Researching Health and Sport Sciences: Philosophical and Methodological Foundations

On successful completion of the course, the candidates:

Knowledge:

• has advanced knowledge about perspectives and questions in the theory and philosophy of science of relevant research areas
• has advanced knowledge about the science and philosophy behind research methods within the relevant research areas
• has advanced knowledge about the history of research ethics, different ethical approaches, and scientific misconduct

Skills:

• is able to make well-informed and consistent judgements in the design and implementation of research projects and to consider pros and cons of alternative possibilities
• is able to discusses in a critical and systematic way their own PhD projects in relation to the philosophical and scientific theories and ethics
• is able to discusses theoretical and technical knowledge in such a way that professional practice appears as an ethical (societal) and reflexive activity

General competence:

• is able to participate in debates on theoretical, ethical, and methodological issues
• is able to distinguish scientific knowledge from other kinds of knowledge and beliefs and explain the differences
• is able to participate in the scientific debate in their field and can contribute to the further development of knowledge-based practice

The course provides an overview of a history of ideas that explains the background for the emergence of modern science relevant to the disciplines of the Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences. Relevant philosophical texts that form the basis for relevant scientific traditions (positivism, empiricism, hermeneutics, phenomenology, and recent critical theories) will be reviewed.

1. General introduction to theories of science - philosophical foundations and historical overview

• Key theories and thinkers in the philosophy of science as well as central debates, both in general and specific to health and sport sciences
• Philosophy of science and its position vis a vis its closely related fields, such as sociology of science, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and history of science
• The philosophical underpinnings of methods and methodologies, both in general to health and sport sciences and specifically in the relation to the specialisations

2. Philosophy of science - paradigms, approaches, objectivity, and subjectivity in scientific knowledge

• Ontology versus epistemology, quantitative versus qualitative approaches, modes of inferral: inductive and deductive modes and their variations, as well as their intricate relations to method and methodology
• Approaches and paradigms: realist, constructivist, idealist, and their variant approaches as related to paradigms including empiricism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, semiotics, pragmatism, and rationalism
• Interpretation, trustworthiness, reliability, validity, and replicability of research

3. Research ethics

• History of ethics (key cases, key declarations including the Helsinki and Vancouver declarations, and co-authorship)
• Key debates, ethics in research projects, applied ethics in the medical field, industrial and other funding sources in research
• Scientific misconduct (plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification)

4. The link between theory, methods and the candidates’ own research illustrated by integrating the literature to the individual PhD projects

Approved essay related to the candidates’ project and specialisation.

Compulsory attendance and participation in lectures and group work, and presentations as stated in the course pamphlet.