HBS108 Assignment Task 1: Sourcing, Identifying and Evaluating Evidence

This assignment draws on Topics 1, 2, 4 and 4. It requires you to access and understand healthrelated data and information from reputable, widely used sources of health information. Topics 1, 2, 3 and 4 (and especially the online tutorial activities associated with each topic) will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to successfully complete this assignment.

Please note that links to the online reports and articles are deliberately not provided in this assignment because one of the skills of a health professional (taught in this unit) is being able to locate health data and information online.

Question 1: Based on the following citation of an academic journal article please answer Questions 1 (i)–(v).

Palupi, R & Devy, S 2018, ‘Role of Social Support in Breastfeeding for Adolescent Mothers’, KnE Life Sciences, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 223–231, doi:10.18502/KLS.V4I4.2281

Please identify:

• The title of the article.
• The author(s) of the article.
• The year of publication of the article.
• The title of the journal in which the article was published.
• The digital object identifier of the article.

Using the skills you developed in Topic 2, locate the journal article cited in Question 1 above; read the article carefully before answering Question 2.

Question 2: Demonstrating your understanding of the key concepts we have covered in this unit to date, explain four distinct key reasons which indicate that this study is qualitative in nature. Your answer should show an understanding of the HBS108 unit content and draw on specifics from the article. (Note: Simply mentioning that the study states that it is a qualitative study will not be awarded any marks).

Question 3

• Develop a quantitative research hypothesis relating to the topic of breastfeeding and health.
• Indicate if a quantitative research hypothesis (like the one you designed for Question 3 (i) above) would be considered an appropriate step in undertaking an inductive approach to research or a deductive approach to research. Explain your answer and cite the appropriate unit content to support your explanation.
• Develop a qualitative research question relating to the topic of breastfeeding and health.
• Indicate if a qualitative research question (like the one you designed for Question 3 (iii) above) would be considered an appropriate step in undertaking an inductive approach to research or a deductive approach to research. Explain your answer and cite the appropriate unit content to support your explanation.

Hints for answering Questions 3 (i) and 3 (iii):

• Stating a research hypothesis in the form of a question does not necessarily transform it into a qualitative research question. A qualitative research question is one that can be answered using qualitative study designs and methods rather than quantitative study designs and methods.
• The Topic 1 content PDF and seminar activities will assist with understanding the difference between quantitative research hypotheses and studies, and qualitative research questions and studies.

Question 4: Select either the research hypothesis or research question you developed for Question 3 (i) / (iii). You must clearly state which one you have selected to use otherwise marks will be lost in this section. Using the skills you developed in Topic 2, access the Deakin College e-resources (through the Deakin Library website) and conduct a search for a journal article that is relevant to your research question/hypothesis. The article must be:

• An academic journal article
• Peer reviewed
• Published within the past 10 years
• Qualitative in nature if it is addressing the research question OR quantitative in nature if it is addressing the research hypothesis
• Appropriate to the research hypothesis/research question

To receive any marks for this question you must paste the abstract of the article into your assignment as an appendix. Note that the abstract is NOT included in the word count for this assignment neither is its effect on your TurnItIn score.

• i. Name the database(s) you searched in order to find the article.
• ii. Specify the search terms you used to successfully locate the article.
  iii. Provide a full reference to this article (in Deakin-Harvard style) here as your answer to this question.
• iv. Paste the abstract of the article into your assignment as an appendix.

Using the skills you developed in Topic 2, locate the following journal article and read it carefully before answering Question 5.

Khadjesari, Z, Stevenson, F, Toner, P, Linke, S, Milward, J & Murray, E 2018, ‘‘I’m not a real boozer’: A qualitative study of primary care patients’ views on drinking and its consequences’, Journal of Public Health, pp. 1–7, doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdy067

Question 5: Please refer to the ‘Findings’ section of the study which outlines 6 qualitative themes across which responses of participants are categorised (i.e., coded). Imagine you are a health researcher and are responsible for coding some of the data collected. For each of the following statements please identify which of the 6 themes the statement most appropriately fits into:

• I think it’s a problem when you can’t remember what happened during a night out”
• The drinking habits of younger people with their taste for shots and alcopops is a disgrace”
• If my G.P. asked me I would probably tell them I drink less than I do to avoid being labelled as a problem drinker…because their screening limits are so unrealistic”
• It’s normal for me to take my work clients for a boozy lunch to discuss potential deals, this is something I do regularly”

Please read the following passage before answering Question 6

Imagine you are a health researcher. The community you work in ,‘Bigtown’, has a large proportion of aged people. Local data suggests that there is an increasing problem with falls in this elderly population. A local health promotion agency has some funds to invest in falls prevention in the region. You have been employed to locate the best evidence on effective approaches to falls prevention in the elderly. On searching some databases you find that there are LOTS of academic articles published on this topic. You select a quality primary study and a quality systematic review from the relevant papers you have found.

