Skills, perception on barriers, and motivation in conducting research in Thai medical students | BMC Medical Education

We conducted a cross-sectional study surveying all 1,222 undergraduate medical students enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand, between July 2021 and May 2022. The survey questions were adapted from a study on research experience in medical students by Burgoyne et al. [11] and on intrinsic and extrinsic motivations by Ommering et al. [5] Formal permissions were obtained from the respective authors of both studies. The questionnaire underwent a translation process from English to the local language using forward-backward translation techniques performed by native speakers. Prior to its launch, the translated questionnaire was evaluated for inter-rater agreement, reliability, content validity, and face validity. Following minor cultural adaptation to ensure its appropriateness for the local Thai context while maintaining instrument quality, the questionnaire demonstrated acceptable internal consistency/reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient = 0.88), inter-rater agreement (Kappa coefficient = 0.82), and content validity (Content Validity Index = 0.94). Pilot study participants provided comments and suggestions to improve the content and quality of the questionnaire.

The final survey questionnaire comprised sections on demographic data, previous academic background, grade point average (GPA), baseline research experience, including proposal writing, data collection, data entry, manuscript drafting, and publication, as well as students’ intended future specialty training. The GPA, a numerical representation of a student’s academic performance for a semester or program, is calculated on a maximum scale of 4.00 at our institution. A 36-item, five-point Likert scale was employed to assess students’ perceived competency in research-specific skills (8 items) and transferable skills (11 items), their perception of barriers to research (8 items), and motivation, encompassing both intrinsic (5 items) and extrinsic (4 items) factors.

Research-specific skills are defined as competencies directly related to research methodology, encompassing activities such as hypothesis generation, study design, data collection, statistical analysis, and scientific presentation. Conversely, transferable skills refer to individually adaptable competencies that can be applied across diverse situations and workplaces; these include communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and time management.

In this study, higher scores within the skills and motivation domains indicate more positive qualifications, whereas higher scores for barriers reflect greater obstacles to conducting research. Participation in the study was entirely voluntary and anonymous, and all participants provided informed consent before their involvement. Surveys were distributed to students through both an online platform and paper-based questionnaires, with no incentives provided. To prevent duplicate responses, an additional question was included to ascertain prior exposure to the survey (yes/no) via either platform. The study received approval from the Human Research Ethics Committee at our institution (COA.MURA2021/498).

Statistical analyses

All analyses were performed using STATA statistical software 18 (StataCorp, College Station, TX, USA). Data were presented as mean, standard deviation (SD), median, interquartile range (IQR), and proportion, with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Where applicable, the comparison of discrete variables across different groups was assessed using either a Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. Univariate and multivariable analyses were conducted using binary and multiple logistic regression for the factors of interest. We pre-defined “high” scores for research-specific skills, transferable skills, perception of barriers, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation as scores above 60% (specifically, 24/40, 33/55, 24/40, 15/25, and 12/20, respectively). All variables with a P-value < 0.1 were included in the final multivariable analyses via forward stepwise selection. Statistical significance was defined as a P-value < 0.05.