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Nurses and midwives need to be able to read and critique research. They therefore need to develop the ability to be a critical consumer of research and to be able to apply this to their own areas of practice. It is particularly important that nurses and midwives base their practice on research evidence and can provide health care consumers with researched evidence when they seek to make informed decisions.

This course will develop students' abilities to be critical consumers of research. Studies will focus on extending students' knowledge about the purpose of research, research design and various methodologies and approaches including quantitative, qualitative and critical and post-modern influences. Through examination of past research students will distinguish the hallmarks of effective research design including ethical considerations. They will learn about evidence based practice and write a critical literature review for their own area of practice.

On completion of this course students should be able to:

1. Critically analyse the current methodological debates taking into consideration the different philosophical bases of different approaches to research;
2. Explain the varying ways the term "theory" is used in each of the research paradigms;
3. Discuss the centrality of theory to research and describe how each paradigm claims to demonstrate the theory-evidence link;
4. Discuss principles, benefits and limitations of the evidence-based practice movement in health care;
5. Identify and refine an area of concern by framing it into a clear problem and developing a focused research question;
6. Select an appropriate research methodology and method to answer a research question;
7. Analyse and critically appraise literature in a field of specific interest;
8. Discuss ethical considerations which arise in research design and conduct.