Research Methods in Health
3rd Edition
Published on 1. March 2009
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978-0-335-23796-8 (ISBN)
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Description
"The new edition of Research Methods in Health continues to provide an excellent broad based introduction to the subject. New or expanded sections, for example on the evaluation of complex interventions, mixed research methods, life history interviews, and socio-psychological theories make this third edition well worth purchasing. The content is clearly presented and at a suitable level for its intended audience of health professionals and post-graduate students in health and health-related social sciences."
Virginia Berridge, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
"Research Methods in Health provides a comprehensive guide to the variety of methods for studying and assessing health and health services. The book not only covers all the topics you need regarding research methods, but also looks into the wider aspects of health and health services. I especially liked the way the book didn't jump straight into research methods and methodology, but took time to introduce some of the main sociological and psychological concepts and ideas, as well as looking at demography and epidemiology. Each chapter is introduced in easily understood terms and ends with the main points concisely summarized. Throughout the book clear examples are very well used to build on our understanding of key concepts and at the end of the book is a very useful glossary of terms."
Conor Hamilton, Student Nurse, Queen's University Belfast, UK
"A very simplified text book of research that guides students through different research designs/methodologies. I think this book must be recommended to every research student."
Moses Murandu, Wolverhampton University, UK
This bestselling book provides an accessible introduction to the theoretical concepts and descriptive and analytic research methods used in research on health and health services. The third edition has been thoroughly revised throughout to include updated references and boxed examples, with additional information on key methodological developments, among them:
- Complex interventions
- Mixed research methods
- Psychometrics
- Secondary data analysis
- Systematic reviews
- Pertinent social science concepts
The research methods described cover the assessment of health needs, morbidity and mortality trends and rates, costing health services, sampling for survey research, cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design, experimental methods and techniques of group assignment, questionnaire design, interviewing techniques, coding and analysis of quantitative data, methods and analysis of qualitative observational studies, and types of unstructured interviewing.
The book is grounded in the author's career as a researcher on health and health service issues, and the valuable experience this has provided in meeting the challenges of research on people and organisations in real life settings.
Research Methods in Health is an essential companion for students and researchers of health and health services, health clinicians and policy-makers with responsibility for applying research findings and judging the soundness of research.
Virginia Berridge, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
"Research Methods in Health provides a comprehensive guide to the variety of methods for studying and assessing health and health services. The book not only covers all the topics you need regarding research methods, but also looks into the wider aspects of health and health services. I especially liked the way the book didn't jump straight into research methods and methodology, but took time to introduce some of the main sociological and psychological concepts and ideas, as well as looking at demography and epidemiology. Each chapter is introduced in easily understood terms and ends with the main points concisely summarized. Throughout the book clear examples are very well used to build on our understanding of key concepts and at the end of the book is a very useful glossary of terms."
Conor Hamilton, Student Nurse, Queen's University Belfast, UK
"A very simplified text book of research that guides students through different research designs/methodologies. I think this book must be recommended to every research student."
Moses Murandu, Wolverhampton University, UK
This bestselling book provides an accessible introduction to the theoretical concepts and descriptive and analytic research methods used in research on health and health services. The third edition has been thoroughly revised throughout to include updated references and boxed examples, with additional information on key methodological developments, among them:
- Complex interventions
- Mixed research methods
- Psychometrics
- Secondary data analysis
- Systematic reviews
- Pertinent social science concepts
The research methods described cover the assessment of health needs, morbidity and mortality trends and rates, costing health services, sampling for survey research, cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design, experimental methods and techniques of group assignment, questionnaire design, interviewing techniques, coding and analysis of quantitative data, methods and analysis of qualitative observational studies, and types of unstructured interviewing.
The book is grounded in the author's career as a researcher on health and health service issues, and the valuable experience this has provided in meeting the challenges of research on people and organisations in real life settings.
Research Methods in Health is an essential companion for students and researchers of health and health services, health clinicians and policy-makers with responsibility for applying research findings and judging the soundness of research.
More details
Person
Ann Bowling is Professor of Health Services Research at University College London, UK. She specialises in quality of life measurement, research on ageing and equity of access to health services, and is author of bestselling books on research methods and measurement including Measuring Disease, 2e, Measuring Health, 3e, and A Handbook of Health Research Methods jointly with Professor Shah Ebrahim (all published by Open University Press).
