Enrolments for 2019 have closed.
Research and Evidence in Practice
Undergraduate | LTU-HEA102 | 2019
Course information for 2019 intake View information for 2024 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.
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Entry requirements
- Part of a degree
- Duration
- 13 weeks
HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Research and Evidence in Practice
About this subject
At the completion of this subject students will be able to:
- explain the different forms and roles of evidence in health care practice, including the key stages of research development;
- utilise systematic search methods to obtain, interpret and summarise key design elements of peer-reviewed journal articles or other forms of evidence-based material;
- identify, discuss and interpret selected research outcomes and basic statistics from peer-reviewed journal articles, or other forms of evidence-based material, and estimate the relevance and importance of these outcomes to consumers;
- demonstrate digital media skills that effectively communicate research-based guidance;
- demonstrate capacity to engage in an evidence-based approach to critically evaluate health-related challenges to promote sustainable thinking 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 students will be introduced to essential skills for evidence-based practice in the field of human nutrition through online activities and discussions. 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 applicability of the evidence. Students will develop a basic understanding of 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. Students will also consider the complex interaction between social, economic and environmental influences that contribute to sustainability thinking. This subject addresses La Trobe's Sustainability Thinking Essential. Sustainability Thinking entails deep appreciation of how the choices we make affects the natural, economic, social, political and cultural systems - now and in the future.
- 10 questions (150 words equiv) (15%)
- 20 questions (350 words equiv) (20%)
- 1000 word written essay (25%)
- 800 word search strategy (10%)
- 1500 word written essay (30%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 17
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 18
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-2019 - Bachelor of Food and Nutrition
Additional requirements
- Other requirements -
This subject is offered via Open Universities Australia. La Trobe University students can undertake this subject as part of a cross institutional enrolment under certain circumstances, and must seek approval from the Bachelor of Food and Nutrition course coordinator for eligibility. Due to the nature of the subject content and online delivery, enrolments are generally not permitted past the published OUA enrolment date for the study period.
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.
Related degrees
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
UndergraduateLAT-HUN-DEG