Course details
General
Faculty | Health Sciences | ||
Department | Medicine | ||
Education level | Postgraduate / Master of Science | ||
Course code | E6 | Semester | 2 |
Course title | Qualitative Research | ||
Independent teaching activities | Hours per week | ECTS | |
Lectures | 1 | ||
Practice | 3 | ||
Total | 4 | 4 | |
Coursetype | General setting course, skills development | ||
Prerequisite courses | None | ||
Teaching and assessment language | English |
Learning outcomes
Objective
This course will introduce students to the principles of qualitative research. Participants will explore how qualitative research bridges the gap between scientific evidence and clinical practice by examining the attitudes, beliefs, and preferences of both patients and health care providers. The course will also provide an introduction to the methods of collecting qualitative data, including observation, interview and focus groups and the techniques of thematic analysis. The course will further introduce students to the nature and design of mixed methods research, describing practical ways that combine both qualitative and quantitative research.
Knowledge
Upon completion of the course, graduate students will be familiar with:
- Use of qualitative research in evidence-based practice
- Steps taken to design, collect data and analyse a qualitative project
- Commonly used qualitative methodologies, including observation, interviews and focus groups
- The principles of thematic qualitative data analysis
- The ways in which qualitative and quantitative approaches can be combined
Skills
The course participants upon completion will be able to:
- Design, analyse and assess survey and interview/focus group data
- Design a qualitative and mixed methods research study
- Critically appraise a qualitative research study
- Appreciate the practicalities of individual qualitative research methods
- Write up a qualitative research protocol
Course contents
- Definition and origins of qualitative research
- Ethnography
- Qualitative interviewing
- Focus groups
- Conducting a qualitative research literature search
- Recruitment and sampling
- Introduction to thematic analysis
- Systematic reviews of qualitative research
Teaching and learning methods – evaluation
Teaching methods | Face to face Distance learning |
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Use of information and communication technologies (ICT) |
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Module structure | Work Hours per Semester | Activity |
Lectures | 30 | |
Exercises (Quiz) | 5 | |
Exercises (Wikis) | 5 | |
Exercises (Online discussion fora) | 10 | |
Exercises (Study relevant papers) | 20 | |
Essay background work | 40 | |
Essay writing | 15 | |
Overall work for the course | 125 | |
Assessment Methods |
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Recommended Bibliography
- Austin Z1, Sutton J2. Qualitative research: getting started. Can J Hosp Pharm. 2014 Nov;67(6):436-40.
- Tariq S1, Woodman J. Using mixed methods in health research. JRSM Short Rep. 2013 May 7;4(6)