UL22/0538 Page 1 of 4
© University of London 2022
PHM104
MSc/POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA/POSTGRADUATE CERTIFICATE
EXAMINATION
PUBLIC HEALTH
Principles of Social Research
June 2022 examination
Your answers must be YOUR OWN WORK without any help from others.
Read the “Instructions for completing LSHTM DL examinations (June 2022)”
document before you start answering these questions.
You must answer ALL three questions on this paper.
Type all your answers to each question in the correct answer document provided.
You must upload all your answers to the EMS within 24 hours of downloading this
exam paper.
Recommended time limit for completion of this paper: 2 hours and 15 minutes.
You are advised to spend the first 15 minutes of this exam reading the question
paper and planning your answers.
QUESTIONS BEGIN ON THE NEXT PAGE
UL22/0538 Page 2 of 4
© University of London 2022
Question 1
Word limit – Up to 1000 words per whole question (equivalent to approximately
2 pages of single-spaced, typed text, with size 11 Arial font).
Global evidence shows that women and girls aged 15 to 49 years are at increased
risk of physical, sexual and emotional violence from family members and intimate
partners during periods of conflict. An international non-governmental organisation
(NGO), working in a refugee camp, wants to improve the way it responds to the
health and psychosocial needs of women and girls who experience violence.
However, there is very little research evidence on violence response interventions in
humanitarian settings. The NGO wants to better understand the needs and priorities
of women and girls in the refugee camp to make sure their services are meeting their
needs.
You are a researcher at a local university. You have been asked to conduct a
qualitative study in the refugee camp, to explore women’s and girls’ experiences of
violence, attitudes towards seeking help and use of the NGO services.
a) You choose to conduct in-depth interviews. Describe the key features of this
method and explain why this is appropriate for your research. What are the
advantages of this method over other types of interviews? (20%)
b) Describe the sampling strategy you will use for your interviews and justify your
approach. (20%)
c) How would you develop a good interview topic guide? What kind of questions
are most useful? (30%)
d) Briefly describe what is meant by the term “informed consent”, the process of
obtaining it from research participants, and the challenges to this process in the
conduct of this research. (30%)
(Questions 2 and 3 follow on the next pages)
UL22/0538 Page 3 of 4
© University of London 2022
Question 2
Word limit – Up to 1000 words per whole question (equivalent to approximately
2 pages of single-spaced, typed text, with size 11 Arial font).
You are a researcher employed at a private research firm. You have been tasked
with organising a number of focus groups with homeless intravenous drug users,
(IDUs), to explore their experiences with, and attitudes to, a recently implemented
needle and syringe exchange programme in their city, to reduce the incidence of HIV
among IDUs. A non-governmental organisation (NGO), which provides services to
homeless IDUs in the city, will assist with the recruitment of prospective participants.
a) Briefly discuss FIVE key issues you would consider in the planning for the focus
group study. Include in your answer some detail on the materials you would
develop and prepare for use in the focus group, and other resources and
requirements for a successful focus group. (50%)
b) You want to convince the international development agency which funded the
research, and other partners, that your research is trustworthy. Describe how
you will ensure rigour in the conduct and write up of the study. (30%)
c) Bearing in mind that your findings will inform HIV policy initiatives, briefly
describe how you would analyse the data from the focus group interviews.
Include in your answer the reasons for your choice of analytic approach, and an
outline of the stages of that analytic approach. (20%)
(Question 3 follows on the next page)
UL22/0538 Page 4 of 4
© University of London 2022
Question 3
Word limit – Up to 1000 words per whole question (equivalent to approximately
2 pages of single-spaced, typed text, with size 11 Arial font).
A local hospital has developed a new intervention for patients with co-morbid
hypertension, and adult-onset diabetes. You have been asked to develop a new
questionnaire that can be used to assess whether the treatment improves patients’
quality of life.
a) Explain how qualitative methods could contribute to the development of the questionnaire. Describe the specific methods you could use and outline how they will aid the development of the questionnaire. (40%)
b) Explain how you would ensure that the questions in the questionnaire are good.
(25%)
c) Explain why it is important to ensure that the questionnaire is reliable and valid
and how you would go about doing this. (35%)
END OF PAPER
