Clinical Research

Core modules:

Introduction to Research Methods

This module is offered across several programmes. Learning activities for the module are tailored to your individual specialist areas to provide learning that is relevant and specific to your chosen degree programme.



This module provides students with an introduction to quantitative and qualitative research methods; it covers all stages of the research process from planning and design and research ethics and public and patient involvement, through to data collection and analysis and dissemination stages. It is specifically designed for students who do not have prior research experience and would be suitable for students from a range of backgrounds, but is particularly relevant to those interested in applied health related research. The course also provides a foundation for further learning in specific research methods.

15 credits

Introduction to Statistics and Critical Appraisal

The unit introduces students to basic concepts and techniques such as hypothesis testing and confidence interval estimation in statistics. Students will learn some simple statistical methods and the principles behind some advanced methods such as regression. It will equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and critically appraise statistics in research literature.The course is not aimed at 'doers' of statistics, that is, students who are going to design their own studies to collect and analyse their own data. It will not teach you how to analyse, present and report your own data.

15 credits

Randomised Controlled Trials

Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) are used to test the effectiveness of interventions. This module covers the appropriate use of trials, the range of trial designs, strategies to optimise recruitment, sample size, outcome measures, the use of economic and qualitative methods alongside trials, the role of clinical trials units, ethical issues and governance procedures. Teaching is lecture-based. Assessment is by written assignment at the end of the module.This module is limited to a maximum of 40 students and prority will be given to ScHARR Masters students and then ScHARR Research students.

15 credits

Practical Aspects of Clinical Research

This unit is intended to run alongside the clinical research portfolio that is a part of the Masters course for NIHR Academic Clinical Fellows. It is also offered as one of the Core Modules for UK and overseas students on the generic MSc in Clinical Research. The course covers many of the practical and regulatory issues associated with carrying out clinical or health related research within a variety of national and international settings including the NHS. Face-to-face and web- based learning packages cover a variety of issues around research planning, project management, research governance, ethical and legal frameworks for research, good clinical practice, patient and public involvement, cultural competence, and dissemination and impact. The module runs across both semesters and students need to register for the Autumn semester and then continue into the Spring semester. There is no option to start in Spring and continue to the following Autumn semester.

30 credits

Dissertation

This module is offered across several programmes. Learning activities for the module are tailored to your individual specialist areas to provide learning that is relevant and specific to your chosen degree programme.



The aim of this module is to enable students to develop an understanding and obtain practical experience of the research process and research skills required to undertake a supervised research project.

Students will be required to identify relevant information on a topic and critically review the research of others. You will be provided with the knowledge and skills required for identifying a knowledge gap, developing a research question, selecting a suitable research design, and conducting an independent piece of research to completion. You will be able to select a dissertation topic of your own interest and a research type (primary data collection,  secondary data analysis, literature review). You can also select projects offered by staff members.



The dissertation should demonstrate competence in the following areas, as applicable to your chosen specialism and dissertation topic; -Critically appraising and interpreting published literature; -Collecting and using data and information to answer a nutrition or clinical research question; .

60 credits

Optional modules:

Health Needs Assessment, Planning and Evaluation

Assessing health needs and tackling health inequalities are key aspects of public health work at the local, national and international level. This module will provide students with an understanding of the main approaches to, and methodologies for, conducting Health Needs Assessments and will equip them with an understanding of programme planning, and the monitoring and evaluation of programmes.

15 credits

Knowledge Mobilisation in Healthcare

Knowledge mobilisation is a generic term used for a number of activities that involve the use, production and knowledge management. Although the need for effective implementation of evidence-based interventions has been well documented, little is understood about how this is best achieved. The module will equip students with an understanding of the practical and theoretical challenges of mobilising knowledge and its consequences for healthcare delivery focused on problem solving and critical thinking. The focus will be on how to mobilize (do) and how to understand (study) knowledge to action, through a critical appraisal of both approaches.

15 credits

Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the discipline underpinning both effective public health practice and research into the causes, control and prevention of disease. Knowledge and understanding of epidemiological concepts and methods is a basic requirement for effective public health practice.

This module will provide an introduction to epidemiology covering key epidemiological concepts; measures of disease; association and causation; confounding and bias. It will also introduce research designs including cross-sectional, ecological, cohort, case-control and intervention studies and introduce population health measures such as screening.

