Research and Evidence in Practice
UndergraduateLTU-HEA1022023
Course information for 2023 intake View information for 2025 course intake
Master ways to apply evidence-based practice in human nutrition. Develop skills for interpreting and evaluating evidence and managing constraints.You’ll explore social, economic and environmental factors that challenge and influence your thinking.
Enrolments for this course are closed, but you may have other options to start studying now. Book a consultation to learn more.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Part of a degree
- Duration
- 13 weeks
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Research and Evidence in Practice
About this subject
Recognise and describe the different forms of evidence for practice.
Develop an effective search strategy to address practice-based research questions.
Utilise systematic search methods to obtain, interpret and summarise key design elements of peer-reviewed journal articles or other forms of evidence-based material.
Discuss and interpret selected research outcomes and basic statistics from peer-reviewed journal articles, or other forms of evidence-based material, appraise literature and estimate the importance of outcomes to consumers.
Demonstrate capacity to engage in an evidence-based approach to critically evaluate health-related challenges and problem solving in the contemporary world.
- • Introduction.
- • Ethics in research and practice.
- • Asking questions to guide your search for evidence.
- • Acquiring the evidence.
- • Introduction to quantitative research design.
- • Introduction to qualitative research design.
- • Sources of bias and threats to validity in qualitative and quantitative research.
- • Reliabilty and rigour in qualitative and quantitative research.
- • Outcome measures and scales of measurement in health research.
- • Introduction to descriptive statistics and statistical inference.
- • Treatment effects: mean difference, odds ration, risk ration, confidence interval.
- • Probability (p-values), statistical significance and power.
- • Treatment effects and forest plots.
- • Meta-analysis.
In this subject you will be introduced to essential skills for evidence-based practice in the field of human nutrition. A systematic 5 step approach will be used to build basic skills in formulating answerable questions, searching for relevant research articles, critically appraising the evidence and evaluating the rigour of the evidence. You will develop a basic understanding of of descriptive and inferential statistics, assessment of research outcomes and the strengths and limitations of key research designs and contemporary challenges of research in human nutrition. The focus is on the types of research that answer questions about the effectiveness of interventions, and about human experience and meaning and being able to interpret these. You will also consider the complex interaction between social, economic and environmental influences in the field of nutrition science.
- Two 30 minute online quizzes (35%)
- One 1,000-word critique (individual written assessment) (25%)
- One 600-word search strategy (10%)
- One 1500-word critical appraisal (written individual assessment) (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Part of a degree
To enrol in this subject you must be accepted into one of the following degrees:
Core
- LAT-HUN-DEG-2023 - Bachelor of Food and Nutrition
Others
Past La Trobe University students who have previously completed HLT1RAE (Research and Evidence In Practice) are ineligible to enrol in this subject.
Additional requirements
- Other requirements - This subject is available through Open Universities Australia (OUA) and the course is restricted for enrolment. Single subject enrolments for restricted subjects are not available at OUA, please see https://www.latrobe.edu.au/study/apply/pathways/single-subject-entry for further information. Students who successfully complete two from the four open enrolment subjects (HBS101, DTN101, CHM101, PHE102) may apply under the Academic Eligibility category for admission to the restricted Bachelor of Food and Nutrition. You must be enrolled in the Bachelor of Food and Nutrition to be eligible to enrol in all other non-open access subjects offered in the degree. A good internet connection is required due to the online delivery.
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
Student feedback
5 student respondents between 20 May - 12 June 2024.
80%of students felt the study load was manageable
100%of students felt this subject helped them gain relevant skills
Related degrees
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Food and Nutrition
UndergraduateLAT-HUN-DEG