Assignment question
Please carry out a literature review that is systematic and transparent on a topic that is relevant to the course you are studying (infection control or public health). The word count for this assignment is 2,500 words.
It is important in public health and infection control to be systematic and transparent in relation to how practitioners and researchers search for the literature that they use to inform their research or practice. Narrative reviews, whilst helpful, can be problematic in that it is not always clear what was left out of the literature review process. Literature reviews which take a systematic approach are preferred as the reader can explore how the authors of the literature review carried out their review. This helps the reader make a judgement on how thorough the review was and whether the inclusion and exclusion criteria, for example, were very narrow and thus literature could have been missed out. Literature reviews which are systematic also enable the reader to assess how far the methodological quality of the papers were taken into account when reviewing the literature. After all, not all papers that are published are necessarily the best evidence available and it can be problematic to base practice and interventions on weak evidence.
Assessment Guidance
You are required to structure your literature review as follows using the following sub-headings:
1. Introduction and definition of the objective of review
Define literature review and critically link to the nature of evidence in health and social care research.
Introduce the chosen topic.
Present a clear literature review question using PICO.
2. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies to be considered in the literature review
This section should include a description of the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the studies (including the PICO elements). The inclusion and exclusion criteria section should also include the research method, methodological quality, sample size, language of publication, and date of research.
Students should tailor their inclusion/exclusion criteria to ensure they are left with a manageable number of studies to include in their review.
Examples of potential exclusion criteria which could be used to limit the amount of studies included in the literature review: studies from a specific time period/ those in English/ conducted in a specific country/only include those studies at the top of the hierarchy of evidence and so on.
Ideally you should not have more than 10 studies in this literature review given the time that is available to you and the amount of words that you have available. Think of this assignment as practising the skills to carry out a literature review that is systematic and transparent.
3. Identifying relevant studies
Having set a clear aim and inclusion and exclusion criteria, the next step is to search the literature and identify relevant studies.
The process for identifying studies needs to be carefully outlined in detail so that someone could repeat the procedure. Please use a flowchart to document your search such as PRISMA and a table to outline your search strategy with search engines searched, key words, dates and so on.
4. Assessment of methodological quality
You should use a critical appraisal tool such as KMET or CASP to assess methodological quality.
You are required to evidence an overview of your critical analysis in this section within the main body of text and comment upon the quality of the papers included in your review. It may be worthwhile here having a table which you put into the appendix which outlines the main quality criteria for the papers in table form (appendix 1). You can then refer to this appendix in this section in the main text.
5. Extracting data and summarising results
This involves retrieving the relevant statistical or qualitative thematic information from studies and summarising it.
This must be carried out in a systematic way using a pro-forma/diagram to aid the process. The pro-forma could have the following columns:
Column one – full reference for the paper
Column two – RQ or aim of the paper
Column three – methods, sample/setting/recruitment and analysis undertaken for the paper
Column four – main results or findings or themes as well as any statistical results
Each paper would be reviewed in a separate row according to the columns of the table. Please provide a copy of the completed pro-forma/diagram in the appendix (Appendix 2).
Once you have completed the pro-forma you can then look at the main findings or results and develop them into themes. So, for example, you may find that different studies have the same findings around a particular area. So, you may be looking at obesity and public health and find that the studies have identified that low income communities in the US, Canada and the UK are more likely to have higher rates of obesity. You could then discuss this in this section and relate to the particular studies and their findings. So, the theme would be obesity and low income. Another theme could be lack of access to quality food and obesity and so on.
6. Conclusion
Please provide a conclusion summarising your findings. Ensure you link your conclusion back to your objectives of the review. Include implications for future practice and further research. Discuss the limitations of your study: for example, you could consider financial and time limitations. You could then discuss ways in which these limitations could be overcome if you were to carry out further research in the area.
Learning Outcomes
Be able to critically appraise research papers, undertake a literature review and critically explore what is meant by evidence in health and social care research
Turnitin Originality Check
Before submitting your assignment, it is important to check the originality of your work by submitting your assignment to Turnitin.
By submitting your assignment to this tool you will receive an originality report which can be used to check that you have not included other authors work without correct citation. It is important to note that submitting your work to the Turnitin Originality Check tool does not count as a submission of your final work. You must still submit your assignment below.
Checklist
Academic Integrity Statement: I have read and understood the Academic Integrity guidelines for Kaplan Open Learning and the University Of Essex, and declare that this assignment conforms to all of the rules and regulations contained therein. For full detail see your Student Handbook (Section 6.4).
Word Count: I have fulfilled the stated assignment word count. I am aware that if I exceed the word count limit/range, by more than 10%, that my assignment grade will be reduced by 10% grade points. For the full word count penalty details, see your Student Handbook (Section 6.5).
Departmental guidelines on preparation and submission of coursework
Assignments should be submitted in either MS Word or Open Office format unless stated otherwise on the assignment submission page
Use standard margins: 1″ (2.5cm) on all sides.
Use standard Arial 12-point font size.
Use double-line spacing
Pages should be numbered consecutively
Your work should be correctly referenced using the Harvard Referencing style.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
We take academic integrity very seriously. Academic integrity means acting with fairness and honesty, giving credit to others where you are referring to their ideas or research and respecting the work of others. Plagiarism is defined as: ‘Using or copying the work of others (whether written, printed or in any other form) without proper acknowledgement’. Before you finalise your assignment take time to check that all your statements are backed up with supporting evidence, that all sources you use – whether referring to their ideas, quoting directly or paraphrasing – are correctly referenced in the text. Correct use of referencing acknowledges the academic whose work has informed yours, enables the reader to find the sources you have used and demonstrates your ability to find and analyse relevant information.
Failure to properly acknowledge the work of others is an academic offence and may result in your work incurring a penalty or, in the most serious cases, you being removed from the course for academic dishonesty.
If you are unsure about referencing or plagiarism, there are useful resources available in the Study Skills Hub which is accessible from the menu on the left-hand side. If you are still experiencing difficulties with academic integrity then you can contact the Study Skills Team for individualised support: studyskills-kol@kaplan.com
Submission Instructions:
Please ensure that you do not include your name on your work, in line with the anonymous marking policy.
Submit your saved document below before the end of Unit 6.
After the deadline, the submission page will be locked.
If you need to apply for Late Submission, please complete the late submission of coursework form.
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|