Unit name | Practical Research Methods |
---|---|
Unit code | PHEDM0003 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Haase |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School for Policy Studies |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit will teach students the knowledge and skills needed to develop relevant research questions for addressing a current public physical or mental health problem. Students will acquire an understanding of the application and analysis of quantitative and qualitative methodology needed to create research proposals and to answer research questions. This unit will incorporate and build upon the knowledge and skills acquired in all earlier units.
Aim: To evaluate and synthesise key elements of research designs, aligning questions with appropriate methods, and practicing application of practical tools to assess qualitative and quantitative methodology.
On successful completion of the unit, students will be able to demonstrate:
The main teaching methods will be lectures and seminars plus computer based exercises, small group exercises and workshops. Teaching will be delivered across four full teaching days. Each day will be of approximately 5 hours duration.
Summative assessment will be in three parts aligned with the learning outcomes. Students will
1. be required to formulate a research question, write a brief rationale and identify a relevant methodology to address the question. This will be a 1600 word written essay section.
2. For the practical quantitative assessment, students will be provided a quantitative data set, and required to answer brief questions using the SPSS statistical package to test assumptions and provide preliminary results from the data in tabular form.
3. For the practical qualitative assessment, students will be provided with anonymous interview transcripts to interpret and identify themes, incorporating the use of Nvivo as an analysis tool.
This assessment will be equivalent to a 4000 word essay, with 1600 words for the first learning outcome, a 1200 word equivalent for the quantitative and 1200 word equivalent for the qualitative exercises.