Underpinning methodologies for applied health research
The Faculty hosts three key underpinning disciplinary groups that are key to applied health research: Medical Statistics, Qualitative methods; and Health Economics. Most of these researchers are within the Academic Unit of Primary Care and Population Sciences; there is also a strong team of statisticians in the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit.
Faculty of Medicine Medical Statistics Group
The medical statisticians within the Academic Unit of Primary Care and Population Sciences collaborate on statistical and design aspects across a wide variety of medical research areas throughout the Faculty. The Medical Statistics group is led by Professor Dankmar Boehning , the chair of Medical Statistics, who is based within the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute (S3RI). Specific research interests within the group include meta-analysis and research synthesis, statistical methods for elusive population research including capture-recapture methodology, modeling of nested and hierarchical data structures, time-series analyses, mixed modeling methods, measurement error, diagnostic tests, longitudinal follow-up in randomised controlled trials, and analysis of large datasets such as the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and the Hampshire Health Records (HHR) databases. The medical statisticians also have expertise in clinical trials, epidemiological studies, longitudinal studies, diagnostic and prognostic studies.
To discuss collaboration possibilities please email in person
Professor Dankmar Boehning
Dr Borislav Dimitrov
Dr Ruth Pickering -
R.M.Pickering@soton.ac.uk
Dr Beth Stuart -
bls1@soton.ac.uk
Mr David Culliford -
D.J.Culliford@soton.ac.uk
Mr Scott Harris -
sharris@soton.ac.uk
Mr Ho Ming (Brian) Yuen -
H.M.Yuen@soton.ac.uk
Dr Ngianga II Kandala -
N.Kandala@soton.ac.uk
NIHR RDS (Research Design Service) South Central
The RDS was established by the NIHR to offer high quality advice and support to researchers making funding applications within the health research system. Medical statisticians within the RDS provided methodological support at the design stage to improve the quality of grant applications. The medical statisticians based at the RDS co-ordinating centre in Southampton work closely with RDS statisticians based at the Centre for Statistics in Medicine (University of Oxford) and University of Portsmouth to provide support researchers across the South Central region. RDS statisticians have expertise in clinical trials, epidemiological designs, longitudinal studies, prognostic models and Bayesian methods. The statisticians also run a two-day master class titled, “Statistical Considerations for Grant Applications” for researchers who are applying for NIHR funding. For further details about the RDS, or to request support for grant applications, visit the web-site www.rds-sc.nihr.ac.uk
Mr Mark Mullee
Dr Isabel Reading
Dr Edith (Man Ying) Cheng
Ms Joanne Haviland
Mr Sean Ewings
There are also statisticians in the University of Southampton Clinical Trials Unit which is funded by NIHR and CRUK, and in the Biomedical Research Units
University of Southampton Clinical Trials Unit
Ms Louise Dent
Ms Megan Bowers
Mr Tom Maisham
Ms Joanne Haviland
NIHR Biomedical Research Units
Ms Helen Moyses
Qualitative approaches are perfectly suited to the study of people's perspectives and the study of the delivery and experience of health services and, as such, they are central to the applied health research in the Faculty of Medicine. Recognising the complementarity of qualitative and quantitative methods, qualitative leads in the Academic Unit of Primary Care and Population Sciences (PCPS) work in close collaboration with leading primary care researchers, epidemiologists, public health researchers and clinicians across the University, the UK and internationally. Many of the Unit’s studies of complex interventions nest qualitative studies within them to understand the acceptability of the interventions, to gain insights into the possible processes at play and factors that may militate against or facilitate good outcomes. As well as nested qualitative studies, members are engaged in stand-alone projects investigating a range of acute, chronic, primary and secondary care health services/experiences. Funding is diverse and includes Arthritis Research United Kingdom and the National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research.
Members of the Qualitative Research Group are from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, including sociology, health psychology, medicine, anthropology and a range of allied health professions. Other senior academics run studies which incorporate qualitative approaches, including
Paul Little
,
George Lewith
,
Mike Moore
,
Mike Thomas
and
Ian Williamson
.
Interpretivist approaches rely largely on naturalistic methods, including interviewing, observation, rich ethnographies and the analysis of key documents/texts. Analysis often relies on inductive approaches rather than the hypothetico-deductive approach associated with the ‘scientific method’. Common approaches include Grounded Theory, Phenomenological Analysis, Discourse, Framework, Thematic, and Conversation Analysis. Standard approaches, such as negative case analysis and transparency of method, are used to ensure rigour and credible outputs.
Qualitative researchers and methodologists include :
Sarah Brien
Melania Calestani
Clare McDermott
Sam Stressing
Jane Vennik
Sam Watts
Associate members , now based in the Faculty of Health Sciences, working closely with PCPS Qualitative Research Group (headed by Geraldine Leydon).
Claire Ballinger
Rachael Summers
Many clinical trials require the inclusion of an economic analysis. This involves collection of data on the effectiveness of interventions as well as their resource use implications. Health economics can also be relevant for other types of research such as cohort studies, systematic reviews and economic models, and health outcomes measurement. Health economics input to research bids is provided by a group of health economists in the Wessex Institute of Health Research and Development, led by Professor James Raftery . There is a diverse portfolio of funded research including several NIHR Programme grants, NIHR Health technology Assessment grants and other NIHR funding streams. The same group will usually carry out the economic analysis in successful bids. They can be accessed directly or via the Research Design Service.
Professor James Raftery
Ms Lily Yao
Ms Maria Chorozoglou