BSc Speech and Language Therapy

Clinical Research 2 runs in the final six weeks of the second semester of the second year of study. It is the second year course unit for the Clinical Research strand of the degree programme. This course unit will build on the principles of research and research methods from Clinical Research 1. The course unit also provides key knowledge, understanding and skills required for students to complete the Clinical Research 3 project.

The course unit content covers key research skills required for health care professionals including:

• critical appraisal
• principles and practice of patient and public involvement in research.  
• quantitative analysis for SLT practice including:
  • practical skills in data analysis. Students will use a statistical package for quantitative analysis. This will include summarising data and conducting basic statistical analyses
  • students will gain experience of interpreting the output of statistical analyses  
  • students will gain experience of reporting of results of statistical tests to professionals and clients including for report writing/audit purposes
• qualitative analysis for SLT practice  
  • students will explore qualitative analysis approaches that are used in SLT research
  • students will gain experience of interpreting the results from qualitative research studies  
  • students will gain an understanding of the value of exploring lived experience though qualitative research and how this knowledge contributes to planning intervention 

The unit aims to:

• Provide students with opportunities to gain the skills required to evaluate research critically.
• Provide students with opportunities to gain experience of relevant quantitative and qualitative analyses to be able to understand the analyses described in research papers.
• Provide students with opportunities to gain knowledge of qualitative and quantitative analysis to help identify considerations necessary in a clinical research project 

Learning and teaching processes include tutor led lectures and practical classes. Practical demonstrations of worked examples in for qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Online resources will provide step by step instructions for producing graphs, descriptive statistics and performing statistical tests using statistical software, providing students with opportunities to practice performing these statistical tests and interpreting and reporting the results.

To support independent study, learning materials will be provided on the unit’s online learning environment. 

• Interpret and report the results of statistical tests in a clinically meaningful way.
• Describe the key principles of evidence based practice and its methodology.  
• Relate the principles of evidence based practice to clinical practice and individual client management.
• Demonstrate an appreciation of evidence which can be provided by different types of clinical research design.
• Demonstrate an understanding of a range of outcome measures and their qualities and applicability in SLT practice and research. 

• Engage in independent learning to review and consolidate their knowledge and understanding of the information presented.
• Synthesise, organise and begin to evaluate research findings and present them in a logical argument, clearly and accurately expressed.
• Present and explain the results of statistical tests clearly for both professionals and clients.
• Acquire and evaluate information from a range of sources; show understanding of the theoretical, statistical and methodological issues involved; present a clear discussion of the topic, justifying the chosen position by reference to the evidence considered. 

• Use a statistical package to produce graphs, summarise data and perform appropriate statistical tests. Set up a data file and enter data in SPSS, produce graphs and summarise data and perform appropriate statistical tests.
• Begin to identify appropriate tests relevant to the research question and identify the limitations 

• Understand, manipulate, interpret and present basic numerical and statistical data.
• Make effective use of information and communication technology, including statistical packages 

Throughout the unit, students will have the opportunity to self-evaluate their work and understanding against class/group discussions, feedback from the lecturer and tutor written outline answers and expectations for content.

A mark and individual, detailed written feedback will be provided following the assignment. 

• Bishop, D. V. M. & Thompson, P. A. (2024). Evaluating What Works An Intuitive Guide to Intervention Research for Practitioners. Oxford: CRC Press.