PHE 505 is SNHU’s Research Methods in Public Health course. It centers on research methods in public health: framing a researchable question, searching and appraising the literature, annotated bibliographies, literature reviews, research ethics and the IRB, hypotheses and variables, quantitative and qualitative designs, survey construction, sampling and power, data collection, analysis plans, limitations and writing a research proposal with an abstract. Every module below opens a full sample paper or takes a free request for one; searches like "phe 505 module 3", "PHE505 sample paper" and "PHE 505 milestone example" land on this page.
What PHE 505 is really about
PHE 505 is the methods course of SNHU's MPH, and its milestones build one proposal piece by piece. Strong work narrows a question until it can be answered with available data, reviews studies critically rather than summarizing them, defines variables precisely, chooses a design that fits the question, justifies the sample size, plans an analysis that matches the data and names the threats to validity honestly, while treating participants' rights as part of the design.
The samples are set in a composite Midwestern city of about 210,000 people with a large public university, where two scooter companies operate about 1,800 shared electric scooters and the city's two emergency departments treated several hundred injured riders in the first three years. The city has no helmet rule for adult riders. The city, hospitals and riders are illustrative.
What PHE 505’s modules ask for
Across ten modules, PHE 505 typically asks for discussions on research questions and on qualitative methods, an annotated bibliography, an ethics journal tied to human subjects training, a survey assignment, four final project milestones covering the topic, literature review, research question and methods, and the complete proposal with an abstract.
Where students lose points in PHE 505
The most common PHE 505 deduction is a research question too broad to answer or one whose variables are never defined. The second is a design that cannot test the stated hypothesis, such as a cross-sectional survey offered as proof of cause. Graders also mark down literature reviews that summarize article by article, proposals with no sample size reasoning, analysis plans that do not match the variables and ethics sections that stop at saying the IRB will approve. The fix is to keep the question, variables, design and analysis lined up from start to finish.
The PHE 505 drawers
PHE 505 Module 1 Discussion example
An opening post where a composite MPH student traces a research idea from an emergency physician's offhand remark about scooter riders with head injuries to a question narrow enough to study, testing it against the FINER criteria and early published work on standing electric scooter injuries, drawing on Hulley and colleagues, Trivedi and colleagues and Namiri and colleagues. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 2 Milestone One example
A first research milestone in which a composite MPH student proposes studying helmet use and head injury among adults treated after riding shared electric scooters in a Midwestern university city: the public health problem, what four published studies show, rising local emergency visits and a city council weighing a helmet rule, the gap in knowledge, a preliminary question with defined variables, a likely design and why the study is feasible and worth doing, drawing on Trivedi and colleagues, Namiri and colleagues, Bloom and colleagues, Cicchino and colleagues and Olivier and Creighton. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 3 Annotated Bibliography example
An annotated bibliography in which a composite MPH student summarizes and appraises five peer-reviewed studies for a proposal on helmet use and head injury among e-scooter riders, two emergency department case series, a national surveillance analysis, a scooter-versus-bicycle comparison and a cyclist helmet meta-analysis, noting each study's design, sample, measures, strengths, weaknesses and use in the proposal, with an appraisal table, drawing on Trivedi and colleagues, Bloom and colleagues, Namiri and colleagues, Cicchino and colleagues and Olivier and Creighton. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 4 Milestone Two example
A research literature review in which a composite MPH student synthesizes peer-reviewed work on shared e-scooter injuries under four themes, how often riders are hurt and how, how rarely they wear helmets, what helmets are known to prevent and which other factors raise risk, then weighs the methods behind the evidence and states the gap a hospital record study in a Midwestern university city would fill, drawing on Trivedi and colleagues, Bloom and colleagues, Namiri and colleagues, Cicchino and colleagues, Olivier and Creighton and the STROBE statement. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 5 Ethics Journal example
A private journal entry where a composite MPH student, after completing human subjects training, applies the Belmont Report's principles of respect for persons, beneficence and justice to a planned review of emergency records of injured scooter riders, works through why individual consent would be waived, how privacy would be protected and whether excluding minors is fair, and notes what the training changed in the design, drawing on the Belmont Report, Creswell and Creswell and Trivedi and colleagues. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 6 Milestone Three example
A third research milestone in which a composite MPH student refines a question about helmet use and head injury among injured shared scooter riders into exposure, outcome and comparison terms, states a primary and two secondary hypotheses with their null forms, defines every variable with its level of measurement and source in a table, describes the assumed causal pathways and confounders in words and explains the scope and limits of the question, drawing on Hulley and colleagues, Creswell and Creswell, Olivier and Creighton, Trivedi and colleagues and the STROBE statement. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 7 Survey Assignment example
A survey assignment in which a composite MPH student designs a short questionnaire for shared scooter riders in a Midwestern university city to complement a hospital record study, covering helmet use, reasons for not wearing one, perceived risk, riding after drinking and willingness to use a helmet supplied with the scooter, with item wording rules, a table of twelve items and response options, cognitive pretesting with six riders, sampling, mode, ethics and reliability and validity, drawing on Dillman and colleagues, Creswell and Creswell and Trivedi and colleagues. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 8 Milestone Four example
A fourth research milestone in which a composite MPH student sets out the methods for a study of helmets and head injury among injured shared scooter riders: a retrospective record review analyzed as a case-control comparison within injured riders, inclusion rules, record searching, double abstraction with an agreement check, a power calculation showing three years of records are not enough and how to reach about 80% power, a logistic regression plan with sensitivity analyses, threats to validity and a timeline, drawing on Faul and colleagues, the STROBE statement, Olivier and Creighton, Creswell and Creswell and Hulley and colleagues. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 9 Discussion example
A ninth-week post where a composite MPH student asks what a hospital record study of scooter helmets cannot explain, why riders who know the risks still ride bareheaded, and proposes a small qualitative add-on of semi-structured interviews with about fifteen injured riders analyzed with thematic analysis, explaining purposive sampling, saturation, trustworthiness and how the two strands would be combined, drawing on Creswell and Creswell, Braun and Clarke and Trivedi and colleagues. Full sample paper, read it free.
PHE 505 Module 10 Final Project example
A complete research proposal in which a composite MPH student brings four milestones together into one plan to study helmets and head trauma among adults seen after rented scooter crashes in a Midwestern university city: a structured abstract, significance, a condensed review, the question and hypotheses, a case-control analysis of record data with a power-driven sample, logistic regression and sensitivity analyses, ethics, limitations, dissemination, a timeline and a modest budget, drawing on eight sources including Trivedi and colleagues, Olivier and Creighton, Faul and colleagues and the STROBE statement. Full sample paper, read it free.
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Using a PHE 505 sample the right way
Read a PHE 505 sample by checking whether the question is narrow and answerable, whether variables are defined, whether the design fits the hypothesis, whether the sample size is justified and whether ethics and limitations are treated as part of the design. For PHE 505, bring the prompt, your topic and the rubric; a first custom sample is returned free in 24-48h.
PHE 505 questions, answered
What does PHE 505 cover?
Research questions, literature searching and review, ethics and the IRB, hypotheses and variables, quantitative and qualitative designs, surveys, sampling, analysis plans and writing a proposal.
What is the PHE 505 final project?
A complete research proposal built over four milestones: the topic, the literature review, the research question and the methods with an analysis plan.
Does PHE 505 require collecting data?
Usually not; students design a study and plan its analysis, though some activities ask for a draft survey or practice with sample data.