Health Intervention Research
Understanding Research Design and Methods
- Souraya Sidani - Ryerson University, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing
At a time when evidence-based practice is the standard bearer for understanding health behaviour, problems and interventions, ensuring that researchers know the appropriate designs and methods for their research is more paramount than ever. Health Intervention Research will equip those doing research in these communities with the knowledge and tools they need to inform their methodological decisions when planning and conducting studies.
This book describes both commonly used (e.g., randomized clinical trials) and advanced (e.g. preference trials, pragmatic trials) designs and methods for health intervention research. It outlines the theoretical reasoning underlying these different approaches, and synthesizes the evidence which supports or disputes different designs and methods.
To achieve its aims, the book is divided into three main sections. The first section points to the need to base methodological decisions on evidence and highlights the importance of carefully selecting research designs and methods to maintain validity. The second section focuses on designs to determine the effects of intervention on outcomes, outlining their features and discussing how these can be used to evaluate interventions. The last section covers methods used in conducting intervention evaluation research. For each design and method, the following is covered: what it is, what the logic underlying it is, what the evidence supporting its effectiveness is, and also includes its advantages, its limitations, and how can it be implemented.
This will be key reading for postgraduates and novice researchers in health and clinical psychology, health sciences and nursing.
'Sidani has written a novel summary of the design literature for health interventions, focusing on issues that often do not receive sufficient attention. Her book deserves careful reading by anyone doing such work.'
"An excellent practical and highly useful guide, inspired by the legacy of the Northwestern school, in confronting your problems and solving tasks in evaluation research."
Fantastic text. A complete coverage of designing and implementing interventions in health care.
useful for all types of health care professions
A good text for students interested in health interventions.
It provides a comprehensive guide to the research process and explains it in away that students will be able understand and apply if required.
Whilst the book is quite strong, and well presented throughout, only certain chapters are relevant to the content of this particular module. As such, selected chapters have been added to the reading list for this year. In future years, the book will be added to the reading list as supplemental reading, as it will be a great resource for many students in their future careers.
