LO1. Distinguish between different research methods, methodologies and study designs, and their value to public health.
Guidance for selecting papers for Research Methods Assessment
Number of papers : 3Types of papers:
o One RCT, One cohort, One Qualitative for critical appraisal
o The RCT should focus on effectiveness of an intervention on the chosen public health issue and specific population group. o Cohort- it should be based on public health issue and the specific population group.
o Qualitative study- it should be based on public health issue and the specific population group. (You get brownie point if it discusses similar intervention as RCT).
o No systematic reviews, study protocols, editorials, opinions, reviews, perspectives, policy documents etc. However, these can be used for referencing in the background or discussion sections.
o You will get one chance to get your papers approved. o Your papers should be within 2011-2021
Searching for papers: It is your responsibility to search for your papers and get approval.Saving papers: Please save your papers with the title of the papers as pdf files in safe place. It is better to save them in more than one place so that your can retrieve them without losing.Uploading papers: You must upload your papers on one drive for review by 30th March 2022Final papers: You must upload your final papers on one drive by 30th May 2022.
Part 2.
Summative Assessment: (Essay )
Assignment brief: Write a 3,000 word essay that describes your literature search strategy, research question and critically review/appraise three (3) peer-reviewed and published scientific journal articles on your chosen public health research topic that use at least three different epidemiological study designs -one experimental/randomised trial, one cohort and one qualitative paper.
Weighting: 100%Submission Date and Time : 11.05.2022, 23:45 on Turnitin
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
LO1. Distinguish between different research methods, methodologies and study designs, and their value to public health.
LO2. Devise a suitable literature review question and search strategy, and identify relevant research studies.
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
Tips for writing Format and style
You should write in active voice.
Avoid informal words, colloquial language in writing.
Avoid contractions (Can’t/don’t is wrong, use can not, do not).
Explain your abbreviations first before using them. For example- World Health Organisation (WHO)
Use British English.
Do not write in first person. (I think, I read, I believe etc.)
Please be careful with your spellings and punctuation marks. Poor grammar is poor writing and results in poor understanding and misleading.
The writing should be formal and should create a flow through linking sentences clearly.
Use clear and concise academic language in writing.
No anecdotal stories.
Try not to be too descriptive. You need to do a ‘critical analysis’.
Make sure the format of your essay is Arial font, 12, The margins for each page are 2.54 cm (the default in MS Word) and the line spacing is double, and justified (right and left side of paragraphs is straight, like in a book or published report).
Referencing
You MUST use Harvard Referencing system in your assignment
This should be for both in the body of the essay (citation) and references. Please signpost your references clearly and accurately in
the body of the essay.
Use only academic peer-reviewed published articles, academic books, government websites or reliable international data sets
from UN or other international agencies.
Avoid grey literature, non-academic articles. For example- google, blogs, newspapers, online opinions, non-validated data etc.
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