Qualitative Health Research

Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Health Research

Graduate Diploma in Qualitative Health Research

Master of Qualitative Health Research

Overview

Qualitative research is becoming increasingly popular in health-related fields including medicine, public health, nursing, allied health, dentistry and health policy. Qualitative health research can assist policymakers, clinicians, health promotion professionals and consumers to understand the perspectives people bring to their health, the values people hold, and the actions people take.

Qualitative researchers observe people as they go about their usual activities, interview people, conduct focus groups and examine documents and images. They systematically analyse the resulting data to gain a better understanding of issues as they arise in the ordinary social world. Qualitative researchers spend their time in conversation, interpretation and writing more than in calculation. For proficient communicators who love language and ideas, qualitative research offers a demanding but extremely rewarding career, grounded in textual rather than statistical analysis.

The Qualitative Health Research program provides hands-on training in qualitative research practice, sophisticated engagement with qualitative research theory and methodology, solid preparation in health issues, and access to units of study across many disciplines.

Course outcomes

Students will have an opportunity to develop:

• connections: to peers interested in qualitative inquiry, and to working qualitative researchers
• knowledge: about the history of qualitative research, qualitative methodology and ethically sound research practice
• skills: in qualitative study design, data collection, data analysis and writing, including writing applications for research ethics approval and grant funding
• confidence: to reason and argue about qualitative methodology, and about the purpose and value of qualitative inquiry.

Further information

All programs in qualitative research include the same four core units. These provide skills training and conceptual foundations. They cover essential ideas, commonly-used methodologies, study design strategies and skills for data creation, analysis and writing. In the final unit of study (QUAL5004) students will be mentored to develop a sound proposal for a future research project. Master's and graduate diploma students have access to elective units of study; for master's students this includes units of study beyond Sydney Medical School.

Further enquiries

Dr Julie Mooney-Somers
Phone: +61 2 9036 3412
Fax: +61 2 9036 3436
Email: