Science - Theory, Practice and Ethics, 10 credits

A Bachelor’s degree or a professional degree equivalent to a Swedish Bachelor’s degree of at least 180 credits in public health science, healthcare or other relevant social sciences subject area. And proficiency in English equivalent to English B/English 6.

In order to proceed to the course the student must have passed courses corresponding to 45 credits on the specific specialisation within the Master’s Programme in Public Health Sciences.

The course aim is to enable the student to reflect upon, critically assess and employ scientific methods in practice, including theoretical and ethical considerations.

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• compile, critically assess and synthesize scientific literature and research results
• employ basic theory of science concepts, such as realism/relativism, objectivity/situatedness, ontology/epistemology and induction/deduction
• discuss the roles of theory within public health and the links between theory and method
• describe the milestone of research ethics on human subjects  , including the declaration of Helsinki and other declarations
• reflect upon and present the ethical aspects of his/her research in particular that of ethical dilemmas, i.e. situations where different ethical principles, interests and norms may come into conflict with each other
• reflect upon and present scientific work in different formats and appropriate to different target groups

The course is divided into three parts: Scientific practice  (4,0 hp), Theory of science (3,0 hp) and Ethics in research (3,0 hp).

Part 1, Scientific practice focuses on preparation for the thesis work, specifically the formulation of the introduction, background, aim and research questions. It includes prioritising references, use of theoretical frameworks and theories to visualise interrelated concepts and reflections upon public health relevance and implication. This part also covers similarities and differences between research related documents such as scientific articles, theses, reports, essays, and applications, together with training in constructive peer feedback. Ultimately, it includes training in oral and written presentations aimed at different target groups of scientific studies such as researchers, politicians, officials, media, and the general public.

The part Theory of science is implemented as a mixture of lectures, reading exercises and seminars. It seeks to increase the students’ capacity to understand, analyze and critically reflect upon scientific knowledge production in the era of globalization. Theory has many meanings in a multi-disciplinary field as public health and the course will disentangle some of them. The learning outcomes are obtained by the students' acquaintance with the art of philosophical thinking, basic concepts and discussions within theory of science and their understanding how this can be employed on specified empirical cases in public health.

The part Ethics in research seeks to increase the student capacity to analyze questions related to research ethics involving human subjects. This will be attained by the students assimilating greater knowledge about the basic concepts, norms and principles of research ethics, and learning more about national and international legislation governing the subject. It includes becoming familiar with ethical declarations, codes and other instruments used as guidance principles within different medical or healthcare science research fields. The part also includes training in the identification of dilemmas in public and global health research as regards human subjects and training in writing subject information letters and standard applications for ethical review.

The learning include lectures, reading and writing exercises, seminars with individual presentations and group discussions, and three individual assignments; complemented by course literature and distributed material such as scientific articles and internet publications.

Part 1 is examined through an individual assignment; a portfolio with samples of practical tasks and written reflections. Part 1 is graded as U/G/VG. 

Part 2 is examined through an individual assignment; an essay where a number of theoretical concepts are defined and employed in a critical analysis of an empirical case, related to the master thesis subject. Part 2 is graded as U/G/VG.

Part 3 is examined through an individual assignment in two parts. One is on the student’s own research project and covers a number of key questions in the ethical review process; the other one is the student’s reflection on the ethical dilemmas of the project of another student. Part 3 is graded as U/G/VG.

Grade
The grade of the whole course is based on the assignments from each of the three parts. To obtain VG the main assignments should be graded VG. 

Compulsory attendance
Attendance and active participation at the seminars, alongside accomplishment of the three individual assignments with grade G, are compulsory. The course leader decides if and how absence from compulsory activities can be compensated. When the student has participated in and accomplished every compulsory part, or compensated absence in accordance with the course leader's instructions, the grades for all parts are registered in LADOK.

Limitation of number of occasions to write the exam

The student has the right to write the exam six times. If the student has not passed the exam after four participations he/she is encouraged to visit the study advisor.
The number of times that the student has participated in one and the same examination is regarded as an examination session. Submission of a blank examination is regarded as an examination. An examination for which the student registered but not participated in will not be counted as an examination.

Examination will be provided during a time of two years after a possible cancellation of the course. Examination can take place according to an earlier literature list during a time of one year after the date when a major renewal of the literature list has been made.

The course language is English.

Course evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the guidelines established by the Board of Education.