Reading Supplement: Price, Aromatherapy for Healthcare Professionals, 3 rd Edition, chapter 4, pp- 77-136. For information on animal testing, see pages 49-50. Page 1 The Research Project is an opportunity for students to do research to add to the body of knowledge on aromatherapy. Students will gain experience in reading, interpreting and evaluating aromatherapy research in the literature and to locate currently developing essential oil and applied research. The research project could be a study on how a particular healing technique is enhanced by an essential oil or it could be a study on how a particular oil affects the body and/or emotions. You may choose to do your project singly or with a partner or in a group of no more than three people. All research topics must be approved by one of the ISHA aromatherapy instructors who will serve as an advisor to your project. The research project need not be a daunting task but a welcome challenge in your educational development. There are key parts to the research project that contribute to your development of the critical process. They are outlined as follows: 1. Project Question A research project first begins with a question in your mind on something you wonder about. Samples of Simple Projects. Even though these may be individual cases, you are using a critical process of inquiry as you conduct the study. Be careful not to write this up simply as a case study. You learn that Juniper essential oil is effective for urinary tract infections. This is of particular interest to you since you have a UTI. You use juniper oil appropriately on yourself over a week being careful to note amount of oil used, how often, method of application and record your results. Your daughter has asthma and you would like to see if energy healing and a certain essential oil would be helpful in decreasing the amount of medications and inhalers needed to control the asthma. With the doctor s permission, you devise a study using 1 healing technique (from ISHA s list of approved healing techniques) plus diffusing an essential oil like Ravensara aromatica once in the morning and once at night for 10 minutes each treatment. After 4 weeks, you compare your daughter s use of inhalers to pre-treatment levels.
You learn that Lavandula angustifolia is helpful for sleep. You and your research partners decide to study the effects of lavender on 10 test subjects who have indicated that they have trouble sleeping. The oil will be rubbed on the feet at bedtime and the results recorded over a three week period with a questionnaire completed at the end of the test period. Page 2 Your dog develops a hot spot on a hind leg. You learn from your reading that several essential oils can heal up hot spots and so you devise a study in which you apply a 5% dilution of your chosen oil through spritzing the wound 3 times a day for 21 days and record your results. You volunteer at your local hospice and you want to study whether an essential oil known for its ability relieve pain can help with hospice patients who have muscle tension that keep them awake at night. You first obtain permission to use an essential oil on the hospice patients you visit. You choose your pain relieving oil, obtain patient permission, instruct the patient and/or primary caregiver in the nightly application of the oil and record your results. Samples of More Advanced Projects for 2-3 students: You learn that Valor is effective in opening the field and energy centers when placed on the client s soles of the feet. You wonder if it is just as effective when brushed through the field as it is when placed on the feet. You devise a study of 20 clients. You record your pretreatment assessment on an energy assessment form then use Valor on your hands and brush it through the field for one half of the clients followed by a post-treatment assessment. For the other half of the clients, you record your pre-treatment assessment then use Valor on your hands and hold the soles of the feet for 1 minute. Then record your post-assessment. Compare the results between the two groups. You notice that many of your clients are stressed with the cares of life and you want to compare the effectiveness of lavender essential oil with that of Peace and Calming, a blend of several relaxing oils. You devise an assessment scale on relaxation and divide your client population of 20 people into two groups one group using lavender and the other group using Peace and Calming. You then write up your results. You work (or volunteer) in a clinic or outpatient setting where patients are undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. You would like to study the effectiveness of energy healing techniques used in the HTSM program versus an essential oil in relieving nausea, exhaustion, muscle aching, etc. You receive permission from the institution for this experiment. You then pick a healing technique for one half of the subjects and an essential oil for the other half of the subjects. You then write up your results. You are a massage therapist educator and you wonder if an essential oil known for its relaxing effects on the body used in a 5% dilution will achieve a greater sense of relaxation than jojoba oil without any essential oil (control group). You devise a study utilizing 20 massage therapy students who are not told which oil they are receiving, only that you are
testing 2 different oils. Half of the students receive oil A and half receive oil B which is the control group (jojoba oil with no essential oil, a placebo). You obtain written permission from the clients who agree to answer questions regarding the degree of relaxation they experienced. You measure your results through this questionnaire plus feedback from the student massage therapists. (This is an example of a double blind study with a control group. Neither student massage therapist nor client is aware which oil was used.) Page 3 2. Developing a Hypothesis Once you have a question in mind, you need to develop a hypothesis A hypothesis is a belief statement that you are trying to prove. For instance, you wonder if Cedarwood is just as effective in relaxing and balanced the field as Sandalwood. Your hypothesis is that it is just as effective. Your research will either prove or disprove this hypothesis. Other examples of hypotheses: Juniper oil is effective in relieving the symptoms of urinary tract infection. A combination of Ravensara aromatica and Magnetic Clearing will decrease asthmatic symptoms. Lavender will decrease insomnia symptoms when used nightly on the soles of the feet. Spritizing a particular essential oil in a 5% dilution on a dog s hot spot can heal the sore in 3 weeks. Application of a pain relieving oil to legs and feet at bedtime can relieve a hospice patient s inability to sleep due to muscle pain. Valor is just as effective brushed through the field as it is placed on the soles of the feet in opening and balancing the field and chakras. Lavender oil is more effective than Peace and Calming in inducing restful sleep. Chakra balancing is more effective ( or less effective or just as effective) than XYZ essential oil in relieving symptoms caused by chemotherapy, ie, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to smells, and pain.
