Order Description
Introduction
One important part of using research is the ability to understand research; with the ability to understand research comes to the ability to appraise research. Appraising research incorporates understanding how research is conducted and then involves critiquing and evaluating the implications of a research publication.
For Assessment Task 2, you should pretend that you work within a government department and have been asked to provide a recommendation as to whether a particular health intervention should be funded. To do this, you will critically articles on the one topic, from a selection
Adoption of a breast screening program as described in the articles
You will then be required to conduct a small literature search on the topic to see if the broader (and more recent) literature supports the same recommendations as those reported in the provided articles. Based on your critical appraisal of these articles, you will then provide a final recommendation as to whether the intervention should be funded.
Content of your assessment
Read these articles carefully and make sure you understand the content, argument, vocabulary etc. Use the resources from the unit content and readings to help you explore relevant research principles, terms and issues. Use the resources available through the library website to advance your understanding and to access additional references to support your work.
Conduct a small literature review on your topic and locate other articles. In your assessment, you should make note of what databases and search terms you used to find these articles.
Identify what kinds of similar and/or associated studies were conducted, and use an appropriate critical appraisal tool to consider effectiveness and rigour to help comparing quality of evidence between studies ? part of this process is identifying whether they validate or refute the recommendations of the provided articles. Critical appraisal should be applied to a minimum of two articles in addition to those provided.
Where possible, for simplicity, use a relevant CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Program) tool.
An easy link to locate them is here: https://www.casp-uk.net
Retain a bibliography of reviewed articles that can be attached as an appendix to your assignment. Although you might not draw on all collected articles for your reference list (the list of articles cited in-text), this demonstrates wider reading.
Based on your critical appraisal of these articles, write a summary recommendation as to whether the intervention should be funded.
Marking
Has included an effective introduction in the assignment. Provides an overview of the selected topic area, including an overview of the provided articles and introduces key points.
/10
Clearly identifies search strategy, including databases and search terms. (5 marks)
Demonstrates relevant use of the critical appraisal tool relevant to the article and research method. (5marks)
Provides an appendix demonstrating a broader literature search and key findings relevant to each article ? even though all articles might not have been referred to or used in the actual assignment. (5 marks)
Demonstrates critical thinking (not just description) when appraising and comparing studies and relevant findings. (5 marks)
Clear explanations provided throughout, including specific and relevant examples, plus logical supporting evidence.
Provides a conclusion summarising key discussion points and recommendation based on the critical appraisal.
/5
/5
/5
/5
/10
Written clarity and presentation of the assignment
Logical linking of paragraphs, use of appropriate sentence structure, punctuation, grammar and spelling. Includes margins and 1.5 spacing. Includes a title page with student name, student number and word count.
/5
References
Harvard or APA style is applied correctly to the assignment, including in-text citations and reference list. References are not included in the word count.
/5
TOTAL OUT OF 50
/50
