How to apply
For ph.d. candidates at USN: Register in Studentweb.
The course requires a minimum of 5 registered participants to be held according to plan.
Content
Policy, whether it be laws, national, regional, municipal, or clinical guidelines, is an inherent part of welfare and care for various populations such as the sick, the poor, the unemployed, the vulnerable or simply citizens in general. While policy plays a central role in most applied and public sector research, the political nature of research and its implications for policy development and application in frontline practices in health- and welfare systems are rarely given critical attention. This calls for enabling future researchers’ consideration of the political nature of applied research and its unintended consequences in practice.
Learning outcome
After completing the course, the candidate will have achieved the following competences:
Knowledge
- has knowledge in the forefront of how policy is traditionally studied from both realist, critical realist, and constructivist angles in health- and social sciences.
- has knowledge in the forefront to critically consider effects and potential pitfalls of health- and welfare
- has in-depth knowledge about policy and how policy shapes dilemmas and ethical challenges in the frontline of health- and welfare service provision.
Skills
- can contextualize own PhD project related to health- and welfare policy and justify the selection of appropriate research policies that can be investigated by using social science approaches to the study of policy.
- can use theory to critically reflect on and assess the nature, construction and potential effect of health- and welfare policy in health- and welfare settings related to PhD projects and other research.
General competencies
- can identify, critically discuss and handle relevant ethical issues in research studies in the context of policy in health- and welfare organizations.
- can identify and consider potential ways of dealing with issues related to the validity, credibility and transferability of research in the context of policy in health- and welfare organizations.