HLTH464-17S1 (C) Semester One 2017

Research Approaches for Health

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 20 February 2017
End Date: Sunday, 25 June 2017
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Friday, 3 March 2017
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 19 May 2017

Description

This course will provide students with specialist knowledge and skills to support postgraduate research and/or health industry led projects. Philosophical, ethical and methodological issues influencing health research design will be examined and applied to researching health related issues.

The course requires students to demonstrate the application of their knowledge and understanding in relation to a specific health issue or opportunity, and to take an active role in developing an investigation for the benefit of a wider audience.  The course will require students to plan and implement a small-scale project and present the findings to a community of interest for critique. In doing this, students are demonstrating a critical awareness of current and emerging issues in an area of health practice; their leadership in conducting the research and communicating results back to the community; and the opportunity to demonstrate the application of highly specialised knowledge. In essence this is a capstone project which provides an opportunity for students to draw on their particular backgrounds, knowledge and expertise in order to identify, plan and implement a small-scale project of relevance to a particular health community.

Learning Outcomes

GROUP A:
1. Critique important philosophical perspectives on research and justify the implications of these for their research design.
2. Critically analyse different research traditions and design strategies that affect knowledge development for health research and practice.
3. Utilise experiential learning from workshops for research design decisions.
4. Evaluate the ethical and cultural considerations related to research in New Zealand.
5. Plan and implement a research project that is philosophically, methodologically and ethically congruent for a specialised health context or issue.
6. Present the outcomes of the project to the identified community of interest for peer critique and review.


GROUP B:
1. Critique important philosophical perspectives on research and justify the implications of these for the research design.
2. Critically analyse different research traditions and design strategies that affect knowledge development for health research and practice.
3. Utilise experiential learning from workshops for research design decisions.
4. Evaluate the ethical and cultural considerations related to research in New Zealand.
5. Plan a research project that is philosophically, methodologically and ethically congruent for a specialised health context or issue.

Prerequisites

Subject to approval of the Head of School of Health Sciences.

Timetable Note

(W, Th, F): Feb 22, 23, 24 & May 3, 4, 5

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Alison Dixon

Lecturer

Raymond Kirk

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Assignment 03 Apr 2017 25% Group A. Critical appraisal of a methodological approach utilised in health research. Group B. Critical appraisal of the literature and development of research question. This is due by 7pm on 3 April 2017.
Experiential Workshops 20% Groups A & B. Experiential workshops. 3rd and 4th May 2017.
Research Project 22 May 2017 55% Group A. Analysis of data. Project may involve qualitative or quantitative data. Written report and power- point presentation Group B. Research proposal and power-point presentation. This is due by 5pm on 22nd May 2017.


Assessment 1 – Group A, 180 Masters students.
Methodological critique.
Date:   3 April 2017 at 7pm
• Word Limit: 3000 words (excluding references)

Instructions:
From the SAGE data base in the university library, identify a research approach (excluding focus group) with relevance to your area of interest. i.e. A methodology. Find 1 health related research article that has utilised this methodology. Write an in-depth essay that demonstrates your understanding of this methodology, including its epistemological and ontological position. Explain how this methodology informed design decisions in your research article (for example, ethics, participants, data methods and analysis, rigor).

You are required to:
• Attach the research article’s abstract as an appendix
• Attach your literature search as an appendix
• Use the APA 6th Edition referencing
• Submit the work, as a WORD document, to ‘Turn-it-in’ via the HLTH464 UC LEARN site on or before the due date.


Assessment 1 – Group B, Master of Health Sciences Thesis track students
The Research Question:  location and justification.
Due Date: 3 April 2017 at 7pm
Word Limit: 3000 words (excluding references)

Instructions:
Identify the research area of interest. From the literature review, demonstrate the refinement process and the justification for the research question. i.e. what gap in the literature will it address? Locate the research question against an appropriate research methodology, with the rationale for this choice (1-2 paragraphs)

You are required to:
• Use the APA 6th Edition referencing
• Attach your literature search as an appendix
• Submit your work, as a WORD document, to ‘Turn-it-in’ via the HLTH464 UC LEARN site on or before the due date.


Assessment 2 – Groups A & B
Simulated Quantitative and Qualitative Workshops:
Due Date:   3rd & 4th May 2017

Quantitative workshop:
Questionnaire development
For the Quantitative workshop on 3rd May students will be in small groups.   The students in each group will work together to design a questionnaire, which each group will present in the afternoon. Each student will be responsible for presenting at least 1 of the points in the rubric below. The presentations will be assessed against this rubric:

•         What is the research question?
•         Why use a questionnaire?
•         How will participants be selected?  
•         How will the questionnaire be administered? (Mail, face-to-face, telephone, online) and justify this choice
•         What methods will be used to encourage a high response proportion?
•         Justify the design of the questionnaire (types of questions eg: open/closed/Likert scales/demographic data)
•         How will the results be analysed?

