PTY4010 · Honours systematic review

Overview

This unit guides the development of a 4,000 - 6,000 word systematic review of the literature. It also introduces quality assessment and critical appraisal of research reports included in the review. In doing this it serves the important role of enabling learning about best practice in research design, and the relationship between research design and the trustworthiness of research conclusions. As part of this unit, you will also complete on-line modules that introduce basic concepts in data reporting and analysis. You will have the option to select modules that address the type of data analysis most frequently encountered in the literature you are reviewing. You are also supported with individualised supervision to tailor reviews to the planned research undertaken as part of "Honours Research Proposal PTY4020". Reviews are prepared using a structure that facilitates publication of the work.

Areas of study: Physiotherapy

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment in this unit includes hurdle assessment tasks. Failure of any hurdle assessment task may result in failure of the unit.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Identify e journals, databases and learning support; search data bases using sophisticated search strategies
2. Ask focussed and answerable questions
3. Appraise and critically analyse research design of papers included in the review
4. Demonstrate ability to use EndNote to save and sort references and format review for assessment/publication
5. Classify measures of health using World health Organisation classification categories
6. Demonstrate ability to interpret and estimate parameters associated with parametric and non-parametric data and conduct basic statistical tests for differences between two sets of data using Prism or Stata data analysis software
7. Define reliability and validity and compute basic reliability statistics
8. Recognise, define and compute odds, risk, relative risk, absolute risk and parameters associated with diagnostic test accuracy (such as specificity, sensitivity, likelihood ratios)
9. Extract data from reports included in the review and conduct meta-analysis using RevMan software.
10. Collaborate with your supervisor in completing review stages to the required level of competence and according to pre-determined time-lines.

Workload

This 12 credit point unit requires 24 contact and private study hours per week over 12 weeks.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.