Program Overview

Program Details

The program details are as follows:

Unit Description

HLSC647 - Quantitative Research Methods is a unit that supports students in developing the ability to identify contemporary and relevant research questions, research design, and research methods for quantitative data collection and analysis.

Year and Credit Points

• Year: 2024
• Credit points: 10

Campus Offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Prerequisites

• HLSC640 Interpreting Health Research
• OR HLSC641 Introduction to Health Sciences Research

Incompatible Units

• HLSC642 Biostatistics for Health Sciences
• PUBH620 Biostatistics

Teaching Organisation

150 hours of focused learning

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

This unit aims to develop students' ability to use quantitative research methods in the context of health-related research, in developing a quantitative research proposal, and in report writing.

Learning Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will be able to:

1. Compare and contrast quantitative approaches to research and criteria for evaluation
2. Examine ethical and legal issues in quantitative research
3. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in relation to research methods for studies using quantitative approaches to data collection, analysis, and interpretation
4. Demonstrate beginning skills in the use of selected statistical software packages
5. Develop a preliminary quantitative research proposal

Content

Topics will include:

• Introducing quantitative research methods and epidemiology
• Understanding relationships between variables
• Introducing main observational study designs
• Measures of association, confounding, and bias
• Experimental design randomized controlled trial
• Data measurement scales
• Displaying of quantitative data in tables and graphs
• Measures of central tendency and variability
• Stratification
• Introducing basic steps in research planning
• Accuracy, precision, and bias of measurements
• Introducing validity, reliability, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values
• Ethics and integrity in research practice
• Statistical distributions and hypothesis testing
• Comparison of means of dependent and independent groups
• Parametric and non-parametric tests
• Correlation and Regression
• Analysis of variance
• Introducing SPSS

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

HLSC647 is only offered in online mode. Teaching and learning strategies utilized in this unit will support students in meeting the aim and achieving the learning outcomes relevant to this unit as well as to the broader course learning outcomes.

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

To pass this unit, students are expected to submit three graded assessment tasks. In addition, students must achieve a cumulative grade of at least 50% across all assessments.

Overview of Assessments

• Short-Answer Task: Enables students to demonstrate their ability to write a brief description of key terms and their meaning (35%)
• Workbook: Enables students to demonstrate their ability to answer quantitative questions (35%)
• Quantitative Research Proposal: Enables students to demonstrate their ability to prepare a research proposal relevant to the health care environment (30%)

Representative Texts and References

• Abramson, J., & Abramson, Z.H. (2008). Research methods in community medicine: Surveys, epidemiological research, programme evaluation, clinical trials (6th ed.). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
• Bowling, A., & Ebrahim, S. (2005). Handbook of health research methods. Maidenhead, Berks: Open University Press.
• Courtney, M., & McCutcheon, H. (Eds.). (2009). Using evidence to guide nursing practice (2nd ed.). Sydney: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier.
• LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (Eds.). (2010). Nursing research: Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (7th ed.). St Louis, MO: Mosby/Elsevier.
• Neuman, W. L. (2014). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson, Allyn and Bacon.
• Scott, I., & Mazhindu, D. (2005). Statistics for health care professionals: An introduction.
• Cook, A., Netuveli, G., & Sheikh, A. (2004). Basic skills in statistics: A guide for healthcare professionals. Class Publishing.
• Rugg G. (2007). Using statistics: A gentle introduction. Maidenhead, Berks: Open University Press.