Course From Numbers to Knowledge: Measurement Theory in the Biomedical Sciences

The course B341/01 From Numbers to Knowledge: Measurement Theory in the Biomedical Sciences is being offered by the Graduate School of Health, Aarhus University, 2026.

Criteria for participation:
University degree in medicine, dentistry, nursing, or Master’s degree in other fields and/or postgraduate research fellows (PhD students and research-year medical students). Participants must have an active research project (experimental, clinical, cohort-based, or translational).

Requirements for participation:
Completion of mandatory PhD courses in research ethics. Access to an active research project that can serve as the basis for course reflections and assignments. Regular participation in peer-feedback activities (triads) and submission of required reflections.

Aim:
The interpretation of research findings is often non-trivial. This course enables doctoral students to apply core principles of measurement theory (MT) to their own biomedical research, helping them evaluate data with confidence, avoid interpretation errors, and justify methodological decisions. Students will learn how foundational MT principles support rigorous analysis and informed decision-making, applying these concepts directly to a cohort, model, experiment, or measurement used in their own work.

Learning outcomes:

After completing the course, students will be able to:

• Explain core concepts and principles of measurement theory and their implications for biomedical research.
• Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales and evaluate their suitability in a given study.
• Identify and critically analyse the measurement framework underpinning their own and others’ research.
• Compare human reflection and AI-assisted analysis in measurement-related decision-making.
• Communicate complex measurement-theoretical concepts clearly in oral and written formats.

Workload:
The full workload of the course is expected to be 75 hours, mostly done in Brightspace by self-paced online modules, peer feedback activities, hybrid sessions, and preparation of the final synthesis assignment. The course includes two in-person afternoons of lectures, discussions and reflections.

Content:
The course consists of six asynchronous online modules introducing core topics in measurement theory: measurement scales, validity, reliability, measurement error, model assumptions, and implications for biomedical inquiry.

Students work with guided reflection tasks, apply concepts to their own research, and engage in structured peer feedback in small triads. Optional AI-supported tasks enable students to explore generative AI as a research and reflective tool. Two sessions (kick-off, wrap-up) support community building, clarify expectations, and foster synthesis of learning. The course concludes with a group-based measurement-theory analysis of a chosen study or model.

Instructors:
Eyer Klaus, Department of Biomedicine, Faculty of Health, Aarhus University.

Venue:
Aarhus University (blended delivery: Brightspace + selected on-campus/online sessions).

Participation in the course is without cost for:

• PhD students, Health Research Year students from Aarhus University
• PhD students enrolled at partner universities of the Nordoc collaboration
• PhD students from other institutions in the open market agreement for PhD courses

Course dates:

• 31 August 2026 13:30 - 16:30
• 05 October 2026 13:30 - 16:30