Evaluation of Research Methodology Workshop for Postgraduates in a Medical College, Tirupati

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Dissertation writing and research has become mandatory for all the postgraduate students. As per the University norms, a postgraduate student has to undertake a research study and submit dissertation as per the rules and regulations. This present study aims to find out the improvement in the knowledge level of the first year postgraduate students in research methodology as assessed by pretest and posttest evaluations. MATERIALS AND METHODS:This cross-sectional study was done on research methodology workshops conducted during 2-4 September 2015 at SV Medical College, Tirupati. The improvement in the awareness levels was tested by pretest and posttest. Participant evaluation of the programme and feedback was also collected. The evaluation of the sessions was done using Median and 25-75 percentile grading. The grades converted into a numerical percentage and average grade % was calculated. A probability value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS:The mean pretest score of 3.32 significantly improved to 10.53 in the posttest. The improvement was found to be relatively high with regard to reference writing (93%), type of referencing (88%), entering data on excel (78%), objectives (75%) and framing a title (72%). The quality of the sessions was graded being good for all topics while some topics were graded as being excellent. Overall, all the topics had achieved a minimum mean percentage grade of 70% while reference writing guidelines, discussion writing and ethical issues in research had scored higher relative grade. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to improve the format of the workshop for addressing the needs of the postgraduates in dissertation work. The sessions should be short with higher emphasis in improving the skills in dissertation writing rather than improving their awareness level. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: