Training

WeLReN's mandate being to build research capacity in West London , an important part of its role has been research training. Research courses at WeLReN are free to members.

The main training opportunity through WeLReN is the Imperial College Methods of Research and Evaluation Module. This is open to all members who can either attend the whole module or select particular sessions that are of interest.

WeLReN training is divided into two areas:
a) research methods
b) Research related skills workshops

Research Methods

The Methods of Research and Evaluation Module is taught by the Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine at Imperial College . Students from a range of BSc and MSc courses attend this module so you will meet people from a number of different disciplines and educational experience.

Course details:
The module runs in the Autumn term (currently on Thursdays from the first Thursday in October). The first seven weeks take the student through the basic methods training. WeLReN novice researchers may find this a useful basis and continue to the end of the module if they wish. Other WeLReN members may join the individual sessions if there is sufficient room - please let the office know if you are interested in a specific session and we will check with the tutor.

The course covers the following areas:

Principles:

• Paradigms of enquiry (explanation of approaches to research such as Positivism, Interpretivism, Deduction, Induction, Quantitative, Qualitative, Hypothesis generation and testing)
• The research process and fieldwork practice (the outline stages of a typical research project, the field work process including awareness of fieldworker sensitivities and safety)
• Sampling and power (choices of sampling frames, approaches to sampling, statistical and explanatory power)
• Qualitative Research (identify a number of epidemiological designs and their advantages and limitations)
• Secondary analyses (sources of routine data on health and illness, their uses, strengths and weaknesses)
• Qualitative research (principles in qualitative data sources, collection methods, sampling)
• Debate: Quantitative and qualitative (describe the features of both methods, their strengths and weaknesses and the challenging of)
• Questionnaire design (choice of items, types of questions, wording, structure etc)
• Triangulation (linking multiple methods and analysing the resulted data)

Techniques:

• Literature search and library skills (hands on session in the library)
• How to critique a paper
• Methods of evaluation (introduction of a range of methods and their strengths and weaknesses and situations in which they might be best applied)
• Developing a proposal (understand what is required in their research proposals, how they should be prepared, when and where they should be submitted and how they will be assessed. Also common shortcomings seen in research grant applications)
• Ethics in research (describe the principal legal and ethical standards, practical skills in preparing LREC application, patient information sheets and consent forma)
• Exercises
• Qualitative study designs (practical session selecting designs)
• Questionnaire design (practical session)
• Quantitative study design (practical session selecting design)
• Interview topic guides (practical session)
• Developing an Local Research Ethics Committee (LREC) application

Later sessions:

• Analysis of qualitative data/coding a transcript/computer software
• Statistics
• Peer review a LREC proposal
• SPSS - data entry/ data analysis
• Rapid assessment methods
• Writing up your research

Research related skills workshops

Training sessions offered by WeLReN have covered the following areas:

Critical appraisal skills
Designing posters and abstracts
Designing questionnaires
Facilitating a workshop
Presentation skills
Writing for publication

The dates for these courses are arranged as a need arises. It is the aim of WeLReN to present workshops in localities accessible to the membership, where sufficient demand is shown consideration will be given to research training local to one or preferably more PCT areas. There are also research skills workshops run at the WeLReN conference in June.

Writing a scientific paper and getting it published
An introductory course run by the highly successful Tim Albert Consulting aimed at improving the writers understanding of the process of getting a paper published and writing with a specific journal in mind. The course is suitable for those who are ready to write up the results of their research and if attendees bring along any draft material they can use it to work on during the session.

Writing posters and abstracts for clear communication
A course aimed at producing clear abstracts and posters for conferences that communicate the message of the research they represent effectively and simply.

Running and Facilitating a workshop
The WeLReN conference is in June. This workshop gives you the opportunity to practice your facilitation skills with other members in a workshop. This is a practical course with lots of group work and useful examples.

Presenting your work at conference
The WeLReN conference is one of many conferences that you can disseminate the outputs of your research. However you may not have presented before and may want some tips and advice. This course provides you with the chance to practice for the task and decide what makes a successful presentation.

Further information:
WeLReN is currently collating a directory of relevant courses in the locality. So that members can link with other institutions offering research training. Some institutions may offer a preferential rate to WeLReN members who attend their courses.

WeLReN is developing a mentorship scheme for its funded researchers. This will offer training tailored to the needs of individual researchers or the research group. An experienced academic will link with the group for an agreed period of time to give training on a specific topic or hurdle for the researchers. This way the training can be of direct relevance to the individual/group and convenient for time and location.

WeLReN is also in the process of arranging courses and facilities through Thames Valley University also - watch this space!