15 credits

Qualitative Research Design and Analysis

On completing the module students will be expected to be able to: understand a range of qualitative research approaches, data collection methods and forms of analysis; plan and undertake a simple analysis of student-generated qualitative data; critically appraise the methods and results of qualitative research.

15 credits

Public Health Informatics

Public Health Informatics is a module designed to look at how informatics and information technology can be used to help address some of the major issues in public health. Public health informatics was traditionally defined as the systematic application of information and computer science and technology to public health practice, research, and learning (Yasnoff, 2000). In this module, we examine this rapidly changing field, using a combination of lectures, individual and group exercises and self directed learning. Key issues around the local, national and international contributions that technology can make to public health are critically examined and students are given a theoretical and practical grounding in this increasingly important discipline.

15 credits

Economic Evaluation and Healthcare Financing

This module introduces the basic principles of economic evaluation as applied to healthcare interventions and health care financing. The core part of the course focuses on economic evaluation and covers the different types of evaluations that are available and the various stages and techniques that need to be applied to generate results. As alternative techniques are described, the strength and weakness of each will be highlighted, with the students being encouraged to critically appraise their appropriateness to different contexts. The course also introduces the concepts of markets and market failure, models of health care financing and objectives of health care systems. These topics draw on economic theory and use it to identify possible solutions to health system problems. Health system performance measurement will also be covered, linking the economic and health system content to empirical studies.

15 credits

Further Statistics for Health Science Researchers

The unit covers fundamental statistical concepts, and both simple statistical methods and the more widely used advanced methods of multiple regression, survival analysis and generalised linear models. It will be a practical module, including the teaching of the statistical software SPSS, equipping students with the knowledge and skills necessary to design and analyse a study to answer specific research questions; to understand and critically appraise the literature; and to present research findings in a suitable fashion.

15 credits

The Sociology of Health and Illness

The sociology of health and illness module involves studying how society is structured by looking at the patterns of relationships that have an existence over and above individuals. In this respect it looks at how health is distributed as a consequence of how people are related to each other in a number of ways. This involves looking at how, for example social class, and gender relations result in varying patterns and experiences of health. The module goes well beyond this however. In this module you will also undertake a journey to study social organisation. We will be exploring how our very ideas about health can be controlled and manipulated, and how these ideas are historically located. Beyond this sociology is also the study of what things mean to people. A large part of the sociology of health involves understanding how people relate to each other both rationally and emotionally through what things mean for them. We will explore how the meaning of health can shape encounters with various health professionals including doctors, health promoters, dentists and various different therapists. The module does not require any prior knowledge of sociology and is structured for students who are not from a social science background.  However, we do welcome students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds.

15 credits

Contemporary Health Psychology and Behaviour Change

Health Psychology is a rapidly growing field of study as there is increasing awareness amongst health professionals of the need to focus on social and psychosocial as well as biomedical aspects of illness. This module provides an introduction to contemporary research in this area, covering both traditional mainstream approaches and newly emerging critical studies. Topics covered include: models and approaches within health psychology; psychological approaches to understanding and changing health behaviour; the experiential aspects of illness; patient-provider communication; stress and health; and the application and relevance of contemporary work in global and cultural context.

15 credits

Optional modules - You may also take one from:

Systematic Reviews and Critical Appraisal Techniques

To familiarise students with principles of systematic reviews and critical appraisal and the acquisition of skills necessary to undertake such work. The unit includes an introduction to information systems; principles of systematic literature reviews and critical appraisal; search strategies; computer-assisted search methods; practicalities of writing up the results of a systematic review; introduction to Meta- analysis; and dissemination of findings.

15 credits

Systematically Reviewing the Research Literature Online

Delivered by online learning, this module aims to demonstrate the importance of reviewing the literature systematically regardless of whether or not the desired end product is a formal systematic review. The module will equip students with skills for lifelong acquisition and synthesis of evidence from research. Please note that the module is about applying systematic review methods to conducting a literature review, drawing examples from health research, with supporting examples from social care, information science, education, management, and computer science. Students from disciplines outside of the above areas may not benefit from the module, particularly if systematic review is not an established methodology in your topic area.

15 credits