IHP 525 Final Project Part I Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
The final project for this course is divided into two parts.
Part I is the creation of an article review.
Regardless of their field of interest, health professionals
across disciplines need to be able to analyze and use biostatistical data to
address health concerns among the populations they serve. They need to be able
to identify trends, draw conclusions, and make recommendations for improving
health outcomes based on solid evidence. It is also important that they are
able to communicate that information effectively to those directly or
indirectly impacted. They also need to understand what others are doing in
their field, the strengths and limitations of that work, and how it affects
their own organization, even if they do not intend to become statisticians.
The two summative assessments for this course lay the
foundation for these critical skills—first, by asking you to evaluate the
strengths and limitations of existing biostatistical articles and to identify
the selection process of appropriate methodologies in different contexts (Part
I). You will present your analysis through a written executive summary geared
toward an audience of fellow health professionals. Then, in Part II, you will
calculate descriptive and inferential statistics of a small data set. You will
explain the basic parameters of the data, graph it, and run simple hypothesis
tests. You will present your analysis in a statistical report geared toward a
non-technical audience, draw conclusions, and make recommendations for further
research.
In Part I, you will review and analyze published research
that you might encounter as a health professional. You will select two journal
articles from the provided list on a topic of interest. You will create an
article review that identifies the articles and their relevance to your field;
summarizes the articles, including their findings; compares and contrasts the
statistical methods used in the articles; explains why the methods used were
appropriate; discusses their limitations; and concludes with recommendations
for future work.
Part I is divided into three journals, which will be submitted
at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality
final submissions.
These article journals will be submitted in Modules Two,
Five, and Six. The completed article review will be submitted in Module Eight.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the
following course outcomes:
? Analyze
the role of biostatistics for its impact on professional decision making in the
public health, nursing, or health science fields
? Interpret
key biostatistical metrics, methods, and data for addressing population-based
health problems
? Evaluate
the quality and limitations of published public health, nursing, and health
science research by comparing and contrasting biostatistical methods and
analysis used to support a variety of health initiatives
? Communicate
biostatistical results, procedures, and analysis to other health professionals
and the general public for informing their decisions related to
population-based health problems
Prompt
Imagine you are a biostatistician working at a local health
organization. Part of your job is to analyze trends and draw conclusions about
health issues that affect your organization. Your supervisor has asked you to
do a quick literature search for published research on an upcoming topic as
preparation for a new project. The goal is to understand the current
biostatistical methods and guidelines being used on similar studies so that you
could eventually use that to inform the design of the new study.
Your job is to find a minimum of two research articles on
your topic from the Final Project Part I Articles List document, examine the
broad health question(s) addressed in each, and critically assess the
statistical methods used to analyze the data and arrive at the articles’
conclusions. You will present the results of this analysis to your supervisor
and peers in an article review.
Specifically, your article review must address the following
critical elements:
I. Background:
Use this section to provide a brief context for the health problem, issue, or
trend you are researching. Specifically, you should answer:
A. What
topic or health question did you research and why is it relevant to public
health, nursing, or the health science professions? Give real-world examples to
support your answer.
B. How can
biostatistics help inform decision making around your topic? Support your
answer with specific examples.
II. Article
Selection: In this section, discuss how and why you selected your main article
and the related article. Be sure to:
A. Explain
why you selected these specific articles to examine over others in your field
that use biostatistical methods and data. Justify your answer.
B. Assess
each article’s importance to health decision making in your field. Give
real-world examples to illustrate your answer.
III. Findings:
This section should highlight the major findings of each of the articles you
selected for your supervisor and peers. Specifically:
A. What are
the findings of each article and what implications do they have individually
and collectively for solving the health problem in question? Support your
answer with specific examples from your field.
B. Explain
how key biostatistical calculations and methods support the conclusions in each
article. Cite relevant information from the articles that support your answer.
IV. Methods:
Use this section to compare and contrast the methods used in the articles you
selected with an eye to assessing the quality and limitations of the findings
and informing future research. Specifically, you should:
A. Explain
why the authors of each article selected the methods they did. How appropriate
were the methods to the overall purpose of the paper? Justify your response.
B. Analyze a
difference and similarity in the methods chosen with respect to the health
question being addressed in the selected articles. Explain your answer using
evidence from the articles selected and information you have learned in the
course.
C. Assess a
strength and limitation of the different approaches used in the articles you
selected. Explain your answer using evidence from the articles you selected and
information you have learned in the course.
V. Conclusions:
What does your evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the articles you
selected suggest for future research in this field? Be sure to provide specific
suggestions for potential next steps, based on evidence from your analysis, and
explain how these suggestions would help improve decision making.
Journals
The journal activities in this course act as milestones that
will help you prepare for your Final Project Part I submission.
Module Two Journal: Article Selection
In Module Two, you will submit a paragraph to select and
explain your articles and health question. This assignment will be graded using
the Journal Rubric.
Module Five Journal: Article Findings
In Module Five, you will explain the findings in the two
articles relating to the health question you identified. This will be submitted
as a table and at least two paragraphs. This assignment will be graded using
the Journal Rubric.
Module Six Journal: Article Methods
In Module Six, you will complete a table in which you
compare the methods used in the two articles. You will also submit explain this
comparison. This assignment will be graded using the Journal Rubric.
Final Project Part I Submission: Article Review
In Module Eight, you will submit your Final Project Part I:
Article Review. To create this document, revise the journals throughout the
course incorporating the feedback from your peers and instructor into one final
document that includes all the sections of this article review project. The
final submission will be graded using the Final Project Part I Rubric.
