University of Alberta Course Guide for SPH 566 Winter Term, 2015 (Campus)

Special Topics. Conducting Research in Health Promotion II Tuesdays 1-3:50 pm

Instructor: Cameron Wild, PhD Phone: 780.492.6752 Email: [email protected] Office: ECHA 3-277 Office hours: By appointment

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

1

Course Description A critical review of key issues, methods, and strategies used in health promotion research. Emphasis is placed on developing skills in literature review, formulating research designs, measurement strategies, and analytic approaches used in quantitative and qualitative public health research.

Learning Objectives Health Promotion professionals must be able to do more than provide programming, interventions, and advocacy. The Health Promotion field is coming under increasing scrutiny to demonstrate that these activities produce intended health benefits and to define itself as a unique interdisciplinary area of study. Consequently, leaders in Health Promotion must possess is the ability to understand and conduct research in order to critically evaluate claims made on behalf of their field. Upon completion, students will have a broad understanding of the role of research in Health Promotion initiatives and will have acquired specific skills to conduct their own research projects.

Course Format This course, designed as the second half of SPH 503, focuses on skill development in several areas: critical thinking, public presentation, literature review, research design, measurement approaches, and data analysis strategies. Students will rotate through a series of weekly presentations on required readings. This will be supplemented by in-class group exercises, written assignments, and oral presentations of original work. Students will be expected to (1) search the Internet/Library Resources on a regular basis to support their own learning, and develop and deliver presentations on required coursework, and (2) critically read assigned and retrieved materials, develop informed positions, and present/defend these positions in in-class discussions

Grading The University of Alberta uses a letter grading system with a four-point scale of numerical equivalents for calculating grade point averages. Grades reflect judgments of student achievement made by instructors. These judgments are based on a combination of absolute achievement and relative performance in a class. Some instructors assign grades as intervals during the course and others assign marks (e.g. percentages) throughout the term and then assign a letter grade at the end. Instructors must adapt their approaches to reflect the letter grading system. Grade distribution should reflect those shown in this document.

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

2

The University of Alberta Grading System is described in the University of Alberta Calendar, Section 23.4, Regulations and Information for Students Evaluation Procedures and Grading System. As required by U of A for Graduate Courses, we will use the following Descriptors and Letter Grades:

Descriptor Excellent

Good Satisfactory Failure

Grading in Graduate Courses Letter Grade Grade Point Value A+ 4.0 A 4.0 A3.7 B+ 3.3 B 3.0 B2.7 C+ 2.3 C 2.0 C1.7 D+ 1.3 D 1.0 F 0.0

Academic Integrity Plagiarism is a serious offence. The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/CodeofStudentBehaviour) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

3

Assignments and Marking Criteria 1. Class Participation 2. Annotated Bibliography 3. Research Design 4. Data Analysis Assignment

25% 25% 25% 25%

1. Class Participation (25% of your final grade, assessed throughout the term) During the first class (January 6), I will outline class participation and discussion responsibilities for the semester. Class participation will be assessed in two ways. First, 10% of your mark will be allocated to general participation in course discussion throughout the term. Second, 15% of your mark will be allocated to presentation readings, as described below. The reading list for the course contains two types of readings: collective readings and presentation readings (see ‘Schedule and Readings’, following pages). You are responsible for completing both the collective readings and the presentation readings in advance of each class. Collective readings are assigned to the entire class. These address key objectives of the course and will be discussed by the entire class each week. I will facilitate weekly class discussions of the collective readings. Presentation readings are empirical studies or review articles dealing with research in health promotion and public health. I will ask students to take responsibility for facilitating class discussions of the presentation readings throughout the semester. Presentation readings will be assigned to students on January 6. On days that you are responsible for a presentation reading, you should prepare a very short (~5 minute) overview of the reading to be read aloud in class. After this, you will lead a class discussion (~25 minutes). Because everyone will have read the presentation readings for that week, prepare notes and discussion materials that foster critical class engagement with the issues in the assigned paper, rather than re-stating the authors’ arguments or results. Areas that you might want to focus class discussion on include (but are not limited to): the author’s arguments, her or his grounding in the literature, further research questions raised by the article, quality of the methodology used (sample, measures, design, analysis), how the article fits into the course objectives, or how the reading fits into research methods generally. Each presentation will be graded and will count toward your presentation reading mark. Tips on how to effectively lead a class discussion can be found here: http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/history/study/leaddiscussion/

