Assignment 2—Discuss the contribution of evidence to your practice area or area of interest
Note: All assignments need to be in the format of an academic paper, this includes a title page, introduction, conclusion and correct referencing (Harvard) and page numbers. You should check for correct spelling, grammar and sentence structure.
Mode of submission Online through FLO
Graded
Weighting: 50%
Length: 2250 words approx
This assignment requires students to show their understanding of evidence and research and link this to any development in their practice area or area of interest.
You will need to refer to relevant journal articles some obtained from the search in Assignment 1
Steps for this assignment—students should (HINT: REFER to Lectures notes):
1 Identify an area of health care within your work place or area of interest.
2 State why it is important or of interest for you.
3 Choose articles (5 )—these can be a mixture of research, evidence, quantitative and/or qualitative information.
4 Indicate what type of article it is and what level of evidence (if applicable) according to a framework of level of evidence such as the NHMRC.
5 Discuss the research evidence ranking, relevance and quality of each article with respect to the evidence or research in relation to your area of practice or interest including limitations if any.
6 Conclusion: The paper ends with a cogent, defensible argument which summarizes the main arguments in the paper and NOTE: no new material is to be added in the Conclusion.
7 Correct referencing using a Harvard’s style of referencing.
Criteria for marking
Your essay will be marked taking into consideration:
• Presentation—follows a logical sequence; presents a structured framework. The paper is written with a clear sentence structure that is also accurate in terms of spelling and grammar.
• Content: Identifies and shows your understanding of what constitutes evidence and its relation to contemporary health care. Shows an understanding of the type of evidence/ research from the research articles.
• Discussion: Able to provide balanced arguments that are supported with references from your articles.
• Relevance: Correct identification of relevant articles and listing according to a framework of evidence.
• Conclusion: Summarises the main discussion within the body of the paper.
Referencing: Acknowledges all sources of information, and uses a Harvard Style of referencing.
ASSIGNMENT HELP
The Introduction
• State the topic of interest.
• Provide a justification for your topic and background. You may want to briefly refer to the material in assignment 1 for this.
Provide an outline or plan for the rest of the paper.
Main Body of text-Article choice and descriptor
• Provide a brief descriptor for each article ( 4 minimum and 10 maximum). This includes a very brief synopsis( less than 100 words ) of what the article is about( not a full summary or abstract) and the methodology ( qualitative/quantitative, evidence-based guidelines).
• Remember use a mixture of articles with a maximum of 1 primary research article. The rest – should be either systematic reviews, meta-synthesis or any other evidence based article either quantitative
or qualitative.
Designs for your studies
Just a reminder on designs and how they relate to your chosen articles.
Questions about effectiveness of an intervention.
Systematic Review of randomized controlled trial/ Randomized controlled trial.
Questions about the accuracy of a diagnostic test Studies that compare a new test against a reference standard test.
• Questions about prognosis ; Cohort study or for a long follow-up or rare outcome : Case-control.
• Questions about aetiology or causation: Case control or Cohort study.
• Questions about perceptions,attitudes,beliefs : Qualitative Research.
( Craig and Smyth, 2012, p:35; or 2007, p: 31)
Level of Evidence
• Indicate what level of evidence each article conforms to and why according to a framework of evidence of your choice for e.g Johanna Briggs, NHMRC.
• Remember if the methodology from your chosen articles is mainly qualitative then the above framework may not be applicable to you .However, you should still be able to discuss how the evidence is still valid and contributes to a better understanding of the phenomenon under study. If you decide to use a framework especially tailored for qualitative studies , then that is acceptable if your chosen study/article is a qualitative one.
• Remember that the highest level of evidence in the hierarchy of evidence depends also on the nature of the clinical question. For e.g ,if your question relates to prognosis , a Systematic review of Cohort studies is therefore more appropriate than a Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled trials.
Applicability and contribution
Based on the level of evidence for each article discuss the applicability of your study to your area of practice or interest. ?(Include a brief account of how you would change your practice if that is applicable-Acknowledge any limitations to the feasibility of this. )
You may also wish to consider the statistical( p- value/confidence intervals)/clinical significance of the results of your study if that is relevant .
Discussion of applicability and contribution
You may wish to consider these elements of critical appraisal for each chosen article( Craig and Smyth, 2012, P:151: or 2007 ,P:97)
Is the quality of the study good enough to use the results and change your practice taking into account your clinical experience ?.
Are the findings applicable or relevant to your setting?.
What do the results mean to your patients or intended client group?.
Conclusion
• Summarize the key points of the paper( not the individual articles),acknowledge any frameworks used for e.g the hierarchy of evidence.
• Avoid making any new points.
• Acknowledge any difficulties you have had.
Remember this is only a suggested guide for this assignment , so feel free to follow your own as long as it is within the confines of the guidelines.
Good Luck !!!.
Referencing
When discussing any important points or justifying your topic of interest, try and use in-text referencing to support your argument . (Although for this assignment you will also be required to bring your ideas for a proposed change to your area of practice or interest and as this is your opinion –you do not need to justify this with references).
• Your style of referencing should be in line with the Harvard Referencing convention.
