Foundations of Research Design and Data Science
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the fundamental aspects of research methods and statistics. From study design to data types, through to choice and interpretation of statistics.
Note: This course will be delivered online, i.e. the lecture will be transmitted live on zoom. This online class will be supported by its own dedicated teaching staff (along with the lead lecturer), therefore participants can expect the same level of group and individual support as the face-to-face class.
Details
This is a basic introductory course in research methodology and statistical analyses that covers a comprehensive range of topics for individuals who are new to quantitative research. This is a theory-led course, but delegates are given plenty of opportunities to apply the concepts via practical and interactive activities integrated throughout the course. The following topics are covered:
- Introduction to quantitative research *
- Research question development *
- Study design, sampling and confounding *
- Types of data Graphical displays of data and results
- Summarising numeric and categorical data
- Numeric and categorical differences between groups
- Hypothesis testing
- Confidence intervals and p-values
- Parametric statistical tests
- Non-parametric tests
- Bootstrapping
- Regression analysis
The majority of examples used in this course are related to health research, but the concepts can be readily applied to most other fields.
* If you register for the live synchronous version of this course, you are expected to spend time before it begins by studying the content relating to research questions and study designs. This will take up to 3 hours of your time (dependent on your current level of knowledge). These materials will then be summarised and discussed as a group at the beginning. We will give access to these materials from two weeks prior to the course.
Fees
Course fees (live)
Below are the course fees for all courses delivered live either face-to-face, or through online video feed.
| External delegates (non-UCL) | £950 |
| UCL staff, students, alumni | £475 * |
| Staff and doctoral students from ICH/GOSH | FREE † |
* Valid UCL email address and/or UCL alumni number required upon registration. Please note, this category does not include hospital staff unless you have a formal affiliation with the university.
† Limited free spaces available. If there are no free places remaining, staff and doctoral students from ICH/GOSH can still register at the UCL rate.
Cancellations: Cancellation Policy
Course fees (self-paced)
Below are the fees for access to the online, self-paced version of this course.
| External delegates (non-UCL) | £375 |
| UCL staff, students, alumni | £187.50 * |
| Staff from ICH/GOSH, and doctoral students from UCL † | FREE * |
* A valid UCL email address and/or UCL alumni number required. Please note, this category does not include hospital staff unless you have a formal affiliation with the university. To get this discount, please email ich.statscou@ucl.ac.uk to confirm your eligibility and receive a code that can be entered at the checkout.
† If you are a doctoral student from UCL, you can get access to this, and all other self-paced courses developed by CASC by filling in this online form.
Future Live Dates (day)
| Dates | Time | Apply |
| 19-23 January 2026 | 9.30am - 5.00pm^ | Book Here (Hybrid) |
^For those attending online, we recommend logging in 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time to access materials and ensure the course can start promptly at 1.30pm. (for most courses this will be 9.30 but for meta is 1.30 this time)
Future Live Dates (evening - online)
| Dates | Time | Apply |
| TBC | 4.45pm - 8.00pm^ | Subscribe to our Mailing List |
* Evening courses run on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for five consecutive weeks.
^ For those attending online, we recommend logging in 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time to access materials and ensure the course can start promptly at 05.00pm. (for most courses this will be 9.30 but for meta is 05.00 this time)
Online/self-paced materials
Additionally, we now offer this as a self-paced, online course that you can register for and start at any time. Click below under the 'Online/Self-Paced Materials' tab to register and gain access.
An online, self-paced version of this course is available that includes the following materials:
- Full electronic notes
- Short lecture videos (recorded outside of the classroom) that follow closely with the notes
- Interactive multiple choice quizzes for each chapter
- Extended practical exercises (with solutions) for further comprehension
- Revision materials
- Links to additional resources
Support: The course includes unlimited support through a forum that will be manned by one of our teaching fellows. We aim to provide responses to all questions on Tuesday and Friday each working week. Note that questions can only relate directly to the course materials and should not be used as a consultancy service for your own projects.
Personalised certificates will be generated on completion (when you pass the multiple choice quizzes).
UCL extend: The link below leads to the UCL extend store where this self-paced course is available for purchase. If you are eligible for a discount, then please email ich.statscou@ucl.ac.uk to receive a voucher code that can be used on checkout. UCL delegates should use their university email address to register, and external delegates can use any other account.
Click to Register (online, self-paced)
Alternatively, if you are a doctoral student from UCL, you can get access to this, and all other self-paced courses developed by CASC by filling in this online form.
Feedback
"I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I'm very satisfied with the way these concepts were taught. I think the team does an excellent job. I will be recommending this course to a lot of people."
"The flow and pace of all the sessions was spot on."
"I thought the teaching was excellent throughout, both the practical’s and the quizzes were a really useful way of self-assessing what you had learned and where to revisit material."
"I accessed both face to face and online. I thought the online was very well done. There was a very nice balance to ensuring online participants contributed to the course."
"The way the teaching was interspersed with practicals and class voting slides was fantastic - it really helped me to stay focussed and gave me a chance to find out early on how well I was understanding and able to apply what we were learning. All the teachers were brilliant. Engaging, interesting and very knowledgeable."
Mailing list
Our subscribers are the first to find out about new courses, new dates for existing courses and any other important CASC news.
Bespoke courses
If you are part of a team/organisation that would like statistics training, we can arrange extra dates for our existing courses or prepare something more bespoke.
Come to 6 day-courses, get a 7th free!
Once you have attended 6 short-courses, you're ready to claim your 7th day-course for free (please email us to make this arrangement). Our longer introduction course counts as three towards this total.
Contact
Please see our FAQ page before making an enquiry.
Email:
Recommended for general queries/payments:
ich.statscou@ucl.ac.uk
Phone:
For general queries/payments:
+44 (0) 20 7905 2768
Address:
Centre for Applied Statistics Courses (CASC)
UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
30 Guilford Street
London, WC1N 1EH
Other useful links
- GOS ICH Statistical Support Service
- On-demand UCL Extend self-paced courses
- Royal Statistical Society
- Instats
Link
Further information
Ticketing
Open
Cost
£950.00
Open to
All
Availability
Yes