In healthcare, we care about on human beings. Whether our writing and research focuses on patients, healthcare workers, or other stakeholders, we typically examine one thing: people. However, working directly with humans, even through simple(ish) methods such a surveys, requires extra care. While valuable, using human research subjects can be time consuming and costly, it can introduce complex confounding variables, and it requires extensive ethical consideration.
Sometimes, we can find very high impact research ideas by studying the non-human objects around us that have a substantial impact on the humans for whom we care. By focusing on these non-human data sets, we may shorten our project timelines, utilize fewer resources, and avoid the need for ethics review board approval.
Some non-human research questions are genius in their simplicity. But they may require us to be creative, think outside of our typical research methods, and even break away from the conventional idea of a healthcare research project altogether.
Here are some examples of research articles that didn’t use human beings as research subjects but still had a big impact on people:
(By the way, if you want to get started on your next article and need help refining an idea, download my free guide here.)
Ask an Obvious Question
In one of my favorite studies of all time, researchers wanted to understand the financial burdens of cancer patients undergoing treatment at cancer centers. Specifically, they wanted to quantify how much these patients paid for parking during their cancer treatments. Gathering the data on parking costs was simple: they just looked it up online or called the parking garages and asked. While most of us think about parking our cars every day, asking this obvious question shed light on the unappreciated costs of being sick, especially those that insurance companies rarely cover. The resulting article was one of the most-read non-COVID JAMA articles of 2020. It is also a good reminder that some important research questions are parked right in front of us.
Just Visit a Website
The authors of this JAAPA article wanted to know how state medical boards ask physician assistant license applicants about their mental health. To research this question, the authors just logged onto the website of each medical board and looked at the application questions. With enough coffee, this type of research could almost be done in a single sitting; nonetheless, it answered an important research question for the first time. Always look for opportunities to use easily-accessed information in new ways.
Use “Insider” Knowledge
My colleagues and I wrote this research article when we were all in senior editorial positions at the medical journal JAAPA. Because of our roles at the journal, we had easy access to information on the acceptance decision trends at the journal and could analyze this data for research purposes. We used our positions as “insiders” to demystify the academic journal acceptance process for our readers. If you also have an “insider” perspective on a treasure trove of data, consider how you can ethically and responsibly use this for the greater good.
Publish Publicly Available Information
This very recent JAMA article examined the nature of cancelled National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. NIH grants have a massive impact on the medical research and healthcare landscapes, so this topic is of high importance. The methodology, however, is quite simple. The authors simply looked up the information in a public database and published it. The concept and methods are straightforward, but the result is an article in a major journal that will garner great attention.
Simple ideas using non-human data can lead to world-changing research. Consider any research question that addresses an important issue in a simple and easy-to-execute manner.
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