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Research and Evidence (PHTY90122)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 18.75On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
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Year Long (Extended)
Overview
Availability | Year Long (Extended) |
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This year-long subject will focus on the application of research and its relevance to physiotherapy practice and the process of evidence-based practice. Research principles taught in this subject will be integrated and implemented into concurrent subjects in the Doctor of Physiotherapy program, including core physiotherapy clinical practice streams. Specific content in this subject will focus on exploratory, experimental, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, research design and methodology, incorporating ethics of clinical human research, statistical analysis and critical appraisal. Epidemiological constructs of prevalence, incidence and risk will be introduced in conjunction with applied clinical concepts such as number needed to treat and odds ratios. Qualitative research methodology, including critical appraisal and interpretation of individual perspectives of health and illness will be introduced, and students will be expected to plan, execute and analyse a qualitative interview of individuals' health perspectives. Clinical guidelines will be explored, including how they can be used to inform clinical practice and application of tools available for critical appraisal. Steps involved in developing a research proposal and strategies for incorporating evidence-based practice into daily clinical practice will draw together the curriculum in this subject and strategies for pitching and communicating a research proposal will be mastered.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
- Search, identify and critique relevant evidence to respond to contemporary physiotherapy clinical enquiry.
- Compute and interpret descriptive statistics for a quantitative data set.
- Apply fundamental concepts for ethical conduct of research.
- Critically appraise research including exploratory and experimental studies for the validity of their conclusions and to explain the relevance for patients, the profession, policy makers and funders of physiotherapy services.
- Critically appraise qualitative research and methodologies that relate to an individual's perspectives of health and illness and contrast this to quantitative approaches.
- Plan, conduct and analyse a qualitative interview of an individual's perspectives of health and illness.
- Perform and interpret findings from basic inferential statistical tests, including measures of relative risk and odds ratios, and interpret findings from common statistical approaches relevant to meta-analyses.
- Interpret the clinical relevance of findings from different sources of evidence including systematic reviews and clinical guidelines to inform physiotherapy practice.
- Explore the diversity of populations represented in systematic review data and the generalisability of findings to culturally and ethnically diverse populations.
- Communicate the methodology and findings of a research study for a physiotherapy audience in an oral presentation.
- Identify the sources of funding available for physiotherapy research, and how this funding shapes the research agenda in physiotherapy.
Generic skills
- Accessing new knowledge, to analyse and interpret it in a critical manner, and to apply it appropriately
- Written and verbal communication skills, including group presentation skills
- Be able to examine, critically synthesise and evaluate scientific information
- Participate in collaborative learning
- Explain the value of research evidence to clinical practice.
Last updated: 10 December 2024