RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN PHYSIOTHERAPY EDUCATION

Abstract

The capacity to engage critically with research evidence is no longer an optional attribute for physiotherapy clinicians — it is a core professional competency. Research methodology training equips physiotherapy students with the conceptual tools and practical skills required to generate, appraise, synthesise, and apply research evidence in clinical practice. This chapter provides a comprehensive account of the research methodology curriculum in physiotherapy education, examining the philosophical foundations of research, quantitative and qualitative inquiry, mixed methods designs, levels of evidence, critical appraisal, systematic review methodology, ethical principles in research, statistical literacy, and the dissemination of findings. Grounded in contemporary evidence and health professions education literature, the chapter argues for an integrated, progressive, and clinically contextualised approach to research methodology training that prepares physiotherapy graduates not only as consumers of evidence but as future contributors to the profession's knowledge base.