Resource Packs

The interview is an important data gathering technique involving verbal communication between the researcher and the subject. Interviews are commonly used in survey designs and in exploratory and descriptive studies. There are a range of approaches to interviewing, from completely unstructured (subject is allowed to talk freely) to highly structured (subject responses limited to answering direct questions). The quality of the data collected in an interview will depend on both the interview design and on the skill of the interviewer.

This resource pack looks at the different types of interview, and the skills needed by an interviewer such as reflective questioning, summarising and 'controlling the interview'. Because of the personal nature of interviewing the pack also examines the scope for introducing error and bias which can affect all the following stages of the interviewing process. Finally there is a section on conducting the interview and on handling the interview data

This resource packs suggests further reading and resources as well as supplying a glossary of terms.

SPSS for Windows is a software package for statistical data analysis. It was originally developed for the Social Sciences, hence the acronym SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), but is now used in may areas of scientific study.

This pack provides a useful introduction to data analysis with SPSS using realistic examples for the purpose of learning. It is written as a step-by-step interactive exercise.

This resource pack suggests further reading and resources.

The survey is probably the most commonly used research design in health services research and the social sciences. The survey is a flexible research approach used to investigate a wide range of topics and often employ the questionnaire as a tool for data collection. They are particularly useful for non-experimental descriptive designs that seek to describe reality.

This resource pack looks at the advantages and limitations of using surveys and the methods of collecting survey data. It examines sampling and sample sizes needed for surveys, and factors which may increase participation and response rate. Additionally it looks at questionnaire design and data analysis.

This resource packs suggests further reading and resources as well as supplying a glossary of terms. 

Research can be defined as a process of systematic investigation of a subject for the purpose of adding to the body of knowledge about that subject. It is made up of a number of stages that the researcher must proceed through for the research project to be completed satisfactorily.

The purpose of this pack is to introduce the reader to the major features of the research process. This includes identifying the research problem, reviewing the literature, planning the methodology, considering data access and ethical issues as well as carrying out the pilot study, data collection and analysis and drawing conclusions.

This resource packs supplies a glossary of terms. 

Sampling and sample size are crucial issues in pieces of quantitative research, which seek to make statistically based generalisations from the study results to the wider world. To generalise in this way, it is essential that both the sampling method used and the sample size are appropriate, such that the results are representative, and that the statistics can discern associations or differences within the results of a study.

The first part of this pack looks at how to gather a "representative" sample which gives a study external validity and permits valid generalisation. While the second half of the pack considers the issues of sample size, and how to calculate an adequate size for a study sample.

This resource packs suggests further reading and resources as well as supplying a glossary of terms.