Research Design
Overview
This unit teaches students to identify and understand some of the methodologies used in survey research. It includes an overview of the procedures used in survey research, including questionnaire design, both sample and census data collection methods, and an introduction to survey sampling. The unit covers ethics and laws in conducting research. The unit also covers observational and experimental data collection, and different types of study designs including Cohort and Case-Control studies, Randomised Control Trials and Clinical Trials in health statistics and elsewhere. Case studies will be drawn from areas such as sociology, market research, psychology, medical sciences and other areas as appropriate.
Requisites
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Compare and appraise the processes used to develop and conduct survey research
- Explain the ethics, laws and privacy considerations associated with the design and conduct of research
- Independently plan and design a small scale survey project, and prepare a detailed survey design report
- Evaluate scale development and meta-analysis concepts
- Identify different steps in conducting experimental research and explain the basic principles of experimental design
- Identify and implement different study designs including cohort and case-control studies, randomised control trials and clinical trials used in health statistics and elsewhere
- Confidently plan and design a quantitative research project
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Online Class | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 11.50 | 12 weeks | 138 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Individual | 50% | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |
| Online Quizzes | Individual | 10% | 1,4 |
| Test | Individual | 40% | 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 |
Content
- Introduction to survey research and methods used in health statistics
- Survey sampling, experimental design, and observational studies
- Using secondary data, including census data
- Ethics and Laws in conducting research
- Data collection methods (interviews, questionnaires, online, observation)
- Introduction to meta-analysis
- Developing a questionnaire
- Scale development
- Steps in conducting experimental researchÂ
- Concept of experimental design
- Randomized control trials, clinical trials and cohort studies
- Case-control studies
- Plan and design a quantitative research study
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.