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, 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 realworld
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 biostatistical 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 biostatistical 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.
Articles I choose for assignment
Option 2
Grunfeld, E., Coyle, D., Whelan, T., Clinch, J., Reyno, L., Earle, C. C., & . . . Glossop, R. (2004). Family
caregiver burden: Results of a longitudinal study of breast cancer patients and their principal
caregivers. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 170(12), 1795–1801.
Reblin, M., Donaldson, G., Ellington, L., Mooney, K., Caserta, M., & Lund, D. (2016). Spouse cancer
caregivers’ burden and distress at entry to home hospice: The role of relationship quality.
Journal Of Social And Personal Relationships, 33(5), 666-686.