HLQ707 Research Methods in Health
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | HLQ707 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | Completion of 96 credit points of study |
| Equivalent(s): | HLN707 |
| Assumed Knowledge: | Content of HLN710 or PUN105 or HLN405 is assumed knowledge |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $3,216 |
Unit Outline: Session 1 2025, QUT Online, Online
| Unit code: | HLQ707 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | Completion of 96 credit points of study |
| Equivalent: | HLN707 |
Overview
An understanding of the research process and how to interpret and critically evaluate research literature is essential in evidence-based health practice. In this unit you will analyse and critique research methods and evidence with reference to real world experiences and develop the skills to design a viable and ethical research proposal to investigate a particular area of practice relevant to your specialisation and/or professional interest, which will prepare you to undertake an independent project unit. This unit aims to provide clinicians, health practitioners and health managers the supported experience of becoming a scholar practitioner and able to link their research knowledge with practice. Course themes emphasised in this unit are ethical and responsible practice, and clinical informatics, eHealth and digital literacy.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Generate a focused research question based on identified gaps in current knowledge.
- Justify your choice of appropriate research methodology and methods.
- Assess the ethical considerations of your research.
- Generate a robust research proposal or review protocol applying the methodological principles of rigorous research design.
Content
This unit will cover the following:
- Introduction to research methods in health
- What is a literature review?
- Developing a search strategy
- Reviews - Quantitative Synthesis
- Reviews - Qualitative Synthesis
- methodological quality of studies in reviews
- Reporting methods
- Reviews - mixed methods
- Health research in practice
- Research ethics
- Writing a research proposal/review protocol
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging in an active learning environment, undertaking regular online activities, guided through the learning process by expert teaching staff who provide regular feedback. On average, you will need to dedicate 12-15 hours each week for your learning that includes readings, discussions with peers and assignments.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
- Informal formative feedback will be provided through self-check exercises, peer feedback and through individual or whole of class feedback in online discussions or via comments in online communities.
- Formal written or recorded feedback will be received on both formative and summative assessment tasks via Turnitin or the Canvas Assignment tool, in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
- Feedback on Assessment Task 1 will be received prior to the submission of Assessment Task 2.
- Industry informed expert feedback may be provided through clinical assessment examples and interventions at timely intervals to guide learning and assessment.
- Students are encouraged to seek and share feedback in their workplaces where appropriate.
Assessment
Overview
The first assessment - Research expression of intent - is formative only. The purpose of formative assessment is to show you how your work can be improved. You will receive feedback on your research topic to better prepare you for the following assessments.
The Search Strategy and Research Proposal/Review Protocol are summative tasks. The purpose of summative assessment is on determining the outcome of your learning and comparison with benchmarks. The Search Strategy will draw on what you have learnt about identifying evidence and enable you to determine if there is enough evidence to continue with the research topic. The Research Proposal/Review Protocol will build on the Search Strategy and all the unit learning materials about research methodologies and methods to propose in detail the research/review you will undertake in a later capstone unit.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Research EOI and Search Strategy
Part A: You will present an expression of intent of your potential research topic and formulate a focused question. This is designed as a formative task so that you can receive essential feedback from your teaching team to refine your research area.
Part B: In this assessment you will take on the role of a researcher to develop a search strategy for a research question. You are required to justify the need to research a specific health issue or problem, develop an answerable research question and objectives, a succinct and focused review of the current evidence, and outline an appropriate study design, and, if applicable, the underlying theoretical framework. The audience will be a group of researchers or other experts in the field.
You will develop a search strategy by using your tentative research question from the Formative assessment (Expression of intent), including a comprehensive description of your analysis of the current evidence (for example, search strategy, studies selection, critical appraisal, data extraction tables and summary of findings).
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Research Proposal
Continuing in your role as a researcher, you will develop a structured research proposal OR review protocol that will expand upon Assessment 1 into a defensible research proposal/review protocol including a description of the proposed research methodology, brief justification of methods, consideration of ethical issues, and establish a timeline for completing your research project.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Boland, A., Cherry, M.G., and Dickson (2017) Doing a Systematic Review. Sage: Melbourne.
Booth, A., Sutton, A., and Papaioannou, D. (2016) Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review. Sage: Melbourne.
Liamputtong, P. (2016) Research Methods in Health: Foundation for Evidence-Based Practice. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.
Punch, K.F. (2016) Developing Effective Research Proposals. Sage: Melbourne.
Risk Assessment Statement
Workplace Health and Safety protocols associated with computer use will apply.
