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BHI Research Methods

MEBI 537, Fall, '08

Approximate Syllabus

As a broad outline, I see this course as a survey of research methods from three distinct traditions: (1) Computer science, which focuses on system evaluation, (2) the social sciences, which often use qualitative methods, and (3) medicine & biology, which are usually focused on quantitative, hypothesis-driven research methods.

Week 1 Introduction & motivation: What is the research question? What are the data? Threats to validity, biases and controls.
Week 2 Exploratory research methods: Data, sampling, correlations & descriptive statistics.
Week 3-4

Systems Evaluation: Training, testing. precision & recall, agreement statistics
Week 5-7 Qualitative research methods: Interviewing, observational methods, critical incident methods, sense-making methods, grounded theory.
Week 8-10 Quantitative, hypothesis-based research methods: Quasi-experimental designs. Randomized studies: stratification, recruitment, & ethics.

(See assignments for more detailed, week-by-week information)

Last Updated:
Sept, '08

Contact the instructor at: gennari@u.washington.edu