LO1. Distinguish between different research methods, methodologies and study designs, and their value to public health.

Core text: This is only for guidance. The bullet points are provided as different pointers to consider whilst developing your essay. You can order bullet points/sections and add more in the way of your understanding and for clarity of your writing on your chosen topic.

Learning Outcomes: Please ensure that you meet all the learning outcomes in your summative assessment

1. LO1.  Distinguish between different research methods, methodologies and study designs, and their value to public health.
2. LO2.  Devise a suitable literature review question and search strategy, and identify relevant research studies.
3. LO3.  Critically appraise research studies and recognise their implications for public health policy and practice.

Core

Your notes

Introduction- approx 100 words

• Write what the assignment is about
• Summarise what your chosen public health topic is.

Background and rationale (sources and evidence must be cited)- approx. 500 words

• Summarise the importance of your chosen topic in the context of Public Health- for example obesity, cancer, smoking

• Briefly describe the rationale for choosing the topic- epidemiological data, risk and protective factors, relevant existing interventions and policies

Methodology (sources and evidence must be cited)- approx. 900 words

• What is literature review and its types.
• What is critical appraisal and its purposes.
• What tools are used in critical appraisal (generalisability, validity, reliability etc)
• Explain different types of study designs and its strengths and weaknesses
• Your chosen library data base(s)
• Discuss the framework used to formulate the research question (PICO).
• Describe the key words used in your search for all the studies
• Describe the use of Boolean operators and Truncation
• Discuss the inclusion/exclusion criteria in detail (did you limit the search to any number of years? What

about language, geography, gender, age, disease, type of intervention?)

• Number of articles as a result of your search, number of abstracts read, number of articles chosen to

include and appraise.

• What are the ethical principles in research and how they are used in research.

Critical Appraisal (sources and evidence must be cited)- approx. 900 words

• Describe the three articles briefly . Do this one article at a time (each article should be one clear section, about 300 words of description per article).
• Appraise the study design, population, analysis and results using specific CASP sheet for each study type.
• How did you identify and apply critical appraisal tools in your articles- generalisability, validity and

reliability?

• What are the strengths and limitations of the studies?
• Any ethical issues in the papers highlighted, and how research ethics principles were applied.

Implications for public health policy- (sources and evidence must be cited)- approx. 400 words TIPS: 1. https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/policy-briefs/

2. https://epoc.cochrane.org/sites/epoc.cochrane.org/files/public/uploads/SURE-Guides- v2.1/Collectedfiles/source/01_getting_started/policy_brief.html#box_1:_examples_of_who_policy_briefs

• Discuss the relevant policy and its pros and cons on your chosen research topic
• Explain how the three studies you appraised contribute to towards the policy in terms of providing evidence

in favour or against the policy

Conclusion and recommendation (sources and evidence must be cited)- approx 200 words

• Describe any key emerging recommendations from the three articles that you have found for future

research and policy development.

• Highlight the main points discussed in the main text.

References

No word limit. Use Harvard Referencing.

Appendix

• Search strategy flow diagram