Question 6

• Based on the scenario provided above locate two relevant journal articles, one of these must be a primary study and one must be a systematic review. State where you located your chosen journal articles (i.e., name the database(s) you searched and the specific search terms you used to find the articles). Remember you may need to try synonyms for your various search terms in order to find an appropriate article. This will be a trial and error process and so may take a few attempts.
• Paste the abstracts of your two selected journal articles into your assignment as appendices. Write the full reference of each of your two selected journal articles (in Deakin-Harvard style) here as your answer to this question. (Note: You must paste the abstracts of your selected journal articles into your assignment as appendices in order to get marked on this section of the assignment). Your selected articles must be:
  • Academic journal articles (one primary study, one systematic review)
  • Peer-reviewed
  • Published within the past 10 years (the more recent the better)
• Based on the evidence provided in the two journal articles you selected above, you need to clearly outline your recommendations on the most effective evidence based interventions/strategies to prevent falls in the aged population. Specific details of the evidence based interventions should be described and justified based on the findings of the selected studies. Your answer must be well-informed and based only on the evidence presented in the two studies you located. It is essential that you paraphrase the evidence (i.e., write in your own words) when writing the recommendation. Your recommendation must demonstrate that you have a good understanding of the evidence and should outline the exact approach you are recommending for falls prevention in ‘Bigtown’.

Note: Personal opinions should not be shared for this question; instead a well-informed professional opinion/recommendation based on the evidence is required. It is extremely important that you reference all sources of information clearly when supporting your answer with evidence and that you paraphrase any information you use. Your professional opinion should be clearly justified. (Please note that we do a similar activity in the Topic 3 seminar if you wish to get some inspiration for this part of the assignment). This question requires a well explained answer and as such it should make up a large portion of your word count.

How to structure your assignment

This assignment should take the form of a structured report (i.e. a question/answer format) rather than an “essay” and should be approached with a formal scientific writing style (i.e. full sentence structure). Please note you are not expected to re-write the questions in your assignment as this would be an unwise use of your word count. Please use appropriate section and question numbers to label your answers clearly.

Assignment Title – Top of the first page (please do not submit a cover page)
Student name & ID – Either as a footer OR under the assignment title
COMPULSORY: Label all responses to questions with the appropriate question number
Font – 12 point, Times New Roman
Line Spacing – 2
Margins – Normal
Borders – None

Use of references

Include all references cited in your assignment (including those that you are instructed to locate and use) in a reference list at the end of the assignment, using the Deakin-Harvard (i.e. author-date) referencing style. If you refer to any additional data not included in these sources, you must reference these additional sources of data too. Remember that, as covered in Topic 2, references are not restricted to academic journals, and can include books and reports from reputable websites. Information about the Deakin-Harvard referencing style is available here: http://www.deakin.edu.au/students/study-support/referencing/harvard

Word limit: The word limit for the assignment is 800 words (excluding the reference list, but including in-text citations and headings). You are permitted a 10% margin over the word limit, but words over 880 will not be assessed. This is done to ensure equity among students—it is unfair if students who exceed the word limit get higher grades (due to including extra material over the word count) than students who comply with the limit. Also, concise writing is an important skill that you can demonstrate in this assignment!

Using the TurnItIn Originality check and Assignment Submission

Before submitting your assignment, you should check the originality of your work (excluding the abstracts as these will impact on your TurnItIn score) by using TurnItIn. In Week 4 there will be a PowerPoint presentation shown during your HBS108 lecture that will cover this process. You should ensure that your answers to the assignment questions are written in your own words. It is NOT acceptable in this assignment to answer questions using ‘blocks’ of text taken from the references provided (though the occasional word or technical term is acceptable). Your lecturer will also show you how to submit your assignment online via Moodle. Until then read through the assignment material, attempt the assignment questions if you feel confident, and be ready to ask your lecturer any questions in class in Week 4!

Reference List

Khadjesari, Z, Stevenson, F, Toner, P, Linke, S, Milward, J & Murray, E 2018, ‘‘I’m not a real boozer’: a qualitative study of primary care patients’ views on drinking and its consequences’, Journal of Public Health, pp. 1–7, doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdy067

Palupi, R & Devy, S 2018, ‘Role of Social Support in Breastfeeding for Adolescent Mothers’, KnE Life Sciences, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 223–231, doi:10.18502/KLS.V4I4.2281