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

4

2. Annotated Bibliography Assignment (25% of your mark, due February 3) An annotation, according to the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, "is a succinct explanation or description of a particular item [...] Its purpose is to guide the reader to material worth his time, to warn him of works better left to gather dust." An annotated bibliography is a list of sources with information that describes and makes a value statement about each source. It is a research tool to assist you in synthesizing and reviewing your sources. It allows someone unfamiliar with a source to quickly get a sense of what the source is about, its arguments, and its usefulness in research.  Familiarize yourself with material on how to write annotated bibliographies (see, for example: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm)  Define a narrow research topic. The topic area may be one that you have worked on before (e.g., for another course or for other purposes).  Select and use appropriate library resources and/or internet search tools to locate relevant academic peer-reviewed empirical research articles on the topic you have chosen. Qualitative and/or quantitative articles are fine, as long as they present original results from an empirical study on your topic.  Select 20 relevant academic peer reviewed empirical research articles. While your research topic may be duplicated from other courses or interests, these must be 20 research articles that you have never read or summarized for any purpose before this assignment. At least 2 of the articles must have been published prior to 1990.  Collate the full citations (i.e., the title, authors, and abstract) for all 20 articles you selected for review into a single electronic document.  Select the 10 “best” articles on your topic. Clearly indicate on the full citation page for each article which of the 20 articles qualify for inclusion in your annotated bibliography (e.g., by placing an asterisk on the qualifying articles).  Write a clear descriptive summary of (a) the research topic you chose, (b) the search strategy you used to identify the 20 articles, and (c) why you selected the 10 best articles (i.e., your inclusion criteria for choosing 10 of the 20 for annotation).  Provide a concise, accurate annotation of each of the 10 articles selected. Each annotation should be no more than 1 page in length (singled spaced; or 2 double-spaced pages), and must include both informative and evaluative statements.  Informative statements summarize what the content, message, or argument of the source article is. It generally contains the research question(s)/hypotheses, methodology, main findings, and conclusions, without any editorial or evaluative comments about such content. Informative statements generally answer these types of questions: "What are the author's main arguments and/or research questions?”; “What research methods (sample, design, measures, analyses) were used?”; “What analysis strategy was used and what were the main results?”; What conclusions did the author(s) draw?"  Evaluative statements critically summarize strengths and weaknesses of the study, and whether the conclusions reached are plausible or not. Evaluative statements also provide editorial information to assist readers (e.g., placing the study in context of other research in this area SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

5

(e.g., “The first study to test….” “One of a number of similar studies that seems to add little to our understanding…”, etc.).  Prepare a brief (no more than 20 minute) oral presentation of your bibliography project for presentation to the class on February 4. You can use .ppt to prepare the oral presentation or not; your choice.  Submit the written component of the assignment on February 4. This should include: (a) 20 printed citations resulting from your literature search, (b) your descriptive summary of the topic, search strategy, and inclusion criteria for 10 of the 20 articles, and (c) 10 pages of annotations for the selected articles. For this course component, 15% of your grade will be allocated to the written bibliography, and 10% will be allocated to the oral presentation of your work.

3. Research Design Assignment (25% of your mark, due March 10) Building on your annotated bibliography, you will formulate a research design strategy to answer a set of research questions on your research topic. Further details will be provided in February. For this course component, 15% of your grade will be allocated to the written research design document, and 10% will be allocated to an oral presentation.

4. Data Analysis Assignment (25% of your mark, due April 14) You will be provided with (a) a mixed method dataset containing qualitative and quantitative information collected for a hypothetical study, and (b) a set of research questions. You will submit a report presenting the analyses you conducted to answer the research questions. The dataset to be analyzed will be provided to you in early April. For this course component, 25% will be allocated to the data analysis assignment.

