Primary Research Report of my EPQ on bacteriophage therapy featuring an extensive statistical analysis of survey results (conducted in 3 different countries) on the general public's views/acceptance of bacteriophage therapy in the future AND interview notes & evaluation with experts in the field of...
Primary Research Report
- To What Extent Could Bacteriophage Therapy Be Applied to Treat Certain
Superbug Infections and Cancers and How Will It Impact Medicine in the Future?
Oliver Xue Extended Project Qualification
, Table of Contents
Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Planned Approaches ............................................................................................................................................... 2
Timeline .................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Survey Approach........................................................................................................................................................ 2
Purpose ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Why Survey? ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
Drafts......................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
Analysis and Evaluation of Results........................................................................................................................ 7
Methods ................................................................................................................................................................ 7
General Conclusions and Key Findings .......................................................................................................... 7
General Areas of Improvement......................................................................................................................... 8
Detailed Analysis of Results ............................................................................................................................... 9
Interview Approach ................................................................................................................................................ 43
Purpose ................................................................................................................................................................... 43
List of Potential Interviewees ............................................................................................................................... 43
Methodology .......................................................................................................................................................... 45
Evidence of Interviews .......................................................................................................................................... 45
Analysis and Evaluation of Results...................................................................................................................... 45
Interview with Mr Mark Grantham-Hill ....................................................................................................... 45
Interview with Dr Dmitriy Myenikov ........................................................................................................... 46
Interview with Dr Thomas Häusler ............................................................................................................... 47
Interview with Mr Astudillo Skliarova .......................................................................................................... 48
General Conclusion and Reflection ................................................................................................................... 50
Appendix A – First Draft of Desired Survey Questions.................................................................................51
Appendix B – Final Draft of Survey.....................................................................................................................51
Appendix C – List of Responses to Survey Question № 13 (Version B) ................................................ 56
Appendix D – List of Responses to Survey Question № 13 (Version C, with translation) ...............61
Appendix E – List of ‘Other’ Responses to Survey Question № 7 (Version B) ................................... 62
Appendix F – List of Responses to Survey Question № 10 (Version B)................................................. 63
Appendix G – Interview Transcripts ................................................................................................................. 67
1 Primary Research Report
, I. Overview
a. Introduction
Without the slightest shadow of doubt, good primary research can contribute considerably
to the establishment of a more inclusive, objective, and subject-specific understanding of
the topic being researched. Responses from primary research approaches are likely to be
more direct and responsive with active engagement within the selected survey samples and
experts in the field. It is also a perfect platform for different opinions to be heard and
considered. I am planning to develop my skills in communication, conducting interviews,
sampling populations, data analysis, and source evaluation to a further extent.
b. Planned Approaches
i. Interview with Experts
I have decided to contact some scholars in the field of bacteriophage therapy as
well as some Biology teachers of mine. I am hoping to receive more up-to-date
information about bacteriophage therapy from the people mentioned above.
ii. Distributing Surveys
I have also taken the decision to design, distribute, and analyse a survey in order
to gather and reflect different people’s opinions towards bacteriophage therapy
and antibiotic resistance at the moment. This will serve as the predominant source
of information when I analyse and conclude the potential future of bacteriophage
therapy in my dissertation.
c. Timeline (final edition)
II. Survey Approach
a. Purpose
i. To collect and analyse relevant information on people’s current perception of the
presence of bacteriophages and phage therapy.
ii. To collect and analyse relevant information on people’s understanding and
perception of the reliability of antibiotics and the current antibiotic resistance.
iii. To collect and analyse relevant information on people’s willingness to receive
potential bacteriophage treatments, based on the assumption that these drugs
have been tested safe and effective, in case of developing cancer or contracting
an illness through superbug infections.
iv. To investigate and analyse any significant correlations between respondent’s
responses to specific questions, such as age and the previous knowledge of phage
therapy.
2 Primary Research Report
, b. Why Survey?
A successful survey can offer an exceedingly useful method of collecting primary data for
my research project. Via conducting surveys, I will be able to effectively obtain direct,
subject-specific responses to my questions in an interactive, convenient, efficient, and
educational way. The survey may serve as a decent platform that encourages respondents
to express their preferences and opinions. It will be incredibly valuable for me to hear the
voices of the public while improving my detailed understanding of the topic and preparing
the evidence needed for my conclusions in the final dissertation. For example, the
observed level of willingness of the populations to receive phage therapy is a critical source
of data and evidence when projecting phage therapy's potential future.
c. Drafts
i. First Draft of Desired Survey Questions
PLEASE REFER TO ‘APPENDIX A – FIRST DRAFT OF DESIRED
SURVEY QUESTIONS’.
ii. Pilot Survey and Final Draft
From conducting some independent research on effectively designing and
distributing surveys, I realised that it is always important to design a pilot survey
before sending out the real survey. I created a draft pilot survey via the platform
‘Microsoft Forms’ and presented it to my family members, teachers, and
classmates. Eight people in total participated in the pilot survey. I found out that
it would be better to ‘personalise’ the survey – presenting different questions to
different respondents based on their responses while maintaining that all surveys
are similarly designed to achieve the same outcome. After the pilot survey stage,
I edited the survey on Microsoft Forms with branches added to several critical
questions for customisation.
FOR THE FINAL DRAFT OF SURVEY, PLEASE REFER TO ‘APPENDIX
B – FINAL DRAFT OF SURVEY’.
d. Methodology
i. Why Microsoft Forms?
Microsoft Forms is a free, professional data collection and analysis platform
operated by the US company Microsoft Corporation. Users can create surveys
and invite others to respond via any web browser or mobile device. Real-time
results are obtained and analysed using its built-in analytics to evaluate responses.
Results may also be exported to Microsoft Excel for additional analysis or grading.
As a Junior Prefect, I have previously designed and distributed several different
surveys regarding the College’s broad community via Microsoft Forms. Therefore,
I have acquired adequate experience with Microsoft Forms as a useful tool for
data collection and analysis. From my previous experience, I am reasonably
satisfied with the result analysis function of Microsoft Forms as it provides me
with visualised data diagrams. The ‘insight’ function is also exceedingly useful,
which automatically analyses the correlations between respondents’ responses to
different survey questions. Surveys on Microsoft Forms may also be edited to
become multilingual, which means the appropriate translation could be
automatically displayed based on each respondent’s language preference.
Additionally, the College’s network system is based on Microsoft, and my student
3 Primary Research Report
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