Epidemiology

ASSIGNMENT TASK
Conduct a methodical and organised partial literature review, using a set of five (5) peer-reviewed journal articles available on Blackboard.

ASSIGNMENT WEIGHTING AND DUE DATE
Weighting: 30% of mark for unit
Length: 1500 words (+10%)
Format: Word or similar digital document Style: Academic essay, with headings Submit: Via Blackboard using Turnitin

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On completion of this assignment students should be able to:

• Critically assess and appraise epidemiological evidence in order to quantify population health risks
• Communicate findings of research to appropriate audiences

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENT CONTENTS
Main Components of Assignment:

ECU Cover Page Assignment introduction Literature map
Literature review (3 sections) Assignment conclusion References

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAIN ASSESSMENT TASKS TO COMPLETE

Note: More detailed instructions on each of these steps will be given during tutorials on campus and recorded for off campus students. You will have an opportunity to practice these skills in tutorial to ensure that you understand the tasks required.

a. Source journal articles

There will be several sets of journal articles listed under the Assessment 2 folder on Blackboard. Choose one of these sets and use ECU World Search to search, link to the articles and download a pdf copy of each of the 5 articles in that set. (Refer to the WorldSearch tip sheet for further information).

b. Read, evaluate, and organise by themes

Develop a system of notes where you are able to group concepts, themes, and study designs and refer back to the original article. Several methods will be discussed in tutorials. Whilst this step is not required to be submitted, it is an essential step to allow you to prepare your literature map and to critically discuss the articles in your literature review.

c. Prepare the literature map
Using Word or PowerPoint, create a literature map detailing the connections between articles and the themes within the studies. You may choose to follow the format of one of the examples given in tutorial or develop your own clear style.

Note: This must be submitted as part of your assignment. Only one file is to be submitted so you will need to ensure that the final map is inserted into your Word document for upload to Turnitin.

d. Literature review
Following the detailed instructions supplied under the Assessment 2 tab and within the tutorials for each module, write a critical review of the article set chosen. This review will have at least 3 sections; with the first two sections being discussions by themes you will have identified across the five articles. The third section will be a critical discussion of the study designs utilized by the authors in these articles.

e. Introduction and conclusion

Your final writing task will be to draft your assignment introduction and conclusion. Your assignment introduction will state the purpose of the document and describe the

sections to follow. Your assignment conclusion will briefly summarise the main points of your assignment.

Note: As you are only required to prepare a partial literature review, you are not required to include a separate introduction and conclusion within that section.

Please use the marking criteria and rubric as a guide for your preparation. These are available under Assessment 2 on Blackboard.