Organization of the module

Introduction

This module intends to equip students with knowledge and skills to conduct health related research. The student will be exposed to different aspects of research methods that will include developing a research proposal, which can be implemented as a project leading to a dissertation. The school of Public Health and Social Sciences will rely on the RM module as the engine for a tangible product. (a research proposal) for the whole programme.

Aim

To enable the student plan, develop; conduct research that aims at addressing health problems of public health importance. The module will also enable the student to analyze and disseminate research findings to different audiences

Competency Domain:  Professional knowledge

Broad competence statement: The student will demonstrate an understanding of and analysis of data collected for the research project and draw conclusions related to the objectives of the study and write clear and concise research report and a summary of the major findings and recommendations for each of the different parties interested in the results.

The trainee will be able to describe what research is and the contribution it can make towards solving priority public health problems within the national health systems.

Competencies (Learning objectives):

1.Identify and conceptualize a research problem

2.Identify the steps in research proposal development

3.Evaluate the quality and reliability of literature resources

4.Appraise the literature of a research topic of interest

5.Present and defend a research proposal.

6.Demonstrate the ability to use research methods in collecting, analyzing and presenting data and disseminating information to stake holders and wider audience.

Methods of Instruction: Lectures, Seminars and demonstrations.

Methods of Assessment:  Written examination (Quizzes, short and long answer questions) and oral examination.

Competency Domain: Practical Skills

Broad competence statement: The student will write a research proposal. He/she will be able to use literature search engines to search and document relevant literature for the proposed topic of study.

Competencies (Learning objectives):

1.Develop a research proposal that can be implemented to generate information that can be used for writing a report document, such as a dissertation.

2.Design data collection tools (e.g. questionnaires, interview schedules, check-lists).

Methods of Instruction: Practicals and plenary presentations. Students may obtain data from open resource websites for analysis in order to get skills on data processing and analysis. They may also get data from previous research by other students of the same class. This means the school should have an archive of all data collected by previous students.

Methods of Assessment: Grading of practical work when presented in plenary

Competency Domain: Relationship with colleagues

Broad Competency Statement: The student will engage and communicate with colleagues to identify public health problems and recommend appropriate methods to investigate these problems. He/she will be able to build relationships for the purposes of sharing information, and getting advice.

Competencies (Learning objectives)

1.Demonstrate good collaboration with peers, facilitators, other health care professionals and communities

2.Organize scientific presentations with other students

3.Demonstrate respect to peers, teachers, other health care professionals and communities

4.Demonstrate respect to views and opinions made by others during presentations

Methods of Instruction: Role modelling, role-play and student-faculty interactions.

Group work, presentations

Methods of assessment: Observation and rating by faculty, peer rating and multicourse rating.

Module content

1.0:   Introduction to Research

1.1      Introduction to the Module

1.2      Aims/Objectives of the course

1.3      Meaning and significance of research

1.4      Types of research and Research approaches

2.0:   The Research Process

2.1      Sources of research problems

2.2      Literature review, citations and references

2.3      Defining the problem

2.4      Making a problem statement

2.5      Justifying a problem statement

2.6      Making a hypothesis and asking research questions

3.0:   Research Proposal

1.0Main parts of a research proposal and dissertation

1.1The problem statement

1.2Literature review

1.3Aim and objectives of the study

1.4Methods: Qualitative sampling

1.5Methods: Quantitative sampling

1.6Methods: Data collection: in-depth interview

1.7Methods: Data collection: focus group discussion

1.8Methods: Data collection: observation

1.9Methods: Data collection: questionnaire

1.10Methods: Ethical issues and field logistics

1.11Action plan, budget and justification

1.12Results: Quantitative data analysis

1.13Results: Qualitative data analysis

1.14Discussion and recommendation in the dissertation/not in proposal

4.0:   Publication & Dissemination

4.1. Writing of dissertation

4.2. Writing a scientific paper for publication

4.3. Dissemination of research findings

Recommended reading materials

Latest editions of the following:

1.Crosby, R. A., Diclemente, R. J., Salazar, L. F. Research Methods in Health Promotion.Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.

2.Neutens, J. J. &Rubinson, L. Research Techniques for the Health Sciences (3rd edition).Benjamin-Cummings Pub Co.

3.Diclemente, R.J. (Editor) & Blumenthal, D. S. Community-Based Health Research: Issues and Methods.Springer Pub Co.

4.Creswell, J. W. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches, (2nd ed.), (pp. 53-84) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

5.Maxwell, J., & Miller, B. Categorizing and connecting strategies in qualitative data analysis. In P. Leavy& S. Hesse-Biber (Eds.), Handbook of emergent methods (pp.461-477). New York: Guilford.

6.Charmaz, K. Grounded theory for the 21st Century. In N. K. Denzin& Y. S. Lincoln (Eds), The Sage handbook of qualitative Research (pp. 507-535). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Recommended references:

Latest editions of the following:

1.Creswell, J. W. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches, (2nd ed.), (pp. 53-84) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

2.Neutens, J. J. &Rubinson, L. Research Techniques for the Health Sciences (3rd edition).Benjamin-Cummings PubCo.