Research Methods in Health: Investigating Health and Health Services

This bestselling book provides an accessible introduction to the concepts and practicalities of research methods in health and health services. This new edition has been extensively re-worked and expanded and now includes expanded coverage of: Qualitative methods Social research Evaluation methodology Mixed methods Secondary data analysis Literature reviewing and critical appraisal Evidence based practice Covering all core methodologies in detail the book looks at the following kinds of health research: health needs morbidity and mortality trends and rates costing health services sampling for survey research cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design experimental methods and techniques of group assignment questionnaire design interviewing techniques coding and analysis of quantitative data methods and analysis of qualitative observational studies unstructured interviewing The book is grounded in the author's career as a researcher on health and health service issues, and the valuable experience this has provided in meeting the challenges of research on people and organisations in real life settings.Research Methods in Health, Fourth Edition is an essential companion for students and researchers of health and health services, health clinicians and policy-makers with responsibility for applying research findings and judging the soundness of research. "Health service researchers - new and old - will be delighted by this new edition of a popular and useful text. There is new content but also updated material making this practically useful as a resource at any stage of the research trajectory. While health is the focus the book is hugely valuable to researchers in cognate areas. such as social care, education and housing. The book meets its own high standards in being easy to follow, well indexed and containing interesting examples of approaches. The limitations of different methods are also honestly reported. A 'must have' for the book shelf." Jill Manthorpe, Professor of Social Work, King's College London, UK "When first published in 1997, this volume was the first systematic overview of research methods used in the health field. In its updated 4th Edition it remains vital and, if anything, more important given the growing number of researchers and students investigating health issues and health services. It provides an impressively comprehensive overview of health research methods in which the wealth and variety of experience of the author shines through at every point. Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods are appraised and explained with unpartisan authority and rigour, and the volume covers everything from multidisciplinary collaboration in health service evaluation through the Delphi technique of consensus development to the health economics needed to evaluate costing." Paul Stenner, Professor of Social Psychology, The Open University, UK "This excellent text really is a must for anyone involved in health research. It is truly multidisciplinary in its scope, drawing on a breadth of relevant research from health economics, to epidemiology to psychology which is beyond the scope of most books on research methods. Yet in spite of the wealth of material included it is written and presented in an accessible way so that it will be an invaluable source for those with a background in either qualitative or quantitative research and from students to experienced researchers." Robert J. Edelmann, Professor of Forensic and Clinical psychology, Roehampton University, UK Reviews of previous editions: "Provides an excellent broad based introduction to the subject. The content is clearly presented and at a suitable level for health professionals and postgraduate students in health and health-related social sciences." Virginia Berridge, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK "A valuable source book for health services researchers, health care providers, and others interested in quantifying quality of life for clinical or research purposes." The International Journal for Quality in Health Care "Includes accounts of a number of recently developed scales, while retaining the breadth, concision and clarity that marked the first edition." Medicine, Healthcare and Philosophy

Table of Contents:
Preface to the fourth edition AcknowledgementsSection I Investigating health services and health: the scope of research 1 Evaluating health services: multidisciplinary collaboration 2 Social research on health: sociological and psychological concepts and approaches 3 Quality of life: concepts, measurements and patient perception 4 Health needs and their assessment: demography and epidemiology 5 Costing health services: health economics Section II The philosophy, theory and practice of research 6 The philosophical framework of measurement 7 The principles of research Section III Quantitative research: sampling and research methods 8 Sample size and sampling for quantitative and qualitative research 9 Quantitative research: surveys 10 Quantitative research: experiments and other analytic methods of investigation 11 Sample selection and group assignment methods in experiments and other analytic methods Section IV The tools of quantitative research 12 Data collection methods in quantitative research: questionnaires, interviews and their response rates 13 Questionnaire design 14 Techniques of survey interviewing 15 Preparation of quantitative data for coding and analysis Section V Qualitative and mixed research methods 16 Unstructured and structured observational studies 17 Unstructured interviewing 18 Focus groups 19 Mixed research approaches Glossary References Index

About the Author :
Ann Bowling is Professor of Health Services Research at University College London. She specialises in quality of life measurement, research on ageing and equity of access to health services, and is author of best selling books on research methods and measurement including Measuring Disease, Measuring Health, and A handbook of Health Research Methods jointly with professor Shah Ebrahim (all published by OpenUP).