• Tuition Fees: General Admission €1.500, tropEd €1.000
• 2-week course equals 90 hrs of student investment time (75 hrs of direct contact, 15 hrs of self-directed learning), TropEd students can earn 3 ECTS points
• Open to: tropEd students, public health professionals and other health professionals

Entry Requirements

This Course is held in English. Course participants should have excellent command/high level of proficiency in reading, writing and speaking English. It's part time students only.

Content Overview

Research in international health is becoming increasingly complex, requiring scientists to move away from the traditional quantitative vs. qualitative methodological dichotomy.
This traditional dichotomy has proved no longer to be the most effective in providing answers to the public health problems emerging both in high income and low and middle income countries.
Mixed methods research represents an opportunity to build on the specific strengths of quantitative and qualitative research methods to foster synergies between the two which may allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the problems at stake.

Course Topics

• Analytical appraisal of quantitative and qualitative methods as applied in different areas of research in international health
• Theory and practice of mixing quantitative & qualitative research methods: answering questions why? What? When? How?
• Controversial aspect of using mixed methods in international health research
• Personal skills development in the application of mixed methods research both in high and low and middle income countries
• Case studies of mixed methods research in the fields of malaria control, HIV/AIDS, health financing, women’s health, and clinical management
• Planning, designing, and writing an individual mixed methods research protocol suitable for grant application
• Overview of epistemology of research with an emphasis on the critical assessment of theories on how knowledge is generated and retained

Learning Objectives

Focusing on the joint application of quantitative and qualitative tools and methods, this course aims to train participants to conduct mixed methods research. This course will enable participants to:

• appreciate the epistemology of research and its direct influence on the methodological choices in the everyday practice of research in international health;
• identify the most common quantitative and qualitative methodological tools used in research in international health;
• critically analyse the role and the specific contribution of quantitative and qualitative methods to research in international health;
• assess which research questions and in which situations require the application of mixed methods research;
• apply the knowledge and skills acquired in class to develop and carry out an individual research protocol using a mixed methods approach.

Schedule & Certification

Most of the short courses require full-time attendance from Mondays to Fridays, 9am - 5 pm. Of Fridays courses generally finish around noon If not stated otherwise, all classes and activities will also run on public holidays.

Students and course participants must attend full-time and successtully complete all the assessment components in order to receive a certificate of attendance or a grade report from Heidelberg University. tropEd students will be able to credit short courses towards the Master's programme at their home institution.

Course Fee

• General Admittance: € 1.500.-
• tropEd students: € 1.000.-

Included in the course fee is a non-refundable registration fee of € 200.-
Please register as soon as possible as the number of participants is limited.
Unfortunately, no Scholarships are available.
If the participant withdraws from the course

• less than 6 weeks prior: 25 % of the course fee will be charged.
• less than 4 weeks prior: 50 % of the course fee will be charged.
• less than 2 weeks prior: the whole course fee will be charged.

The tuition fee does not include accommodation, insurance or other personal living costs during the stay.