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

6

Calculating Your Final Term Mark Each component of the course evaluation (i.e., class participation, assignments) will receive a total mark out of 100. At the end of the term, I will compute a weighted term mark for SPH 566 out of 100, taking into account the weights for each course evaluation component.

Calculating Your Final Course Grade Your final course mark out of 100 will then be converted to a final course grade using the University of Alberta Grading System and cutoffs described earlier. Please contact me if you have any questions about grading procedures for the course.

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

7

Guidelines for Preparing Assignments Typing    

All assignments must be submitted in electronic format. Use a 12-point font size. Double space all text. Margin size should be minimum of 1 inch (top, bottom, left, right) Submjt your assignment to [email protected] and provide descriptive information in the subject of your email message (e.g., SPH 566 Assignment 2)

Style     

All assignments should start with a cover or title page, listing the title of the paper, SPH 566, your name, and student ID number. References should be cited in the text (e.g., Wild, 2014). The end of the paper should include a reference section, starting on a new page, and listing the reference articles cited in the main text. Use a consistent style throughout the paper. I don’t care if you prefer to adopt the style guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA), or some other format; just be consistent. All assignments will be marked on language use, grammar, spelling, paragraph construction in addition to the content. Judicious use of section and/or subsection headings can often strengthen a paper by highlighting its organization.

Use of reference material 

This is a graduate-level course, so you can feel free to use whatever reference articles you find helpful to make your points, arguments, and conclusions. This can include articles and materials used in the course, supplemental readings, or other materials you have discovered on your own initiative.

General advice 



Use your good judgment by writing the paper in sufficient length to address the topic(s) and question(s) asked. Remember, too little information can be a problem, as can too much information, or redundant information. Strive for clear, well-constructed writing that communicates your thoughts directly. Simplify your sentences whenever possible. Take credit by using active voice.

Policy on late assignments 

If you submit a late assignment, you will be penalized 5% of the total mark per day late

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

8

Course Overview & Important Dates Date

Topic

January 6

Orientation, discussion responsibilities, and overview of the course

January 13

The research process; formulating researchable questions; the role of theory in research

January 20

Literature review (1)

January 27

Literature review (2)

February 3

Student presentations (Annotated Bibliography Assignment)

February 10

Surveys; population health indicators

February 17

No class: Enjoy reading week!

February 24

Research design (1): Descriptive and relational questions

March 3

Research design (2): Interventions

March 10

Student presentations (Research Design Assignment)

March 17

Qualitative measurement

March 24

Qualitative analyses

March 31

Quantitative measurement

April 7

Quantitative analyses

April 14

Data Analysis Assignment Due

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

9

Weekly Schedule and Readings Note: Items without an asterisk are collective readings. Items marked with an asterisk (*) are presentation readings.

January 6 Orientation and overview of the course No readings this week. Make sure that you have the required material for the course and arrive next week prepared to engage in discussion.

January 13 The research process; formulating researchable questions; the role of theory in research Adams, P.J., & Buetow, S. (2014). The place of theory in assembling the central argument for a thesis or dissertation. Theory & Psychology, 24: 93. http://tap.sagepub.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/content/24/1/93.full.pdf+html

McGuire, W. (2005). Beyond EBM: New directions for evidence-based public health. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 48 (4). http://muse.jhu.edu.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/journals/perspectives_in_biology_and_medicine/toc/pbm48.4.html

*Unger-Saldana, K., & Infante-Castaneda, C.B. (2011). Breast cancer delay: A grounded model of help seeking behaviour. Social Science & Medicine, 72, 1096-1104. http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/article/pii/S0277953611000657

*Young, J.T. (2004). Illness behaviour: A selective review and synthesis. Sociology of Health and Illness, 26(1), 1-31. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2004.00376.x/pdf

January 20 Literature review (1) Adams, J., Giles, E.L., Robalino, S., McColl, E., & Sniehotta, F.F. (2012). A systematic review of the use of financial incentives and penalties to encourage uptake of healthy behaviours: Study protocol. Systematic Reviews, 1: 51. http://www.systematicreviewsjournal.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/content/1/1/51

