prevention, treatment and management of type II diabetes
Introduction
This guide will aid you through the process of writing your research project. It takes you through the
chapters and makes suggestions about what you might include in each. It is for guidance only and
ultimately with advice from your supervisor you will decide how your project will be presented. The
guide firstly gives you information about the process you will follow prior to starting the Project.
The Process
Choice of topic
Your research project should:
· Focus on a contemporary Public Health topic that you are interested in and which will inform a
practice area.
· Your research needs to address the central purpose of Public Health, which is attending to the
health inequalities of individuals and communities to improve the health and well-being of the
population.
It is essential that the topic you select will enable you to address all the learning outcomes for the
module as shown in the module descriptor that can be found in the module handbook.
Planning your proposal
it is important to take the time to choose a topic that you are interested in and to develop the aims and
objectives for the project. This will ensure that you are sufficiently focused and provide the framework
for the remainder of the project. You also need to consider which strands of contemporary Public
Health literature will be included in the literature review.
You have already completed your research proposal detailing your chosen topic please send this to your
supervisor for further discussion. The proposal is the beginning of your research project and will be
refined as your research project develops.
Confidentiality
In your project, in order to maintain confidentiality, you must not disclose the identity of patients,
clients, staff or any other individual or organisation. If you wish to refer to a particular person or
organisation you need to give them a pseudonym. The University takes confidentiality seriously and a
break in this may result in your work being referred.
Working with your supervisor
You need to remember that this is your project and you must take responsibility for progressing the
project through the various stages up until completion and the submission of the work. Your supervisor
is there to offer support and advice, but their main role is to help you to clarify your thoughts and ideas
so that you can come up with your own solutions to difficulties encountered.
Drafts of Chapters
Supervisors are likely to suggest that they see drafts of chapters as they are completed so that they are
able to offer comments and suggestions. It is important to understand that drafts of chapters frequently
change or need to be revised as the project progresses. This may mean that material is moved around,
taken out or more has to be included. It is important to understand that you are working towards
producing your first full draft of the project, this includes all the chapters, and that the full draft
normally requires major revision and work.
As the final project is a large piece of work, supervisors will need to see a full draft prior to submission.
You can negotiate this with your supervisor at an early stage. You must make sure that you plan this
into your schedule to allow time to address and amend the work in light of comments made prior to
the submission date. It is important to give your supervisor sufficient time (2 weeks) to read your work
otherwise they may be unable to comment.
The Structure and Format of the Project
Your project must contain the following sections in the order shown:
Front Cover
Abstract
Title page
Acknowledgments
Table of contents
List of tables (if any included)
List of figures (if any included)
List of Appendices (if any included)
Body of the project – page numbers start here at Chapter 1
Reference list
Appendices numbered A, B, C if any are included
Front Cover
The layout is shown in Appendix D
This should be a single word document not included in the final PDF of the completed project.
The Abstract
This should include the title of the project and your name. Following this a number of key words that
capture the main subjects of the work need to be included. The abstract is no longer than one page and
can be shorter than this. Normally, the abstract includes a brief overview of the project and
methodology used; an indication of the findings; and recommendations or developments.
Title page
The layout of the Title Page is shown in Appendix F.
This is the page that appears inside the front cover and therefore should be included in your electronic
submission.
Table of contents
This contains the headings and subheadings used in the project with the page numbers on which these
begin. Do not show the abstract or title page in this list. Page numbering begins after the contents
page.
6
Lists of tables and figures
Tables and figures should be listed on separate pages and show the appropriate page number where
the table or figure appears. Tables and figures should be labelled in the work and the label should
appear on the contents list.
The structure of the project
The project is normally structured around 5 chapters. Each chapter should have a title that reflects the
content of the chapter and begin on a new page (all pages should be numbered). The following is a
suggested structure and includes many of the main issues that need to be addressed in each chapter.
In addition, supervisors will be able to offer advice and suggestions about any other features or items
that need to be considered. Please note that as this is a management project you may find that your
project contains different chapters to those noted here.
Research Project Design
Chapter 1: Introduction (approximately 1000 words)
This chapter introduces the project; it gives the reader an understanding of why the project is being
undertaken and ends with a clear indication of what needs to be done to achieve the desired outcome.
The chapter should include:
· A short introduction to the chapter that indicates what you are going to do in this chapter
· The context and background in which the project is taking place this should include a synopsis
of you, your role (or previous role) and your organisation (if working) or your practice area, it
should help the reader understand the background to where your choice of topic has come from
and what is driving your interest around this subject.
· An outline of the Public Health theory that the extended literature review will include and why
e.g. the biopsychosocial model, behavioural and implementation science, the social model,
health promotion models etc.
· The aim and objectives of the project; these need to be clear.
