How to write a research protocol

Abstract

A research protocol is best viewed as a key to open the gates between the researcher and his/her research objectives. Each gate is defended by a gatekeeper whose role is to protect the resources and principles of a domain: the ethics committee protects participants and the underlying tenets of good practice, the postgraduate office protects institutional academic standards, the health authority protects provincial resources etc. The protocol must explicitly address the issues likely to be raised by these gatekeepers, demonstrating evidence of a clear understanding of the issues involved and that all components of the research plan have been addressed. The purpose of this paper is to add flesh to the skeleton provided in step six (‘write the protocol’) of the Biccard and Rodseth paper of 2014, orientated towards the first-time researcher working towards the MMed degree. Although occasional reference will be made to qualitative approaches, it is likely that the majority of these studies will be quantitative designs and these form the focus of this paper.