The online program addresses a growing demand for researchers who can integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches to address complex issues.The University of Alabama at Birmingham Schools of Health Professions and Nursing recently gained approval by the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees to launch a new online graduate certificate in applications of mixed methods research. The program addresses a growing demand for researchers who can successfully integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches to address complex research issues.
It is open to doctoral and post-master students, instructors, researchers and practitioners. It is designed to help students gain applied knowledge of how to plan, conduct and evaluate mixed methods research in diverse contexts, how to use mixed methods to inform a meaningful intervention, and how to write an effective mixed method grant proposal.
“We are very excited about this program because it helps fill in the gap in formal educational opportunities in mixed methods research in the United States,” said Nataliya Ivankova, Ph.D., program director and professor, Department of Health Services Administration in the School of Health Professions with a dual appointment in the School of Nursing. “This program opens up new opportunities for students, faculty and researchers to build their mixed methods research capacity and become certified experts in mixed methods research.”
The certificate, offered through a partnership between UAB’s School of Health Professions and School of Nursing, requires only five courses and can be completed in three to five semesters.
“The use of mixed methods in research in nursing and other health-related professions is becoming the standard as more scientists have come to understand that quantitative research methods alone don’t tell the whole picture of an individual’s experience of health or illness,” said Linda Moneyham, Ph.D., senior associate dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Nursing. “With the use of mixed methods, we can increase our depth of understanding of human health-related behaviors. For example, while we can measure whether a patient is compliant or non-complaint with prescribed treatments, such measurements often do not explain why a patient is compliant or non-compliant. By using mixed methods, we can explore why patients do what they do, and this information can help us in developing more effective interventions for improving patient compliance to treatments.”
The certificate program is taking applications, and the deadline to apply for the fall semester is Aug. 1. Students are accepted year-round with a spring semester deadline of Dec. 1 and a summer semester deadline of May 1. Current UAB doctoral students can apply by contacting mmrgradcert@uab.edu.
For more information, visit go.uab.edu/gcmmr.