Mays, N., Pope, C., & Popay, J. (2005). Systematically reviewing qualitative and quantitative evidence to inform management and policy-making in the health field. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 10 (Suppl. 1), S1:6 – S1:20. *Norman, G.J., Zabinski, M.F., Adams, M.A., Rosenberg, D.E., Yaroch, A.Y., & Atienza, A.A. (2007). A review of e-Health interventions for physical activity and dietary behavior change. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 33, 336-345. http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/journal/07493797/33/4

*Voss, P.H., & Rehfuess, E.A. (2013). Quality appraisal in systematic reviews of public health interventions: An empirical study on the impact of choice of tool on meta-analysis. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 67, 98-104. http://jech.bmj.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/content/67/1/98.full.pdf+html

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

10

January 27 Literature review (2) Mullen, P.D., & Ramirez, G. (2006). The promise and pitfalls of systematic reviews. Annual Review of Public Health, 27, 81-102. *Allen-Scott, L.K., Hatfield, J.M., & McIntyre, L. (2014). A scoping review of unintended harm associated with public health interventions. Towards a typology and an understanding of underlying factors. International Journal of Public Health, 59(1), 3-14. http://link.springer.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/article/10.1007/s00038-013-0526-6

*Davis, R., Campbell, R., Hildon, Z., Hobbs, L., & Michie, S. (forthcoming). Theories of behaviour and behaviour change across the social and behavioural sciences: A scoping review. Health Psychology Review. http://www.tandfonline.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/doi/abs/10.1080/17437199.2014.941722#.VFFPAOktDX4

February 3 Student presentations (Annotated Bibliography Assignment) February 10 Surveys, population health indicators de Leeuw, E.D., Hox, J.J., & Dillman, D.A. (nd). The cornerstones of survey research (Ch. 1). In E. de Leeuw, J. Hox, & D. Dillman, (eds.), International handbook of survey methodology. http://joophox.net/papers/SurveyHandbookCRC.pdf

*Mokdad, A.H. (2009). The behavioral risk factors surveillance system: Past, present, and future. Annual Review of Public Health, 30, 43-54. http://www.annualreviews.org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.031308.100226

*Kempf, A.M., & Remington, P.L. (2007). New challenges for telephone research in the twentyfirst century. Annual Review of Public Health, 28, 113-126. http://www.annualreviews.org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.28.021406.144059

February 17 No class: Enjoy reading week February 24 Research design (1): Descriptive and relational questions Aneshensel, C.S. (2002). The logic of theory-based data analysis. In C. Aneshensel, Theory-based data analysis for the social sciences (Chapter 2). Pine Forge Press. http://srmo.sagepub.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/view/theory-based-data-analysis-for-the-social-ciences/n2.xml

Aneshensel, C.S. (2002). Associations and relationships. In C. Aneshensel, Theory-based data analysis for the social sciences (Chapter 3). Pine Forge Press. http://srmo.sagepub.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/view/theory-based-data-analysis-for-the-social-sciences/n3.xml

*Kaplan, G.A. (2004). What’s wrong with social epidemiology, and how can we make it better? Epidemiologic Reviews, 26, 104-111. http://epirev.oxfordjournals.org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/content/26/1/124.full.pdf+html

*Tercyak, K.P., Peshkin, B.N., Wine, L.A., & Walker, L.R. (2006). Interest of adolescents in genetic testing for susceptibility to nicotine addiction. Preventive Medicine, 42, 60-65. http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/journal/00917435/42/1

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

11

March 3 Research design (2): Interventions Concato, J. (2013). Study design and “evidence” in patient-oriented research. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 187(11), 1167-1172. http://www.atsjournals.org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/doi/abs/10.1164/rccm.2013030521OE?journalCode=ajrccm#.VFKBGOktDX4

Sanson-Fisher, R.W., D’Este, C.A., Carey, M.L., Noble, N., & Paul, C.L. (2014). Evaluation of systemsoriented public health interventions: Alternative research designs. Annual Review of Public Health, 35, 9-27. http://www.annualreviews.org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182445

