FHE4010 – Introduction to Research Methods

The course introduces basic concepts and methods used in quantitative and qualitative research related to health, health outcomes, health care services and interventions. Students will develop an understanding of what type of research questions can be answered using various research approaches and designs.

Through lectures, group work and discussions, students will learn strategies to collect, produce and analyse quantitative and qualitative data, and to reflect on alternative research designs and the research process. The students will learn different quantitative study designs including observational studies, surveys, and randomized controlled trials, in addition to the fundamental statistical methods used to analyse, interpret and present them.

Further, the students will be introduced to key designs used in qualitative research such as ethnography, and data collection strategies including individual and focus group interviews, observations and text analysis. Students will learn to identify and reflect upon ethical challenges in health care research.

Knowledge

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Describe the fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative research
• Understand which research questions that can be answered using quantitative and qualitative methods
• Describe the main research designs and methods used in qualitative and quantitative research and identify their strengths and weaknesses
• Understand when mixed methods are useful in health research
• Describe the different steps in the research process
• Explain quality criteria of quantitative and qualitative research
• Discuss the concepts of validity and reliability

Skills

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Discuss the fundamentals of quantitative and qualitative research
• Develop quantitative and qualitative research designs to address specific research questions
• Use statistical software to perform basic statistical analysis, interpret and present results
• Apply basic principles of qualitative and quantitative data analysis
• Be reflexive as part of the research process
• Critically appraise research the strengths and limitations of quantitative and qualitative research

General skills

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

• Identify and reflect upon scientific and ethical issues of research methodologies

The course is available for students at the following master programmes:

• Health Economics, Policy and Management (master)
• International Community Health (master)
• Folkehelsevitenskap og epidemiologi (master)

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

The course consists of lectures, group work and discussions. In the group work, the students do exercises and assignments related to the course.

Students are strongly encouraged to attend and actively participate in lectures, group work and discussions.

Written examination, individual.

Examination and grading at The Faculty of Medicine.