· A short conclusion and brief synopsis of the chapters to follow
Chapter 2: Methodology (approximately 1000 words)
This chapter outlines how you are going to go about undertaking your research project. The chapter
should include:
· A short introduction to the chapter that indicates what you are going to do in this chapter
· Identifying your approach to the project, qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods. Is it a
conceptual/desk research project using meta data or an empirical research project whereby
original data is collected and analysed. If using a conceptual research design you may wish to
include a diagram of your conceptual framework.
· Meta data will rely on collecting existing data which can be statistical and also include an
extended literature review. If an extended literature review is used, consider, for example if you
used a model to help you review your literature, what you based your search on. This section
should be underpinned with literature/theory about undertaking an extended literature review.
· The literature search strategy would include keywords such as ‘change’, databases used such as
‘emerald’, any other resources used such as ‘google scholar’, you can comment on the amount
and type of literature found for example 300 journal articles, of these 200 were peer reviewed
research article, 50 were opinion based and 50 literature reviews.
· Exclusion and Inclusion criteria for example all papers included despite origin but exclude non
research. You need to explain what inclusion and exclusion criteria are and how you applied them.
· Empirical research will include: your participants, the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the
recruitment process, data collection method, data analysis and ethical considerations.
· An explanation of how the research design will allow you to achieve the aim and objectives of
the project.
· A brief conclusion to the chapter
Chapter 3: Review of Literature (approximately 5000 words)
This chapter contains a critical review of Public Health theory and literature relevant to your project.
The chapter should include:
· An introduction to the chapter that indicates what you are going to do in this chapter
· The chosen literature and this could include:
o Government policy documents that are influencing the topic chosen
o National and international policy documents that are influencing the topic chosen
o Literature/Research that is subject specific
o Literature/Research that is in the broader area
o Appropriate strands of Public Health that underpin the area you are looking at
· A short conclusion to the chapter
The review should be split into sections; these could be themes arising from the literature or topics
important to the project. The work should be a collection of ideas rather than a list of literature.
The literature review should comment on how the literature informs the aim of the project and the
validity and reliability of the work chosen.
The literature will be used again in chapter 4.
Chapter 4: Discussion (approximately 2000 words)
This chapter is the ‘so what’ of the project and includes discussion of the findings from the literature in
light of the aim and objectives of the project and should include:
· An introduction to the chapter that indicates what you are going to do in this chapter
· What are the main themes emerging, what implications do these have for practice
· Draw together the main themes from your research in order to draw conclusions
· A short conclusion to the chapter
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations (approximately 1000 words)
This is the final chapter and is intended to draw the project to an end. The chapter should include:
· An introduction to the chapter that indicates what you are going to do in this chapter
· A review of the aim and objectives of the project and how or whether these have been achieved
· Conclusions drawn from your discussion
· Recommendations based on the discussion and how they might be implemented you can do this
in the form of an action plan if you wish
· A short conclusion to the chapter and project – you revisit the Public Health theme you have
chosen and why; and remind the reader what it was and how the findings of this literature review
have addressed it.
· A personal reflection on what you have learnt from doing the contemporary Public Health
research project; the reflection is about what you have learned from the process it is not about
the content. You might also discuss how learning from the whole course has come together in
this final piece of work. Have you learned anything about yourself? How you work? What you
might take away from the experience and use in the future?
Final Complete Draft
It is important that you allow your supervisor sufficient time to see a final full draft, for the reasons
stated below, but it is also important that you review the final full draft for the very same reasons, if
you do this before you send it to your supervisor you are likely to have fewer revisions, you can also ask
a friend, relative or colleague to read through, they often highlight issues that need clarifying that your
supervisor and yourself may have missed because you are so close to the work. As mentioned
previously the full daft often requires a lot of revision and work once your supervisor has seen it and
you need to factor this in when you plan our work.
The final draft is an opportunity to:
o Look at the flow of the work
o Check clarity
o Check consistency
o Check for omissions
o Check for any additions needed
o Chance to revise literature
o Chance to revise aims and objectives
There is a useful check list you can use to help you check your final draft (Appendix G).
It is important to give your supervisor the time to look at your full draft and they will need up to two
weeks, you however are responsible for the final piece handed in.
Reference list
The reference list should include all the works referred to in the text. This should follow the Harvard
format.
Appendices
These should appear in the order in which they are referred to in the body of the project. They should
be given a title and labelled as Appendix A, B, C etc. You should only include material to which you refer
within the project and which is directly relevant to your subject.
Presentation of your Project
Margins and spacing
The project should be 1.5 spacing on one side of A4 paper, Arial 12 font. There should be a margin of
40 mm on the left-hand side and pages have to be numbered.
Word limit
Your project should be written up in a maximum of 10, 000 words. Projects exceeding the maximum
permitted length will be subject to the rules and a penalty deduction of marks
equivalent to the percentage of additional words over the limit. The word limit will exclude reference
list, bibliographies, diagrams and tables, footnotes, front cover, abstract, tables of content and
appendices of data.
