Practice-based research in (allied) health care

By looking at the world around you with an open and critical mind, identifying areas of improvement, looking for explanations, and sharing knowledge and ideas, you can contribute to the development of your profession. Practice-based research in healthcare teaches you to specifically examine practical problems, appreciate existing research, critically assess scientific articles, and come up with solutions to practical problems.


The research process is described in four parts and follows the student over the course of their journey. Part I examines the ?why? of research in healthcare, the ethics and the value of evidence-based practice. Part II teaches you how to translate a practical problem into a good research question and how to write a project plan. Part III describes how to conduct your own research, up to and including analysing and presenting the results. It also covers quantitative designs, qualitative research, action research, design research and literature reviews. Finally, Part IV focuses on the impact of research in practice.

Practice-based research in healthcare offers healthcare students in higher education practical support when learning about evidence-based practice and practice-based research during their entire studies, a good preparation for their final thesis, and a basis for working in their professional practice.

The examples and designs used in this publication, are derived from a broad field of care, making it suitable for use in paramedical and other healthcare programmes. The structure of the book serves as a student?s journey: from a critical and reflective professional and reader to an active performer of research and a translator of research results into practice.

This book is a translation of the third edition of the Dutch book Praktijkgericht onderzoek in de (paramedische) zorg by the authors Eveline Wouters, Yvonne van Zaalen, Janna Bruijning.



Eveline Wouters is a lecturer with the Health Innovations & Technology chair at Fontys University of Applied Sciences and a professor at Tranzo, Tilburg University.

Yvonne van Zaalen is an associate lecturer and strategic research consultant at Fontys University of Applied Sciences.

Janna Bruijning is a senior lecturer at the Institute for Allied Healthcare Professions and at the Innovations in Preventive Care research group of University of Applied Sciences Utrecht.