Course unit details:
Research Methods and Statistics
| Unit code | PCHN60170 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 15 |
| Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
| Teaching period(s) | Full year |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
This unit aims to:
- Demystify and develop knowledge of research methods and statistics;
- Develop confidence in carrying out research;
- Help students design and plan a dissertation;
- Provide students with the skills to critically evaluate the methodology of others’ research.
Content:
- Nature of Research; presenting research findings and reviewing research
- Types of studies, methods of sampling and ethics
- Exploratory Data Analysis
- Sampling and the bases of hypothesis testing
- Significance Testing
- ANOVA
- Measures of Association – correlation and regression
- Non-Parametric Tests
- Power analysis and summary of statistical tests
Aims
This unit aims to:
- Demystify and develop knowledge of research methods and statistics;
- Develop confidence in carrying out research;
- Help students design and plan a dissertation;
- Provide students with the skills to critically evaluate the methodology of others’ research.
Teaching and learning methods
- Lectures with hands-on use of SPSS statistical package.
- Directed study with SPSS.
- Directed reading.
- Online asynchronous self-led study.
Knowledge and understanding
- Understand the nature of research.
- Critically review the methodology of scientific articles.
- Formulate precise research questions.
- Understand the issues involved in planning research such as bias, sampling etc.
- Summarise data numerically and prepare informative graphs.
- Understand the use of statistics in terms of prediction and inference.
- Understand a range of approaches to statistical models of data, and how to assess the goodness of fit of these models.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different statistical tests.
- Synthesise knowledge by analysing a data set and writing a research report based on this analysis.
Transferable skills and personal qualities
- Ability to critically review the methodology of scientific papers.
- Understanding of statistical principles and their appropriate application to different sorts of data.
- Familiarity with SPSS.
- Enhanced critical thinking, project planning, numeracy, the use of IT, and scientific report-writing.
Assessment methods
- 1,500-word assignment - 60%.
- 1000- word assignment - 20%
- Weekly Online Quizzes - 20%
Feedback methods
Written Feedback
Recommended reading
Essential:
- Field, A. (2009). Discovering Statistics using SPSS. 3 Ed. London: Sage Publications.
- Kinnear, PR and Gray, CD (2008) SPSS 16 Made Simple: Psychology Press.
Recommended:
- Norman, G.R. & Streiner, D.L. (2008) Biostatistics - the Bare Essentials. 3 Ed. BC Decker.
- Greenhalgh T. (2006). How to read a paper. The basics of evidence based medicine. 3rd Edition London: BMJ Publishing group.
- Siegel, S., and Castellan, N. J. (1988). Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 35 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 115 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Garreth Prendergast | Unit coordinator |