Critical Appraisal Skills (Quantitative Research)

Critical appraisal skills are crucial to implementing evidence-based healthcare. This one-day course is designed by the Library and Knowledge Services Team.

It includes 1½ hour workshops on quantitative and qualitative research evidence. The purpose of these workshops is to introduce critical appraisal, to describe the major features of quantitative and qualitative research and to appraise a quantitative and a qualitative research paper.

Learning Outcomes: By the end of the workshop you should have the confidence to read the quantitative and qualitative research papers in your field critically and to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

The critical appraisal of quantitative research workshop provides you with an opportunity to:

• Know the anatomy of research paper
• Understand hierarchy of evidence and a range of study designs within it
• Learn about data collection and analysis
• Become familiar with different types of bias
• Understand the importance of setting of the research and recruitment of participants
• Revisit basic epidemiological and statistical concepts
• Understand how to work in groups to critically appraise a randomised controlled trial
• Using CASP Checklist, gain skills that will help you to read, interpret and implement research evidence more effectively

This course is free and open to all staff who have an interest in research (doctors, dentists, nurses, research assistants etc.) working in or associated with North and West London Trusts.