Assignment 3: Complete your project as outlined in your plan (Assignment 1).

Word Count (3000 +/- 10% words)

Task: Use the research and/or policy literature to answer a research question
identified and processes expressed in Assignment 1. This work should aim to fill a
knowledge gap, or inform a response to a public health problem or issue.

Notes to assist: The methodology and justification for your literature/documentation
review is to be provided in Assignment 1. If there are changes to the methodology,
outline these prior to the start of the Assignment 3 in no more than one paragraph, with
justification.

Important requirements:

1. The report is to fill a gap, or consolidate existing information to serve a particular
purpose in Australia or internationally as outlined in Assignment 1.

2. The project is predominantly including a review of the literature (peer reviewed
journal articles, online reports/documents).

3. The material sourced should be current and relevant to your question(s).

4. The writing is to be predominantly analytical (not just descriptive), bringing the
material sourced from elsewhere into one cohesive piece.

5. The work should be clear on the strength of the evidence with sources used e.g., ‘A
randomised controlled trial of women over 50 residing in Ireland was reported to
find…’; ‘Seventeen cross-sectional studies were identified and reviewed by Smith
and colleagues (2018). They found ... ‘

6. The work should demonstrate that your research is not selecting only findings that
support a particular argument. You need to show all findings, and determine your
recommendations from the weight (including quality) of the evidence.

7. The work is to be original. If your chosen topic is related to a previous assessment
piece in another subject, please discuss this with the subject coordinator. It is
recommended that you choose a different topic or, at least, a select a different
perspective to the topic.

8. Your work is to include a conclusion and recommendations.

9. The writing and report style are to be appropriate for the selected intended
audience.
10. The report is to be referenced consistently and appropriately and sources used are
well integrated into your writing.

11. Approximately 20-30 references are expected, though this ultimately depends on
how the sources are used, for example: 10 references supporting one statement is
different to 10 references supporting 10 different statements.

N.B . Your work should take into consideration the feedback obtained on your proposal
that you presented for Assessment 1. You do not need to include Assignment 1 in the
Appendix. We will keep it for reference when marking – just refer to it in the
introduction (for example: As detailed in Assignment 1, this paper …). If any changes are
made to the original proposal based on feedback, please outline the changes in your
introduction to Assignment 3. 

It is expected that you will explore examples of different methods of reporting that are
relevant to your expected audience.

Some suggested resources include:

An example of scientific writing in a newspaper targeting the public (though this example
is much too brief for the purpose of your assignment):

Boyce, J. Antibiotics prognosis is good, provided we act now. January 4, 2014. The
Age: Comment. http://www.theage.com.au/comment/antibiotics-prognosis-is-good-provided-we-act-now-20140103-
309ib.html 

For the purposes of this assignment, if you were to write a similar article, it is
expected that you would reference the data more fully. In the fourth paragraph there
are opportunities where at least four sentences could be referenced. Can you see
where? You could refer to the studies and authors in the paper itself e.g. “According
to ...this has led to the rise of various bacteria resistant to all, or nearly all, of the
current antibiotics.” You could also provide some of the evidence/results from the
paper to illustrate this.

Another useful source for writing media pieces: Picard, A. (2005). "How can we improve
medical reporting? Let me count the ways..." International Journal of Health Services
35(3): 603-605. Find this in the library by going to the library page, clicking on
ejournals and databases under the search bar and following prompts.

Croakey Blogs (example – though brief)

Jim Gillespie
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2014/01/09/mind-the-gap-6-gp-visit-proposal-ignores-the-evidence/
Note the blue links in this example from Crikey. In your case, these should instead
have the actual reference inserted.

Note that in the context of your assignment, references should include the in-text
citations.

Examples of reviews for government, policy makers, fellow public health scientists or
practitioners can be found on the web or in journal articles. It helps to look at some
examples to get a feel for the language used prior to starting your final piece.