*Rychetnik, L., Frommer, M., Hawe, P., & Shiell, A. (2002). Criteria for evaluating evidence on public health interventions. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 56, 119127. http://jech.bmj.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/content/56/2/119.full.pdf+html *Glasgow, R.E. (2008). What types of evidence are most needed to advance behavioral medicine? Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 35, 19-25. http://link.springer.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/article/10.1007/s12160-007-9008-5/fulltext.html

March 10 Student Presentations (Research Designs) March 17 Qualitative Measurement Starks, H., & Trinidad, S.B. (2007). Choose your method: A comparison of phenomenology, discourse analysis, and grounded theory. Qualitative Health Research, 17, 1372-1380. http://qhr.sagepub.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/content/17/10/1372.full.pdf+html

*Luhrmann, T.M. (2008). “The street will drive you crazy”: Why homeless psychotic women in the institutional circuit in the United States often say no to offers of help. American Journal of Psychiatry, 165, 15-20. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/article.aspx?articleid=99368

*Begley, M., & Quayle, E. (2007). The lived experience of adults bereaved by suicide: A phenomenological study. Crisis, 28, 26-34. http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/sp3.13.1a/ovidweb.cgi?&S=BIKCFPCHFFDDNKAENCLKNEFBBNJOAA00&Link+Set=S.sh.18.19.23.27%7c5%7csl_10

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

12

March 24 Qualitative analyses Bradbury-Jones, C., Taylor, J., & Herber, O. (2014). How theory is used and articulated in qualitative research: Development of a new typology. Social Science & Medicine, 120, 35-141 http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/article/pii/S0277953614005814

*Hayes, M., Ross, I.E., Gasher, M., Gutstein, D., Dunn, J.R., & Hackett, R.A. (2007). Telling stories: News media, health literacy, and public policy in Canada. Social Science & Medicine, 64, 1842-1852. http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/article/pii/S0277953607000135

*Canvin, K., Jones, C., Marttila, A., Burstrom, B., & Whitehead, M. (2007). Can I risk using public services? Perceived consequences of seeking help and health care among those living in poverty: Qualitative study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 984-989. http://jech.bmj.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/content/61/11/984.full

March 31 Quantitative Measurement Keszeri, A.P., Novak, M., & Streiner, D.L. (2010). Introduction to health measurement scales. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 68, 319-323. http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/article/pii/S0022399910000115

*Ferrer, R.A., Amico, K.F., Bryan, A., Fisher, W., Cornman, D., Kiene, S.M., & Fisher, J.D. (2008). Accuracy of the stages of change algorithm: Sexual risk reported in the maintenance stage of change. Prevention Science, 10, 13-21. http://link.springer.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/article/10.1007/s11121-008-0108-7

*Giles-Corti, B., Timperio, A., Cutt, H., Pikora, T.J., Bull, F.C.L., Knuiman, M., Bulsara, M., Van Niel, K., & Shilton, T. (2006). Development of a reliable measure of walking within and outside the local neighbourhood: RESIDE’S neighbourhood physical activity questionnaire. Preventive Medicine, 42, 455-459. http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/article/pii/S0091743506000508

April 7 Quantitative analyses *Mackinnon, D.P., & Luecken, L.J. (2008). How and for whom? Mediation and moderation in health psychology. Health Psychology, 27(No. 2, Supplement), S99-S100. http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/sp3.13.1a/ovidweb.cgi?&S=DPMDFPAGCDDDNKDNNCLKBFFBDHBNAA00&Link+Set=S.sh.18.19.23.41%7c1%7csl_10

*Hahn, E.J., Rayens, M.K., Butler, K.M., Zhang, M., Durbin, E., & Steinke, D. (2008). Smokefree laws and adult smoking prevalence. Preventive Medicine, 47, 206-209. http://www.sciencedirect.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/science/article/pii/S0091743508002090

April 14 Data Analysis Assignment Due

SPH 566 (Winter term, 2015)

13