Global Health Research

Global Health Research

design and methods

About the Book

This book will introduce you to research designs and methods in global health. Global health is a multi-disciplinary field, so we consider approaches common to the behavioral and social sciences, public health, and medicine. The primary focus is causal inference. In global health, we are often interested in knowing what programs, policies, and interventions "work" and why. To answer questions of impact, we often turn to randomized controlled trials, a mainstay of medical research. As such, we review the rationale, process, and limitations of field experiments. Randomization is not always possible or advisable, however, and researchers must build a causal argument using non-experimental methods. Therefore we also review several quasi-experimental and observational designs, consider relevant threats to causal inference, and discuss how to improve designs to reduce threats to internal validity. As we build up to this discussion, we cover research basics, such as developing and testing theory, asking good questions, understanding variability, designing good measurement, and selecting research participants.

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About the Author

Eric Green
Eric Green

Eric Green is an Assistant Professor of the Practice of Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute. He teaches courses based on this book and mentors undergraduate and graduate student research. Find him on Twitter at @ericpgreen or contact him at eric.green@duke.edu.

Table of Contents

  •  
    • Acknowledgements
    • Preface
      • Organization
      • Icons
  • Part 1: Research 101
    • 1. Science Fair Redux
      • 1.1 Scientific Research
      • 1.2 The Fundamentals
    • 2. Going Beyond Google
      • 2.1 Start with Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
      • 2.2 Devising a Search Strategy
      • 2.3 For the Love of Everything Holy Use a Reference Manager
    • 3. Theory of Change
      • 3.1 Overview
      • 3.2 What Makes a Good Theory of Change?
      • 3.3 Other Approaches
    • 4. Measure Twice, Cut Once
      • 4.1 What is an Indicator?
      • 4.2 Selecting Good Indicators
      • 4.3 Evaluating Data Collection Instruments and Methods
    • 5. Duck, Duck, Research Participant
      • 5.1 Probability Sampling
      • 5.2 Non-Probability Sampling
    • 6. Cause and Effect
    • 7. Reading Between the Lines
  • Part 2: Research Designs and Methods
    • 8. Experimental
    • 9. Quasi-Experimental
    • 10. Observational
    • 11. Qualitative and Mixed Methods
  • Part 3: Making an Impact
    • 12. Planning a Study
    • 13. Publishing and Conferences
    • 14. From Research to Policy
    • About the Author

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