Entry requirements

University degree, minimum of 180 ECTS credits, in medicine, nursing, nutrition or another area relevant to international health. Applicants should have passed the course Introduction to International Health Research Methods or equivalent courses.

Learning outcomes

This course provides participants with knowledge and skills needed to carry out an applied research project within International Health. The course departs both from an epidemilogical, quantitative perspective as well as a qualitative approach to the research problems. At the end of the course, the students will be able to:

Discuss ethical issues in community-based research

Describe the establishment of field study bases and population based surveillance systems

Discuss principles for cohort and case-referent studies

Analyse cohort and case-referent data

Describe and discuss intervention studies and principles for community based trials and analysis of such data

Describe the basic theoretical foundations and the main steps of analysis in grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology and hermeneutics

Describe and conduct focus group discussion (FGD) and individual interviews as methods for data collection. Transcribe, analyse and present the data and discuss the possibilities and limitations of studies based on FGD and interviews.

Describe the main characteristics of scientific qualitative reports and critically analyse and discuss the choice, use and description of research method in reports

Content

The course takes the participants through the practical steps of planning and carrying out a research project within International Health. The core covers the following main topics:

Field data bases and surveillance systems

Analytic epidemiology, cohort and case-referent studies

Intervention studies including CONSORT principles for trials

Theoretical basis for qualitative research

Focus group discussions, Interviews

Analysis, writing up and presentations of qualitative data

Critical reading of research reports

Seminar on ethical issues in population-based research

Instruction

The course is organised in two major blocks. One drawing on the methodology used in research project using a qualitative design. The other block focuses on epidemiological designs.

Instruction is based on lectures, literature studies, and seminars, as well as individual and group work, both written and verbal. Some of the instruction has a problem-based approach. All lectures, readings, assignments, and examinations are in English.

Assessment

Assesment is done based on individual written assignments. The grades used for the course are passed/failed.

Other regulations

This is a core course within the Master's Programme in International Health. Other students may join this course. Priority will be given to applicants who take this course as part of the Master's Programme in International Health.