Availabilities:
| Location | Domestic | International |
|---|---|---|
| Coffs Harbour | ||
| Gold Coast | ||
| Lismore | ||
| Online |
Unit description
Introduces students to different types of methodologies used to inform evidence-based practice and the processes involved in conducting ethical research. Through both theoretical and practical components, students will learn the basic methods for: planning an investigation; collecting, analysing and interpreting data; and reporting and disseminating data findings.
Unit content
Understanding how evidence is created is a cornerstone learning foundation for all students of health sciences. This unit introduces students to understanding the nature of evidence in the health sciences:
- Ways of knowing and knowledge creation
- Identifying problems, purposes, aims, questions, hypotheses
- Ethical and cultural considerations in producing knowledge
- Methodological designs
- Data collection methods
- Data analysis including descriptive and inferential statistics, and thematic analysis
- Interpreting and reporting findings
Learning outcomes
Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.
| On completion of this unit, students should be able to: | GA1 | GA2 | GA3 | GA4 | GA5 | GA6 | GA7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | describe different philosophical approaches to knowledge creation | Ethical practice | ||||||
| 2 | describe the strengths and limitations of various study designs | Lifelong learning | ||||||
| 3 | identify a question and plan an appropriate methodology that addresses it | Lifelong learning | ||||||
| 4 | evaluate ethical implications of a proposed inquiry | Ethical practice | ||||||
| 5 | demonstrate an ability to conduct basic data analysis | Intellectual rigour | ||||||
| 6 | demonstrate an ability to interpret and report findings. | Intellectual rigour | Lifelong learning | |||||
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
- describe different philosophical approaches to knowledge creation
- GA3: Ethical practice
- describe the strengths and limitations of various study designs
- GA5: Lifelong learning
- identify a question and plan an appropriate methodology that addresses it
- GA5: Lifelong learning
- evaluate ethical implications of a proposed inquiry
- GA3: Ethical practice
- demonstrate an ability to conduct basic data analysis
- GA1: Intellectual rigour
- demonstrate an ability to interpret and report findings.
- GA1: Intellectual rigour
- GA5: Lifelong learning
Prescribed texts
- This text is available to read online at the library so purchase is not required unless you prefer to read from a book: Portney, LG & Watkins, MP , 2015, Foundations of Clinical Research: Applications to Practice, 3rd edn, F. A. Davis, Philadelphia.
- Prescribed text information is not currently available.
- Prescribed text information is not currently available.
Teaching and assessment
Fee information
Domestic
Commonwealth Supported courses
For information regarding Student Contribution Amounts please visit the Student Contribution Amounts.
Fee paying courses
For postgraduate or undergraduate full fee paying courses please check Domestic Postgraduate Fees OR Domestic Undergraduate Fees
International
Please check the international course and fee list to determine the relevant fees.