Professional/Short course Qualitative Health and Care Research

Entry year: 2025/26
Course code: UZYYNN15M
Application: University
Level: Professional/Short Course
School: School of Health and Social Wellbeing
Campus: Frenchay
Duration: Eight consecutive weeks
Delivery: Blended (face-to-face/online)
Course Director: Dr Stuart McClean

Introduction

This 15 credit module, Qualitative Health and Care Research, aims to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities to effectively engage with qualitative research methodologies in health and care research. Specifically, the module will enable you to:

develop the ability to critically analyse the strengths and limitations of qualitative approaches in health and care research. This equips you to choose the most suitable methodology for your research questions.
gain a comprehensive understanding of qualitative research and its diverse methodologies, thus, learn to identify research questions where qualitative methods can provide valuable insights.
develop practical knowledge of the main methods of qualitative research methods for data collection (e.g., interviewing techniques) and analysis (e.g., thematic analysis). You will be able to apply these skills to both conducting original research and critically interpreting existing studies.
critically read and evaluate qualitative research findings published in academic journals and other sources. This includes understanding how researchers present methodologies, findings, and their interpretations.

On successful completion of this module, you will achieve the following learning outcomes:

Demonstrate an appreciation of qualitative research traditions and methodologies, and critical evaluation of how and when to use them in health and care research.
Demonstrate critical understanding of the main methods used in qualitative research for case selection, generating and analysing data, and appraising quality in primary research and qualitative evidence synthesis.

Careers / Further study

This module contributes towards the MRes Health and Care Research.

Structure

Content

The module syllabus typically covers the following:

Introduction to approaches in qualitative research
Definitions, nomenclature, epistemology: understanding qualitative research
Traditions of qualitative research
Methodological approaches
The place of qualitative research in health and wellbeing research and in evidence-based practice
Methodological quality and the types and sources of data in qualitative research
Methods for collecting qualitative data – interviews, focus groups, observations, qualitative surveys
Methods for analysing qualitative data – transcribing; field notes; data management; coding; inductive and deductive analysis
Approaches to data analysis
Critical appraisal of qualitative research and overview of qualitative synthesis in secondary research
Reporting qualitative evidence

Learning and Teaching

This level 7 (Masters level) module adopts a blended learning approach, combining interactive lectures and seminars with group activities to foster a collaborative learning environment.

Assessment

The assessment will comprise of one task, a 3,000-word written assignment which will focus on two aspects: analysis of qualitative approaches and critical appraisal of published research.

Features

Study facilities

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Prices and dates

Supplementary fee information

Please visit full fee information to see the price brackets for our modules.

Funding may be available to support your learning. Please contact your Trust Education Lead. If you work in the Private, Independent and Voluntary Sector, please contact your employer who will advise you.

Dates

Please click on the Apply Now button to view dates.

How to apply

Please click on the Apply Now button to apply for your CPD module, which you can take as a stand-alone course or as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate (Masters level) programme.

Extra information

If the course you are applying for is fully online or blended learning, please note that you are expected to provide your own headsets/microphones.

For further information

Email: pd@uwe.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)117 32 81158