Research Methodology and Epidemiology (SVUEK_121)
About Study Course
Learning outcomes
1.• Explain the difference between quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• List the stages in the research process.
• Identify ethical issues in health research.
• Recognise different types of scientific literature.
• Explain the difference between literature review and systematic review.
• Interpret the concepts of “risk factor, cause, and confounder” in the context of multifactorial theory of causation.
• Identify suitable data sources and data collection methods.
• Describe the concept of a representative sample.
• Distinguish prevalence and incidence measures.
• Explain the purpose of the age-standardisation procedure and interpret age-standardised rates.
• List and describe epidemiologic study designs, their advantages and disadvantages.
• Interpret measures of association.
• Explain the difference between random errors and biases.
• Provide examples of selection bias and information bias.
• Interpret measures of test sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values.
• Explain the relationship between test sensitivity and specificity as illustrated by the ROC curve.
• Describe the traditional structure of conference abstracts and manuscripts in health sciences.
• Recognise main principles of oral or poster presentations.
1.• Illustrate the link between the scientific problem, an appropriate research question and hypothesis.
• Find applicable case definition.
• Perform literature search in relevant databases, e.g., PubMed.
• Draw simplified causal diagrams and define variables.
• Calculate basic epidemiological measures: prevalence, cumulative incidence and incidence rate.
• Identify study designs in published papers.
• Calculate measures of association: risk ratio, rate ratio, odds ratio, attributable risk, attributable fraction.
• Calculate test sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values.
• Present a hypothetical research proposal.
1.• Formulate the scientific problem justified by literature.
• Develop the research question, the aim and tasks to answer the question.
• Choose a suitable study design and data collection methods.
• Foresee potential threats to scientific validity of study results.
Study course planning
| Study programme | Study semester | Program level | Study course category | Lecturers | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine | 5 | Master's | Required | Jekaterina Kozačenko, Kristīne Ozoliņa, Mārtiņš Zvackis, Toni Anželo Fernandes, Mirdza Kursīte, Karīna Zavorina, Laura Maļina, Ļubova Tihomirova, Larisa Savrasova, Laura Isajeva, Darja Ņesteroviča, Paula Jumīte, Katrīne Kūkoja, Ričards Kristers Šēbergs, Lauma Spriņģe, Solvita Kļaviņa-Makrecka |
| Study programme | Study semester | Program level | Study course category | Lecturers | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine | 5 | Master's | Required | Jekaterina Kozačenko, Kristīne Ozoliņa, Mārtiņš Zvackis, Toni Anželo Fernandes, Mirdza Kursīte, Karīna Zavorina, Laura Maļina, Ļubova Tihomirova, Larisa Savrasova, Laura Isajeva, Darja Ņesteroviča, Paula Jumīte, Katrīne Kūkoja, Ričards Kristers Šēbergs, Lauma Spriņģe, Solvita Kļaviņa-Makrecka |