You are expected to communicate in ways that are professional and respectful of others in all interactions. Please refer to QUT guidelines on communication.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PQ87 Master of Health Management and Leadership
- Critique and engage in research to inform ethical, evidence-based health management and policy decisions.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, ULO3, ULO4, Research EOI and Search Strategy, Research Proposal
Unit Outline: Session 3 2025, QUT Online, Online
| Unit code: | HLQ707 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | Completion of 96 credit points of study |
| Equivalent: | HLN707 |
| Coordinator: | Jerico Pardosi | jerico.pardosi@qut.edu.au |
Overview
An understanding of the research process and how to interpret and critically evaluate research literature is essential in evidence-based health practice. In this unit you will analyse and critique research methods and evidence with reference to real world experiences and develop the skills to design a viable and ethical research proposal to investigate a particular area of practice relevant to your specialisation and/or professional interest, which will prepare you to undertake an independent project unit. This unit aims to provide clinicians, health practitioners and health managers the supported experience of becoming a scholar practitioner and able to link their research knowledge with practice. Course themes emphasised in this unit are ethical and responsible practice, and clinical informatics, eHealth and digital literacy.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Generate a focused research question based on identified gaps in current knowledge.
- Justify your choice of appropriate research methodology and methods.
- Assess the ethical considerations of your research.
- Generate a robust research proposal or review protocol applying the methodological principles of rigorous research design.
Content
This unit will cover the following:
- Introduction to research methods in health
- What is a literature review?
- Developing a search strategy
- Reviews - Quantitative Synthesis
- Reviews - Qualitative Synthesis
- methodological quality of studies in reviews
- Reporting methods
- Reviews - mixed methods
- Health research in practice
- Research ethics
- Writing a research proposal/review protocol
Learning Approaches
In this unit, you will learn by engaging in an active learning environment, undertaking regular online activities, guided through the learning process by expert teaching staff who provide regular feedback. On average, you will need to dedicate 12-15 hours each week for your learning that includes readings, discussions with peers and assignments.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
- Informal formative feedback will be provided through self-check exercises, peer feedback and through individual or whole of class feedback in online discussions or via comments in online communities.
- Formal written or recorded feedback will be received on both formative and summative assessment tasks via Turnitin or the Canvas Assignment tool, in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
- Feedback on Assessment Task 1 will be received prior to the submission of Assessment Task 2.
- Industry informed expert feedback may be provided through clinical assessment examples and interventions at timely intervals to guide learning and assessment.
- Students are encouraged to seek and share feedback in their workplaces where appropriate.
Assessment
Overview
The first assessment - Research expression of intent - is formative only. The purpose of formative assessment is to show you how your work can be improved. You will receive feedback on your research topic to better prepare you for the following assessments.
The Search Strategy and Research Proposal/Review Protocol are summative tasks. The purpose of summative assessment is on determining the outcome of your learning and comparison with benchmarks. The Search Strategy will draw on what you have learnt about identifying evidence and enable you to determine if there is enough evidence to continue with the research topic. The Research Proposal/Review Protocol will build on the Search Strategy and all the unit learning materials about research methodologies and methods to propose in detail the research/review you will undertake in a later capstone unit.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Research EOI and Search Strategy
Part A: You will present an expression of intent of your potential research topic and formulate a focused question. This is designed as a formative task so that you can receive essential feedback from your teaching team to refine your research area.
Part B: In this assessment you will take on the role of a researcher to develop a search strategy for a research question. You are required to justify the need to research a specific health issue or problem, develop an answerable research question and objectives, a succinct and focused review of the current evidence, and outline an appropriate study design, and, if applicable, the underlying theoretical framework. The audience will be a group of researchers or other experts in the field.
You will develop a search strategy by using your tentative research question from the Formative assessment (Expression of intent), including a comprehensive description of your analysis of the current evidence (for example, search strategy, studies selection, critical appraisal, data extraction tables and summary of findings).
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Research Proposal
Continuing in your role as a researcher, you will develop a structured research proposal OR review protocol that will expand upon Assessment 1 into a defensible research proposal/review protocol including a description of the proposed research methodology, brief justification of methods, consideration of ethical issues, and establish a timeline for completing your research project.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Boland, A., Cherry, M.G., and Dickson (2017) Doing a Systematic Review. Sage: Melbourne.
Booth, A., Sutton, A., and Papaioannou, D. (2016) Systematic Approaches to a Successful Literature Review. Sage: Melbourne.
Liamputtong, P. (2016) Research Methods in Health: Foundation for Evidence-Based Practice. Oxford University Press: Melbourne.
Punch, K.F. (2016) Developing Effective Research Proposals. Sage: Melbourne.
Risk Assessment Statement
Workplace Health and Safety protocols associated with computer use will apply.
You are expected to communicate in ways that are professional and respectful of others in all interactions. Please refer to QUT guidelines on communication.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PQ87 Master of Health Management and Leadership
- Critique and engage in research to inform ethical, evidence-based health management and policy decisions.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, ULO3, ULO4, Research EOI and Search Strategy, Research Proposal