working fewer hours than men in the ...
LISLE, Ill - Aug. 27, 2024 - Today, DeVry University released its second annual report on upskilling and reskilling the U.S. workforce in the age of AI. In partnership with Reputation Leaders, the research reveals that while employees are more enthusiastic about opportunities for ongoing learning, current employer upskilling and reskilling efforts are not meeting the moment with the right ...
But Jason Streem, also 46, a dentist from the Cleveland suburbs who supports Trump, objected to the way Harris became the nominee. "She was never part of the running process," he said in a follow ...
"Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention," said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
This video lecture discusses in great detail the techniques in identifying a research gap.Transcript of this video lecture is available at: https://philonote...
Uncover consumers' behaviours in your sector, size the value-action gap and zero in on the consumer pain points you need to fix. Identify the most relevant sustainable concerns for your sector and understand what needs to be addressed by your business.
After April 1, 2021, when all adults were eligible for vaccines in Florida and Ohio, this gap widened from −0.9 percentage point (95% PI, −2.5 to 0.3 percentage points) between March 2020 and March 2021, to 7.7 percentage points (95% PI, 6.0-9.3 percentage points) in the adjusted analysis, or a 43% difference .
Gap (GAP) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of 38.46% and 2.93%, respectively, for the quarter ended July 2024. ... Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries ...
Your official source for the latest T-Mobile news and updates, along with the newest devices, offers, and stories from the world of T-Mobile.
According to a recent article by the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA), 52% of American adults have life insurance, highlighting a large gap in unprotected consumers. 1.