Course Description
In this course, graduate students will develop the knowledge and skills needed to make informed decisions as professionals working in the health services field. This includes the utilization of descriptive and inferential statistics to assess health data and covers the principles and methods of data analysis and inference. The course is designed to provide students from a variety of backgrounds with the foundations of research methods in health services administration and health informatics. Emphasis is on the use and application of various data analysis techniques and their assumptions in analyzing health related data and data sets. The course is also intended to acquaint students with the conceptual and methodological issues of research design and secondary data analysis widely used in empirical health services research. This course concludes with the production of a scientific research proposal for the final project of the Program’s Capstone Course. (3 credits)
Associated Program Learning Outcomes
- HCA #1. Create a strategic plan for healthcare organizations or entire systems.
- HCA #5. Assess customer service and client satisfaction for continuous performance improvement.
- HCA #6. Assess economic factors and payment sources that influence healthcare decisions of the population served.
- HIF #1. Apply healthcare informatics and technology concepts and skills to case studies and real-world situations.
- HIF #2. Calculate and assess health data and statistical data for decision making in the healthcare environment.
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:
- Create an outline for implementing the key components of a literature review.
- Perform a needs assessment analysis for a healthcare institution.
- Apply knowledge of key historical ethical issues in research, including historical violations such as the case of Henrietta Lacks and The Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
- Evaluate theories and models to determine the appropriate application for a proposed research project.
- Show how reliability and validity are related to one another.
- Compose an essay discussing the role of qualitative data in healthcare administration.
- Describe and give examples of different types of surveys and identify the correct application for each.
- Apply knowledge of research topics including reliability, validity, qualitative data, surveys, data tools, and performance improvement.
- Analyze a case study to identify and evaluate individual elements of research.
- Analyze how each component of sample size determination influences the other components.
- Analyze and discuss four different types of cost analyses that can be used in a healthcare setting.
- Apply basic inferential statistics concepts to calculations, including the use of one and two tailed tests, chi square, confidence intervals, error types, and hypothesis testing.
- Construct a scientific research proposal that comprehensively addresses a healthcare administration issue.
Course Activities and Grading
| Assignments | Weight |
|---|---|
Discussions (Weeks 1 - 6, 8) | 10% |
SWOT or SOAR Analysis (Week 1) | 10% |
Stats Module (Weeks 2-7) | 10% |
Essays (Weeks 2 & 3) | 20% |
Khan Academy Assignments (Weeks 2 - 7) | 5% |
Midterm (Week 4) | 10% |
Case Study (Week 5) | 5% |
Research Proposal Idea (Week 6) | 10% |
Quiz (Week 7) | 10% |
Final Project: Research Proposal (Week 8) | 10% |
Total | 100% |
Required Textbooks
Available through Charter Oak State College's Book Bundle
- Perrin, K. (2020). Principles of planning, evaluation and research for healthcare programs. Jones & Bartlett Learning. ISBN-13: 9781284203912
Additional Resources
- Selected sections of Khan Academy’s AP Statistics course will be assigned and students may work on this between Weeks 1-6. Log in information will be provided in Week 1.
Course Schedule
Week | PLOs | SLOs | Readings and Exercises | Assignments |
1 | HCA #1,6 HIF #1 | 1,2 | Topics: Program Planning and Determinants of Health
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2 | HCA #5 | 3,4,7,8,12 | Topics: Ethics in Research, Theories and Models
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3 | HIF #2 | 5,6,12 | Topics: Reliability, Validity, and Qualitative Data
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4 | HIF #2 HCA #5 | 7,8,12 | Topics: Surveys and Data Tools
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5 | HCA #6 HIF #1 | 9,10,12 | Topics: Elements of Research, Populations, and Samples
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6 | HCA #6 HIF #2 | 11,12,13 | Topics: Budgets, and Cost Analyses and Inferential Statistics
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7 | HCA#5 HIF #2 | 12,13 | Topics: Reports and Presentations
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8 | HIF #1 | 13 | Topic: Final Project: Research Proposal
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COSC Accessibility Statement
Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.
COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources
Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.