PHHA 425W: Research & Evaluation in Health

Course Description

This course is designed to provide students with practical research skills that will be useful in a variety of professional public health settings. This is an introductory research methods and evaluation course with a focus on skill development and practical application. Because students have taken PHHA 211, prior knowledge in basic literature review skills (including APA formatting) is assumed. This course will provide students with opportunities to learn and practice each step of the research process. Students will leave this course with tangible skills and knowledge that they can use in a professional public health setting.

Course prerequisites: Completion of GE Written Communication (A2), PHHA 211, MATH 105

Degree/Program: B.S Public Health/Health Science

  • Required course

  • Writing course

Course Modality

This class is primarily an asynchronous class (meaning that students will view instructional content on their own time). However, the instructor offers Question & Answer (Q&A) Sessions on Thursdays, during scheduled course time. These interactive Q&A sessions are an opportunity to ask questions about assignments and get personalized feedback from the instructor. Students are required to attend 8 of these sessions to receive full attendance points. If students attend more than 8, they will receive extra credit. In addition, students are required to attend two individual Zoom meetings with the instructor throughout the term.

Course Design

Course is designed with the final quantitative research proposal in mind:

  • Weekly content covers steps to writing a research proposal

  • Each assignment addresses one aspect of the research proposal

  • Students submit drafts of each section of their research proposal and have opportunities to incorporate instructor feedback

Experiential learning: Qualitative data collection

  • Students collect qualitative data

  • In groups, students code and analyze data and present findings

Student Engagement

  1. Group qualitative research presentation

  2. Two required 1-on-1 meetings with professor

  3. Peer review of research proposals

  4. In-class activities

Assessment of Student Learning

Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Identify different research methodologies and the strengths and limitations for each

  • Understand common data collection and analysis techniques

  • Design and pilot a quantitative research survey

  • Perform all steps of a qualitative interview project and disseminate findings

  • Demonstrate technical writing skills through designing a high quality research proposal

Technology & Tools

Tools, software, and technology employed in the course:

  • Zoom: Synchronous instruction

  • Blackboard: Course materials and submissions

  • Otter.ai: Transcription of interviews

  • Box: Storage/coding of interview transcripts

  • Microsoft Word/PPT: All assignments

  • Google Docs: Group sign up sheets

Opportunities for Active Learning

Quantitative research proposal

Students conduct a literature review, identify a research question not addressed in the literature, design a study, create a survey, and describe how they would analyze their data

Qualitative research presentation

Students obtain consent, conduct an interview, transcribe, code, and analyze data and present recommendations based on the data


Connections to the Professional Field

Students develop and test surveys

  • Survey development an essential skill in public health field

Students conduct qualitative interviews for a “real-world” client

  • Students walk through consent, recording, transcribing, coding, analyzing, and presenting findings

  • These skills are frequently used in the public health field

Training in Course Design

Go Virtual (Summer 2020)

  • Learned techniques to engage students in online learning (Zoom annotate function, Zoom polls, Google Jamboards)

Institute on Active & Experiential Learning (Summer 2021)

  • Learned ways to promote active learning in class assignments and activities (revamped activities and assignments covering topics such as survey constructs and variables that have been difficult for students to grasp)