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Dr Elisabetta De Cao COW 3.06

This course is available on the Executive MSc in Health Economics, Outcomes and Management in Cardiovascular Sciences and Executive MSc in Health Economics, Policy and Management. This course is not available as an outside option.

The objective of this course is to teach students how to design and critically appraise research studies evaluating policies, programmes, and interventions. 



This course will provide an overview of the principles and models of evaluation, and the role of theories, concepts, and hypotheses. In terms of research design, it will cover study design choices in light of bias, validity and other design trade-offs. The core of the course will focus on experimental and quasi-experimental designs for evaluating health interventions, programmes and policies aimed at achieving high quality care, reducing costs, and improving health outcomes. Data and measurement considerations for quantitative studies will be discussed alongside briefly touching upon qualitative methods, mixed-methods and triangulation for interpreting findings and taking a critical approach to the results of evaluation. The course will conclude with practical and ethical issues when undertaking evaluation studies.

This course will be delivered as a combination lectures and seminars, totalling a minimum of 20 hours. As well as access to lectures, students will work in small groups to complete group exercises set by the course lead during seminars. 

The formative assessment consists of 2-page outline for the summative project. The 2-page outline must summarise the main points of an essay that i) critiques a published study and ii) outlines a research project that could address the identified limitations of the study. Course participants work in groups during the taught course to discuss the published study and prepare the proposal. They will have an opportunity to discuss the project with the course leader and gain feedback and guidance about their project throughout the course.

Angrist, J. D. and Pischke, J-S. (2014) Mastering ’Metrics: The Path from Cause to Effect. Princeton University Press.

Gertler, Paul J., Sebastian Martinez, Patrick Premand, Laura B. Rawlings, and Christel M. J. Vermeersch. (2016) Impact Evaluation in Practice, second edition. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank. doi:10.1596/978-1- 4648-0779-4. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO.

Cartwright, N. & Hardie, J. (2012). Evidence-Based Policy: A practical guide to doing it better. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

HM Treasury. 2011. The Magenta Book. Guidance for evaluation.

Essay (100%, 2500 words).