Course Descriptions

HSC 540: Research Methods III

HSC – 540 named as Research Method – III will be a recap and discussion course of the following core courses with a view to assist your thesis and subsequent publication. So you can also called it pre thesis course . Here we will prepare ourselves with the most utterly issues of public health research. No matter you are going to follow a qualitative or quantitative or a mixed method approach for research, we will be on a common basic platform. At the end of this course you will be albe to summarize the knowledge and expertice required to conduct and dessiminate a research work.
We need to recac the following courses:
    From 1st Semester:
  • HSC-531: Epidemiology-Part I
  • HSC-533: Biostatistics-Part I
    • From 2nd Semester:
  • HSC-532: Epidemiology-Part II
  • HSC-534: Biostatistics-Part II
  • HSC-538: Research Methods-Part I
    • From 3rd Semester:
  • HSC-539: Research Methods-Part II
HSC-531: Epidemiology-Part I, HSC-533: Biostatistics-Part I, HSC-532: Epidemiology-Part II, HSC-534: Biostatistics-Part II, HSC-538: Research Methods-Part I
  1. It is the student’s responsibility to gather information about the assignments and covered topics during the lectures missed, however, if any assistance is required, students may discuss with the instructor. Regular class attendance is mandatory. Without 70% of attendance, sitting for final exam is NOT allowed. According to IUB system students must enter the classroom within the first 20 minutes to get the attendance submitted.
  2. The date and syllabus of quiz, midterm and final exam is already given here, however, announcements will be given ahead of time. There is NO provision for make-up quizzes.
  3. The reading materials for each class will be given prior to that class so that student may have a cursory look into the materials.
  4. Class participation is vital for better understanding of the subject matter. Students are highly encouraged to ask questions.
  5. Students should take tutorials with the instructor during the office hours. Prior appointment is required.
  6. Students must maintain the IUB code of conduct and ethical guidelines offered by the School of Public Health.
The course will be based mostly on the following books [some other books and journals may be referred time to time]:
  1. Leon Gordis: Epidemiology: Elsevier/Saunders,5th Edition.
  2. B. Burt Gerstman: Basic Biostatistics: Statistics for Public Health Practice:Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
  3. Kumar: Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners. SAGE Publications
• Two quizzes due in different times of the semester : 20%
• One assignment : 15%
• One mid-term test : 25%
• A cumulative final exam : 30%
• A participation mark (will reflect the performance of presentation and question answer session on a time demanding issue related with this course) : 10%
[Class attendance is mandatory; failure to do so may deduct the final marks]
The following chart will be followed for grading. This has been customized from the guideline provided by the School of Public Health.
A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D F
90-100 85-89 80-84 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 0-44
* Numbers are inclusive
Plagiarism – that is, the presentation of another person’s thoughts or words as though they were the student’s own – must be strictly avoided. Cheating and plagiarism on exam and assignments are unacceptable.
Please see the Green Book for further information about academic regulation and policies, including withdrawal and grading, appeals and penalties for plagiarism and academic misconduct.
Students with disabilities are required to inform the Department of Law of any specific requirement for classes or examination as soon as possible.
Awarding of Incomplete or ‘I’ grades should be strongly discouraged. ‘I’ will only be allowed for students who have a valid reason (ascertained by the senior management). In situations where the student is unable to complete the course due to unanticipated illness or family emergency and has not attended at least 75% of the classes held, he / she will be asked to withdraw from that course and repeat it. In unavoidable circumstances where students have completed 75% of the classes but are unable to continue (due to illness or family emergency), incomplete grade of ‘I’ may be granted. Incomplete course has to be completed by the end of the next semester, otherwise, grade ‘I’ automatically becomes grade ‘F’. The student is not required to register for the course in the next semester.
A ‘W’ grade means withdrawal. A student may decide to withdraw from a course by the deadline. Students must apply to the Program Office for withdrawal from a course with the permission of the concerned course instructor, Academic Advisor, and the Dean. Withdrawal from only one course in a semester is allowed but the students should provide valid reason along with documents while applying for the withdrawal.
A student can misses a maximum of 8 classes for a particular course. After that the course will be automatically withdrawn. A student automatically withdrawn from a course will NOT be allowed to UNDO it under any circumstances.
Change of grade is strongly discouraged. However, an instructor may request a change of grade when a computational or procedural error occurred in the original assignment of a grade. Instructor must submit the ‘Grade Change Form’ to the respective program office within one month of submitting the final grade rolls. A Grade change has to be requested within 1 month of the day of publishing the grades.