The Submission of your Project – electronic copy.
The project should include a front cover that should show the title of the project, your University of number, the name of the Master’s degree and the year of submission (Appendix D and E).
Assessment Procedures
The level 7 marking criteria will be used to assess your project. All submitted work is
marked by 2 internal markers (one of whom is your project supervisor) before being sent to the External
Examiner.
Suspected plagiarism will be dealt with under the regulations governing Suspected Breach of
Assignment Regulations more details can be found in the Faculty of Health Student Handbook.
Ethics
Appendices
Appendix A – Proposal Form
Appendix B – Record of Project Supervision
Appendix C – Research in Contemporary Public Health Research Project Progress Report
Appendix D – Layout of Front Cover
Appendix E – Layout of Front Cover Example
Appendix F – Layout of Title Page Example
Appendix G – Evaluation Checklist (for evaluating your project before submission)
Appendix H – Research in Contemporary Public Health Research Project Submission Sheet
Appendix I – Electronic Thesis / Dissertation Deposit Agreement
Appendix J – Ethics Application Form
Appendix D – Layout of Front Cover (this is what the bound copy has on front)
Title of Project
University Student Number
Award
Date
Appendix E – Example
Public Health and Covid 19: the impact on low income families
University Student Number
Master of Public Health
2021
Appendix F – Layout of Title Page Example
(this page comes after the abstract and before the acknowledgements)
Public Health and Covid 19: the impact on low income families
University Student Number
Research in Contemporary Public Health Research Project
submitted to the University of ……..
in partial fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Public Health
2021
Appendix G – Evaluation checklist: A Checklist For Evaluating Your Project Before
Submission
(Adapted from Hansen, K. J. and Waterman, R. C. (1966) ‘Evaluation of Research in Business
Education’, National Business Education Quarterly, No 35, pp. 81 – 84)
Remember that the decision on when to submit is yours, not your supervisors. No supervisor can
ever tell you ‘this will be OK now’, and every supervisor has, on occasion, been at odds with the
collective decision of the Exam Board. This checklist is offered, therefore, so that you can be aware of
the general criteria against which we examine projects. One final caveat is that the whole should
generally be greater than the sum of the parts, with each project having its own internal integrity of
approach, debate, perspective and method. Having said all this, this is a checklist only and there will
always be the occasional project that breaks a lot of the rules, but by reason of its sheer creativity
and insight is deemed an excellent piece of work.
Public Health theory chosen
1. Is it clearly stated?
2. Is it well focussed and properly delimited?
3. Is it important? Will it make a contribution to knowledge or practice or has the same topic been
thoroughly researched in the past?
4. Have any academic, practical or ethical limitations been acknowledged and the reader alerted to
the implications of these limitations in interpreting the data?
5. Was the contextual nature of the problem – historical or organisational – adequately described but
not at unnecessary length or in too great detail?
6. Are any ‘taken for granted’ assumptions made overt?
Research Design
1. Is the methodological approach/philosophy appropriate?
2. Is the project design conceptual/ desktop or empirical? How does this impact on the data
collection?
3. Will the data collection method enable the aims and objectives to be addressed?
4. How is the data analysed? What impact will this have on the outcome?
5. How will the findings be presented and disseminated?
6. What are the ethical considerations?
7. How has bias been addressed in the project?
8. What are the limitations?
9. What are the implications for practice?
The Academic Context
1. Is the relevant literature well researched, showing a depth of understanding of the concepts key
to the project?
2. Is the literature review well focussed on the topic, not simply including anything vaguely related?
3. Is there a critical view of existing literature, highlighting points of agreement and dissent and any
gaps in research?
4. Is it made obvious to the reader where the project fits into the existing debate and relates to
public health?
5. Is there reflection at the end of how the findings confirm, question or add to the body of
established knowledge on the topic?
Conclusions
1. The conclusions must be drawn out of the project, not out of preconceptions or additional reading.
Very occasionally it happens that a significant major research work hits the press just as a student
is finishing a project, which may throw the entire work into doubt. The best way to deal with this is
to write up the project just as you would have done before reading the new work. Then add a short
‘Postscript’ section, briefly outlining the work (giving its date of publication!) and suggesting how
this might indicate a new line of further research in relation to your work. Do not try to backtrack
on your own hard work over many months.
2. Are the conclusions free from bias?
3. Do the conclusions refer back to the aims of the project?
4. Do they suggest any further lines of research or ways in which the findings might usefully be taken
forward by the organisation?
General points
1. Is the title clear and concise?
2. Does the abstract give a précis of the entire work – not a statement of intent?
3. Is the organisation of the work clear so the reader always knows where he or she is in the
argument and where it is going next?
4. Are the ‘mechanics’ of expression and presentation up to the required standard?
ONE ELECTRONIC copy via the designated submission box 12 noon on the identified submission
date.