Content
Preface
Acknowledgements
Section 1 - Investigating health services and health: the scope of research
Chapter 1: Evaluating health services: multidisciplinary collaboration
Introduction
Health services research
Health technology assessment
The assessment of quality
Audit
Medical audit, clinical audit and quality assurance
Evaluation
Structure, process and outcome
Appropriateness and inappropriateness
Outcome and patient based outcome
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key terms
Recommended reading
Chapter 2: Social research on health: sociological and psychological concepts and approaches
Introduction
Sociological and psychological research on health
1 Health and illness
The bio-medical model
The social model of health
Lay definitions of health
Lay theories of illness
Variations in medical and lay perspectives
2 Social factors in illness and responses to illness
Social variations in health: structural inequalities
Psycho-social stress and responses to stress to include mediators including self-efficacy, control
Stigma, normalisation and adjustment
The Sick Role and illness behaviour
3 Models of health behaviour
Health lifestyles
Health behaviour
Models of health-related actions to include theory of planned behaviour, self-efficacy and control
4 Health-related quality of life
Theoretical influences on measurement
Distinctions between measures of broader health status, quality of life and health related quality of life
Patient based outcome measures
5 Interactions between health professionals and patients
Communication
Patients evaluations of health care
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key terms
Recommended reading
Chapter 3: Health needs and their assessment: demography and epidemiology
Introduction
1 The assessment of health needs
Health needs
The need for health and the need for health care
Methods of assessing health needs
The role of epidemiological and demographic research
2 Epidemiology
The role of epidemiology
Epidemiology research
Methods of epidemiology
Assessing morbidity, mortality, incidence and prevalence
3 The role of demography
Demographical methods in relation to assessing need
Rates: births and deaths
The need to standardise
Analyses of survival
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key terms
Recommended reading
Chapter 4: Costing health services: health economics
Introduction
Health economics
Demand, utility and supply
Economic appraisal
Cost minimisation
Cost-effectiveness
Cost-benefit analysis
Marginal cost
Complete costs
Event pathways
Opportunity cost
Discounting
Cost-utility analysis
Cost-utility analysis and economic valuations of health
Costing health services
Study methods used for costings
Modelling health care costs
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key terms
Recommended reading
Section II - The philosophy, theory and practice of research
Chapter 5: The philosophical framework of measurement
Introduction
The philosophy of science
Paradigms
Objectivity and value freedom
Deductive and inductive approaches
The survival of hypotheses and paradigm shifts
Theoretical influences on social research methods
Social science and grounded theory
Positivism
Phenomenology
Choice of methods
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key te
Acknowledgements
Section 1 - Investigating health services and health: the scope of research
Chapter 1: Evaluating health services: multidisciplinary collaboration
Introduction
Health services research
Health technology assessment
The assessment of quality
Audit
Medical audit, clinical audit and quality assurance
Evaluation
Structure, process and outcome
Appropriateness and inappropriateness
Outcome and patient based outcome
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key terms
Recommended reading
Chapter 2: Social research on health: sociological and psychological concepts and approaches
Introduction
Sociological and psychological research on health
1 Health and illness
The bio-medical model
The social model of health
Lay definitions of health
Lay theories of illness
Variations in medical and lay perspectives
2 Social factors in illness and responses to illness
Social variations in health: structural inequalities
Psycho-social stress and responses to stress to include mediators including self-efficacy, control
Stigma, normalisation and adjustment
The Sick Role and illness behaviour
3 Models of health behaviour
Health lifestyles
Health behaviour
Models of health-related actions to include theory of planned behaviour, self-efficacy and control
4 Health-related quality of life
Theoretical influences on measurement
Distinctions between measures of broader health status, quality of life and health related quality of life
Patient based outcome measures
5 Interactions between health professionals and patients
Communication
Patients evaluations of health care
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key terms
Recommended reading
Chapter 3: Health needs and their assessment: demography and epidemiology
Introduction
1 The assessment of health needs
Health needs
The need for health and the need for health care
Methods of assessing health needs
The role of epidemiological and demographic research
2 Epidemiology
The role of epidemiology
Epidemiology research
Methods of epidemiology
Assessing morbidity, mortality, incidence and prevalence
3 The role of demography
Demographical methods in relation to assessing need
Rates: births and deaths
The need to standardise
Analyses of survival
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key terms
Recommended reading
Chapter 4: Costing health services: health economics
Introduction
Health economics
Demand, utility and supply
Economic appraisal
Cost minimisation
Cost-effectiveness
Cost-benefit analysis
Marginal cost
Complete costs
Event pathways
Opportunity cost
Discounting
Cost-utility analysis
Cost-utility analysis and economic valuations of health
Costing health services
Study methods used for costings
Modelling health care costs
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key terms
Recommended reading
Section II - The philosophy, theory and practice of research
Chapter 5: The philosophical framework of measurement
Introduction
The philosophy of science
Paradigms
Objectivity and value freedom
Deductive and inductive approaches
The survival of hypotheses and paradigm shifts
Theoretical influences on social research methods
Social science and grounded theory
Positivism
Phenomenology
Choice of methods
Summary of main points
Key questions
Key te