ASSIGNMENT GUIDANCE
Introduction (suggest approximately 400 words)
• Introduce a research article that is applicable or potentially applicable to your individual
practice
• Outline the relevance of the article to your present or future practice
• Explain why the topic being addressed in the article is important
• Evidence Based Practice
• Evidence Based Practice (suggest approximately 300 words)
• Briefly describe evidence-based practice (EBP) and the part played by research in EBP
• Explain why EBP is important to patient/client care as well as your profession and
professional identity
Literature Search Strategy Example
A literature search strategy using Medline, Cinahl Plus and the Cochrane Library for the time
period 01-01-2007 to 01-01-2017, using the search terms [Child OR Paediatric] AND [Febrile
illness OR Pyrexia] AND [Emergency Care], yielded 35 clinical papers, of which, on reading
the abstracts, only five studies were clinically relevant to the subject area.
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A further manual search of profession specific journals (the Journal of Paramedic Practice
and the Emergency Medicine Journal) was done for the same time period and a further two
articles were found to be clinically relevant to the subject chosen.
All seven are included in the assignment to support the discussion.
Main body
• Main body (approximately 1800 words)
• Identify the critical appraisal tool (critiquing framework) that you will be using to critique
the article
• Explain why you have chosen that tool
• Use the framework or tool to help you identify strengths and weaknesses in the research
article – i.e. what makes it a good or bad example of that type of research
• Outline, analyse and evaluate the main identified strengths and weaknesses of the
research article
• Demonstrate an understanding of ethical principles in relation to the research article
• Could this piece of research
influence your practice?
• Could this piece of research influence your practice? (approximately 300 words)
• What are the most significant factors that would enable this piece of evidence to be
used in (or inform) your actual practice?
• What are the most significant factors that would prevent this piece of research from
being used in (or informing) your actual practice?
• Conclusion
• Conclusion (approximately 300 words)
• Summarise the key points and make a judgement about the value of the article.
• Evaluate the usefulness of the findings in relation to your practice.
• Important
•
Throughout the essay:
• Demonstrate an understanding of research terminology.
• Demonstrate wide reading and familiarity with other research papers.
• Demonstrate an understanding of ethical principles.
•
Critique
A research critique is not just a summary of a study but rather a careful appraisal of its
merits and flaws. Its function is not to hunt dogmatically for and expose mistakes. A
good critique objectively identifies areas of adequacy and inadequacy, virtues as well
as faults
Polit and Beck (2006, p.437)
Ethical understanding
• Demonstrate an understanding of ethical issues and principles throughout the
essay