Roman Chamomile in a 5% dilution is more effective in achieving a relaxing massage in a group of 10 clients than a control group of 10 clients who received only jojoba oil (placebo) as measured by a questionnaire devised by the researchers. Page 4 3. Collecting Data Once you have your question and are able to formalize your hypothesis, it is time to devise how you will test your hypothesis. Testing might be simply recording your observations of a single client or may include multiple clients using placebos, control groups, or double blind studies. You may need to develop an assessment form or questionnaire to record your results. Since this is a SIMPLE research project, there is no need to do advanced statistical analysis on your results. However, if this is your expertise, your efforts are most welcome. 4. Writing Your Results Once you have your data, it is time to write up your results. Please provide a one-page summary of your research findings for your classmates and include all 4 of the above points. *****You will orally present your research project at CCA 303 and give the instructor and each of your classmates a copy of your one-page summary. 5. Completing your Research Paper Each student who intends to complete the work for certification will submit an 8 page research paper along with the completed homework booklets prior to taking the final exam. When 2 or 3 students are working on the same project together, each section may be broken up with each
research partner equally doing the research, gathering the data and writing up the results. Each student in a group project must submit a copy of their joint project. Page 5 Research Paper Sections: 1. Abstract this is a paragraph summary of your question, hypothesis, research design, data collection and results. 2. Problem Description this may be several paragraphs to one page describing the problem you desire to study. 3. Hypothesis you formulate the hypothesis from your stated problem description. 4. Choose an Essential Oil or Essential Oil Plus a Healing Technique to Study you decide upon which oil(s) you intend to study giving a description of each and rationale for your choosing this oil(s). If you begin your research data gathering and you feel the oil chosen is not the right one, DO NOT change your study without your ISHA Advisor s approval. Hint: it is much easier to choose a single oil to study than to choose a blend which is made up of many different oils. If you choose a blend, you must describe each oil in the blend as well as its purpose in the blend. If you are choosing an essential oil in combination with an approved ISHA healing technique, you must also describe the healing technique and the expected results. 5. Cite Previous Studies from the Literature do a literature search including a google search on your chosen essential oil and the problem you wish to study. If there are none, state that as well. Go to PubMed Central, a free site to find any relevant research in the literature: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc You can also go to the American Botanical Council and check out the HerbMedPro and search for relevant studies. 6. Plan of Study and Data Collection devise a method of collecting data to prove/disprove your hypothesis. This is a description of what you did to study your question. For instance, you applied the oils neat or diluted, 1-2 times a day for 30 days; you diffused your chosen oil for 10 minutes at bedtime; you chose 20 clients or volunteers and asked them to apply 1-2 drops of a chosen oil to the soles of their feet twice a day for a common problem; you spritzed a 5% dilution of an oil on a wound, measuring the width of the wound daily for 3 weeks. 7. Conclusions this is where you tell us the results of your data collection and whether you proved or disproved your hypothesis.
8. Other Factors Affecting your Outcomes you either got the results you were expecting or you didn t. Describe all factors which may have impacted your results either positively or negatively. For instance, the person was also taking several pharmaceutical drugs which may have interfered or the person was not always compliant with your directions. Page 6 9. Bibliography list any resources you used in the writing of your research paper. 10. About Authors give a paragraph description of each researcher on the team and the role they played in this research project. Research Paper Template: Page 1: Title, List of Researchers, Abstract (Summary) Page 2-3: Problem description plus description of the essential oil(s) to be studied. Page 4: Cite any previous studies or lack of studies regarding your problem and your oil to be studied. Page 5-6: State hypothesis then plan of study and data collection what you did to study your problem and prove or disprove your hypothesis. Page 7: State your conclusions and any factors affecting your outcomes. Page 8: Bibliography, about author(s). Addendum: If you took pictures of a wound, hair loss, or other visible problem, these will add to your conclusions. Please include these pictures after page 8.
Homework Assignment to be Faxed or Mailed: Names of Researchers: Page 7 All students must have approval for their project before beginning. Please fax or mail this assignment to our office. Date you faxed or mailed this assignment: Address: PO Box 741239, Arvada, CO 80006 Fax: 303-467-2328 Once your project is approved, you will receive a telephone call from our office. The number you wish us to call is: Identify your question: Formulate your hypothesis: Your plan to test your hypothesis: Method of data collection: For Office Use: Date Project Rec d: Date Project Approved: Researcher Contacted: Yes No