Final Project Part I

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 (http://snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/course_repository/graduate/ihp/ihp525/ihp525_final_project_part_i_articles_list.pdf), 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 bio-statistical 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 bio-statistical 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 II -

Overview

Now that you have submitted Part I of the final project (the article review), you will submit Part II, which is the creation of a statistical report. Part I (article review) was an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to interpret statistics included in an article. This second part of the final project is a chance to show that you know how to do basic calculations.

Regardless of their field of interest, health professionals across disciplines need to be able to run basic bio-statistical calculations to describe a set of data. 

Part II reinforces these critical skills by asking you to conduct your own analysis of a small data set, explain the basic parameters of the data, graph it, and run simple tests. You will present this data analysis in a brief statistical report, using language appropriate to a non-technical audience.

Part II of the final project consists of four milestones, submitted in Modules Two, Three, Five, and Seven. The final submission occurs in Module Nine.

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes: 

• Perform basic, context-appropriate statistical calculations and hypothesis testing in accurately analyzing bio-statistical data
• Interpret key bio-statistical metrics, methods, and data for addressing population-based health problems
• Communicate bio-statistical results, procedures, and analysis to other health professionals and the general public for informing their decisions related to population-based health problems

Prompt

Biostatisticians are constantly called upon to analyze data in order to help researchers and health officials answer critical questions about populations' health. For this assessment, you will imagine you are a bio-statistical consultant on a small study for a local health organization. You have been given the data set provided, along with some background information on how and when the data was collected and the general research question the organization is interested in answering. This is often the way you will receive data in the real world. 

Your task is to help the organization answer their question by critically analyzing the data. You will run statistical tests, interpret the results, and present the results and recommendations to non-technical decision makers in the form of a statistical report. Keep in mind that it is your job to do this from a statistical standpoint. Be sure to justify your conclusions and recommendations with appropriate statistical support.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Introduction

A. State the overall health question you have been asked to address in your own words. Be sure you capture the key elements of the question, using language that a non-technical audience can understand. 

B. Assess the collected data. Use this section to layout the source, parameters, and any limitations of your data. Specifically, you should:

1. Describe the key features of your data set. Be sure to assess how these features affect your analysis. 

2. Analyze the limitations of the data set you were provided and how those limitations might affect your findings. Justify your response. 

C. Process: Propose how you will go about answering the health question you were asked to address based on the data set provided. 

II. Data Analysis

A. Graphs: In this section, you will use graphical displays to examine the data and formulate an initial hypothesis. In particular, you should:

1. Create key graphical displays that give a sense of potential relationships between variables. Include the graphs and discuss why you selected these graphical displays as opposed to others. 

B. Conduct appropriate hypothesis tests, simple regressions, and other tests to analyze the data set. 

C. Explain why these tests are the best choice in this context and how they compare with established best practices. 

D. Analysis of Biostatistics: Use this section to describe your findings from a statistical standpoint. Be sure to:

1. Present key biostatistics from the graphs, tests, and regressions performed, and explain what they mean. Be sure to include a spreadsheet showing your work as an appendix. 

2. What statistical inferences or conclusions can you draw based on the hypothesis tests and simple regression analyses performed? Justify your response. 

III. Conclusions and Recommendations 

A. How do the findings help answer your overall health question? Remember to use brief, non-technical language to ensure audience understanding. 

B. Recommend areas for further research based on your findings. Remember to use brief, non-technical language to ensure audience understanding. 

Milestones

Milestone One: Select Health Question

In Module Two, you will identify the health question you will be researching for instructor feedback and approval. Milestone One should be several sentences in length.

Milestone Two: Describe the Data 

In Module Three, you will describe the key features of the data set, including limitations that might exist. Milestone Two should be one or two paragraphs in length.

Milestone Three: Process and Calculations

In Module Five, you will create a table in which you propose the calculations and graphs you will need to perform to answer the health question you are investigating. Then you will complete the table. For Milestone Three, you will submit this completed table.

Milestone Four: Data Analysis 

In Module Seven, you will submit the data analysis section of Final Project Part II. This section includes the graphs and more complicated inference tests you conducted on the data set to answer the health question.

Attachment:- Assignment File.rar