Qualitative Workshop:
Power point Presentation (40 minutes, plus 10 minutes for questions)
For the qualitative workshop on 4th May the students will be in small groups which will be allocated in Block 1. Each group has responsibility to deliver a presentation which will be graded. The three topic areas to be covered are:
• Focus Group methodology. Include all design issues and compare / contrast with 2 other qualitative approaches.
• Qualitative Data Analysis including data withdrawal process. Utilise at least 3 different ways to analyse qualitative data.
• Rigor (trustworthiness, credibility), reflexivity, researcher location / positioning, ethical issues including negotiating access to the field, Interviewing

The power point presentation will include notes and cover in-depth the key aspects of the group’s allocated topic. After the presentation, the group will lead a simulated workshop, demonstrating the application of the group’s allocated topic to a research situation with academic support.

The group is required to make any changes to the presentation in response to feedback and email to academic staff for loading on the HLTH464 UCLearn site.

The group is required to:
• Use the APA 6th Edition for referencing
• Submit the power point to academic staff by Wednesday 9th May 5pm. These will be loaded on the UC LEARN site as a resource for assessment 3.


Assessment 3 – Group A
Project Work
Due Date: 22nd May 2017 by 5pm

Identify a research question to apply to the assigned data set. Analyse the data using the appropriate resources for your method of data collection. i.e. from a quantitative or qualitative design. Write a research report of the analysis, including the method(s) of analysis. Link the findings to the literature in a discussion section, including any implications for health care practices.  The marking template for this assessment provides a structure that is consistent with what information is expected for this assessment. It should be very succinct with sufficient information to assess the analysis and the ‘so what’ for health practices. You are required to:
• Use the APA 6th Edition referencing
• Submit a small (maximum 6 slides) power point to academic staff of your findings by Friday 26th May (terms requirement). These will be emailed to student group A for peer critique by 6th June 2017. All students in this group are expected to provide feedback on a limited number of presentations (2-3) and share these critiques with the wider group. Terms requirements must be met to pass this course.
• Submit your work, as a WORD document, to ‘Turn-it-in’ via the HLTH464 UC LEARN site on or before the due date.


Assessment 3 – Group B
The Research Proposal.
Due Date:   22nd May 2017 by 5pm

Develop the research question from assessment one into a research proposal. The marking template for this assessment provides a structure that is consistent with what information is expected in a research proposal. It should be very succinct with sufficient information to assess the research aim and design. A review panel will not want to read pages of unnecessary information. Since you plan to complete a thesis this proposal should reflect your future intent.  Filling out a draft ethics application identifies any weaknesses in your design so this is a useful process to undertake, see http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/humanethics/hec/index.shtml

You are required to:
• Use the APA 6th Edition referencing
• Present a PowerPoint (maximum 10 slides) of your thinking in action for peer critique Friday 5th May (terms requirement). Terms requirements must be met to pass this course.
• Submit your work, as a WORD document, to ‘Turn-it-in’ via the HLTH464 UC LEARN site on or before the due date.

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Creswell, John W; Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches ; 4th ed; SAGE Publications, 2014.

Gerrish, Kate,1955- , Gerrish, Kate, Lacey, Anne; The research process in nursing ; 6th ed. ; Blackwell Pub, 2010.

Richardson-Tench, Marilyn et al; Research in nursing : evidence for best practice ; Edition five; Cengage Learning, 2014.

Tolich, Martin. , Davidson, Carl; Getting started : an introduction to research methods ; Pearson, 2011.

There is no set text for this course. Rather, students are expected to access appropriate resources to develop their knowledge of research methodologies. Besides the library, the universities (Otago; Canterbury; Victoria; Auckland; AUT) and polytechnics (EIT; WINTEC) with postgraduate Masters Health programmes usually have their theses collections on line.  The design chapters will illustrate the application of various methodologies to the research process. These are excellent sources for research application.  

SAGE Research Methods database, University of Canterbury Library.
http://www.statisticsdonewrong.com/
NZResearch http://research.digitalnz.org/ has quite a few theses and journal articles that might be useful secondary sources.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $2,066.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see School of Health Sciences .

All HLTH464 Occurrences

  • HLTH464-17S1 (C) Semester One 2017