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Unit of study_
MEDF5005: Health Research Methods and Ethics
2021 unit information
This unit of study introduces students to the fundamental skills that are required for postgraduate research in medicine and health. Students will learn how to conduct research that is scientifically and ethically sound, and be able to critically appraise and review literature. Students will understand the strengths and limitations of common study designs and develop simple but important statistical analysis skills, including how to present and interpret data, basic data management skills, and how to determine the required sample size for a study. Obtaining ethics approval is necessary for any study involving the collection or analysis of data involving humans, animals or their tissues. Hence, this unit will also cover ethics in research and when and how to apply for ethics approval. These fundamental skills promote a scholarly attitude towards knowledge and understanding, and are essential for engagement with the research community.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
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| Academic unit | Public Health |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. understand the advantages and disadvantages of the common study types
- LO2. identify and describe sources of bias
- LO3. design and critically appraise a research study
- LO4. summarise and present data using the appropriate tables, graphs, and summary statistics
- LO5. interpret hypothesis tests, p-values, and confidence intervals
- LO6. check for errors in a dataset
- LO7. analyse continuous and binary data for one or two groups
- LO8. calculate the sample size required for a study
- LO9. discuss the ethical issues surrounding all aspects of research, from design through to the analysis, and dissemination of results
- LO10. identify when ethics approval is required, and how to proceed with obtaining approval.
Unit availability
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