PUB36 ASSESSMENT TASK 3

Task overview
Assessment name: Critical Appraisal of two (2) Epidemiological Studies

Task description: This assessment task provides you with the opportunity to consolidate your skills
by interpreting and evaluating two published research articles.
You are randomly allocated two research articles to critically appraise, you then
answer a pre-set series of questions related to epidemiological study design,
measures of association, and the strengths and weaknesses of the studies.

Learning outcomes Outcomes 2, 3 and 5:

measured:
 Critically examine the health literature and calculate and interpret the
measures of association and health impact;
 Evaluate the major types of epidemiological studies and analyse the major
strengths and limitations of each study design;
 Critically appraise health evidence published in epidemiological studies, as it
relates to real life from diverse perspectives, including Indigenous perspectives
Due Date: Friday 7 June before 11.59 pm The QUT late submission period, that is you can
submit 48-hour after the due date with no penalty, applies to this assessment.
You are welcome to submit the assessment earlier. After loading your response email me k.dingle@qut.edu.au,
with the following Subject Line: PUB326 A3 ready for marking.

Estimated time to
Approximately 10 to 15 hour
complete task:
Weighting: 50%
Individual/Group: Individual
Authentic Assessment: Yes No
How will I Assessment 3 will be marked out of 100, 70 marks (Q1,2,3) related to experimental
be assessed: study design paper and 30 marks (Q4,5) for the observational study design paper.
The marks are then weighted to represent 50% of your total marks for PUB326.
Your overall grade for the unit will be reported on a QUT 7-Point grading scale,
calculated from the overall marks for all assessments.
Task details
What you need to • Read the two articles you have been allocated
do:
• Read the take-home exam questions and identify relevant content covered in
PUB326 readings, tutorials and lectures.
• Use the critical appraisal checklists to help you summarise the articles and
identify key information (you do not need to submit the checklists).
• Answer the questions about the articles on the Assessment sheet.
• The length of the answer required is reflected by the marks distributed to the
question. Each question has marks allocated (ranging from 1 to 8). Questions
with higher marks allocated will either require calculations, or more
information or analysis to be provided (4-8 marks).
• Be as succinct as possible in your answers and use the number of marks for a
question as a guide to how much to write. Referencing is not required. If you
do quote or paraphrase from another source then follow the QUT Cite|Write
guidelines.
• No answers need to be longer than either a few short sentences or a short
paragraph – use the marks as a guide. No question should need more than half
a page of text to answer (approx. 500 words). Dot points or short sentences
are acceptable.
• Where you are required to perform a calculation, you will be marked on the
process and not simply obtaining the correct numerical answer. Please show
all working and check your calculations. The final answer should be reported
and correct to 1 decimal place. Leave rounding until the very end to avoid
compounding rounding errors.
Presentation • Download the Assessment 3 take home questions, your assignment should
requirements: be typed, with adequate space left between questions, use the provided
Word template for your answers.
• There are no specific formatting requirement.
What you need to One MS Word or Adobe PDF document that contains the following:
submit:
1. Answered questions for Article 1 and 2
2. Title your file with Student Number_PUB326_A3. Include your student
number each page of your assignment (in the footer).
3. Back-up and safely store a copy of your completed assignment.