School: Nursing and Midwifery

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Research Methods
  • Unit Code

    MNP6115
  • Year

    2026
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    20
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Nilufeur MCKAY

Description

As clinical leaders, nurses and midwives are expected to deliver evidence-based care and to participate in primary research. This unit will lay the foundation for all students to gain knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods to generate or guide evidence-based practice. Students will explore the role that nurses and midwives play in the development of cultures of inquiry within their healthcare organisations.

Equivalent Rule

MNP6101

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Evaluate various research designs and methodologies to address clinical enquiries in nursing and midwifery practice.
  2. Critically appraise quantitative and qualitative research studies to identify high quality evidence to promote evidence-based practice.
  3. Initiate comprehensive literature searches using various databases and resources to identify relevant and high-quality research studies.
  4. Synthesise research findings from multiple studies to derive meaningful conclusions that can inform clinical practice.

Unit Content

  1. Principles of research methods and design, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, sampling techniques, data collection methods, and ethical considerations in nursing research.
  2. Effective literature searching skills guided by a structured research question.
  3. Research design and integrity.
  4. Tools and frameworks to critically appraise quantitative and qualitative research.
  5. The role of clinical practice guidelines for nurses and midwives.
  6. Barriers and facilitators to implementing evidence-based practice.
  7. Translational research: Transforming research into practice.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
PresentationCritical appraisal40%
ReportEvaluation of practice60%
ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
PresentationCritical appraisal40%
ReportEvaluation of practice60%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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