RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY - 2023/4

Module Overview

The module enables students to understand the theoretical and practical aspects of research; how to design research informed by theoretical, methodological and practical issues; and to prepare a research proposal relevant to health and social care practice. The module provides students with the knowledge, skills and confidence in planning and writing a research proposal that can be taken forward to the dissertation module.

Module provider

School of Health Sciences

Module Leader

KERRISON Robert (Health Sci.)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 90

Module Availability

Year long

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

NA

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• 
  Philosophy of science, ontology, epistemology
  


• 
  Research methodologies and methods
  


• 
  Rigour in research design
  


• 
  Action research and evaluation
  


• 
  Data collection methods
  


• 
  Sampling Strategies
  


• 
  Data analysis methods
  


• 
  Research ethics and governance
  


• 
  Service user involvement
  


• 
  Preparing a research proposal
  

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

NA

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their theoretical and practical knowledge of research by designing a research proposal. The formative stage enables students to develop confidence in identifying and communicating about their research topic. The summative assessment will enable students to design a research study in the form of a research proposal.

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• 
  Development of a research proposal which will include evidence of the need for the research along with a literature review and search strategy; including research questions, methodology, methods, data collection and analysis and research ethics.
  
   
  
   
  
  Formative assessment
  
  Students will do a short presentation of their research topic outlining the rationale for choosing the topic, identifying research question/s and a suitable methodology.
  
  Feedback
  
  Students will be given written formative feedback on the short presentation which will prepare them for developing their research proposal. They will have allocated time with the research proposal tutor, so that they have regular contact and feedback on how the research proposal is progressing.
  
   
  
  Please note that any evidence of unsafe practice or breach of confidentiality will result in an automatic refer for the module.
  

Module aims

• Enable students to critically appraise a range of research designs and methodologies for health and social care practice and education in preparation for a future enquiry.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Provide students with a thorough grounding in research design and research approaches relevant to health and social care practice. The learning and teaching strategy is designed to give students the opportunity to work in small tutorial groups so they can discuss their research ideas and have tutorial support. They will have a structured introduction to various research designs including quantitative, qualitative and mixed method research. Students will through seminars, small group tutorials, presentations and discussions develop a research proposal that can in the future be taken forward to the dissertation module.

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

 

• 
  Group presentations
  


• 
  Seminars and discusiion
  


• 
  Small group tutorials
  


• 
  Lectures and discussion
  

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: NURM141

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.