Assignment 1 Brief

Module Name: Research Methods

Module Code: LJMU-7505-PUBUNI
Assessment Task: Comparison of two research papers
Word Count: 2,500 words
Weighting: 50%
Submission deadline: Please consult the VLE
Submission procedure: Please submit via the submission link on VLE
Submission Record
Extenuating circumstances
Ensure you are familiar with the process for submitting a claim for extenuating circumstances.
If you experience any extenuating circumstances that may have affected your ability to
attempt or submit the present assignment, please follow the relevant instructions on the VLE
in order to submit your claim for extenuating circumstance prior to your submission deadline.
Academic misconduct including plagiarism
Ensure that you are familiar with the relevant regulations regarding academic misconduct. By
submitting the present assignment, you declare that it is your own work and that the material
and sources of information used, including internet sources, have been fully identified and
properly acknowledged. In addition, you confirm that the presented work has not been
submitted for any other assessment. You also acknowledge that the faculty reserves the right
to investigate allegations of plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct which, if
proven and dependent on the severity level of the offence, will result in a penalty that may
affect your progress.
Late submissions
Kindly note that there is no late submission rule - if a student fails to submit the assessment
by the stipulated deadline the student will fail unless he/she has extenuating circumstances
approved. Where illness or other verifiable cause prevent timely submission of the summative
assessment, you are required to contact the Unicaf Extenuating Circumstances team in the
first instance, via extenuating.circumstances@unicaf.org, for further information on how to
make an appropriate request for consideration of your circumstances. It is important to note
that any request must be made to the mentioned team in advance of the originally stipulated
deadlines, otherwise shall be considered as late and will not be reviewed further unless valid
independent evidence exists to support that you could not have reasonably gotten in touch
any sooner.

1|Page
It is important to keep in mind that if you do not make a claim, or if the claim is not upheld,
and you have not submitted by the original deadline, the module shall be failed as a result
of no submission of the summative assessment.
By submitting your work, you acknowledge that you have read and agree with the above
statement
General Guidance
Your assignment should be word processed (handwritten assignments are not accepted),
using time new roman size 12 font, double spaced, with numbered pages and your student
number printed as a footer on every page.
The word limits stated for this assignment excludes the reference list at the end of the
assignment but includes all text in the main body of the assignment (including direct
quotations, in-text citations, footnotes, tables, diagrams and graphs).
Please be aware that exceeding the word count limit will affect the academic judgement of
the piece of work and may result in the award of a lower mark.
Appendices are not considered a supplement, and thus, will not be assessed as part of the
content of the assignment. As such, they will not contribute to the grade awarded, however
it may be appropriate to use an Appendices section for any material which is a useful
reference for the reader. Please note that appendices are not included in the word count.
The majority of references should come from primary sources (e.g., journal articles,
conference papers, reports, etc.) although you can also utilise area specific textbooks. You
must ensure that you use the Liverpool John Moores’ University Harvard style of referencing.
Please indicate the word count length at the end of your assignment.
Marking and assessment
This assignment will be marked out of 100%
This assignment contributes 50% of the total module marks.
Learning outcomes assessed
1 Critically discuss the philosophical perspectives that underpin health and social research
3 Critically evaluate data collection techniques

5 Understand different approaches to the analysis of numerical and non-numerical

data
6 Critically explore the ethical dimensions of research

2|Page
 Assessment Guidelines
You are required to write a 2,500 individual assignment comparing two published research
papers – which are different in their philosophical and methodological approach – from the
choice of one of the two contemporary public health topics provided below. The two
research papers address a related research question but are underpinned by either a
quantitative or qualitative research approach and employ different research methods.
In the assignment you are required to:
(i) Discuss the research approaches in the two published research papers; and

(ii) Debate the strengths, weaknesses and philosophical differences by describing,

contrasting and comparing the underlying philosophical perspectives,
ethical dimensions and methods of data collection and analysis in the two
published research papers.
The discussion must draw on the principles and debates presented in the first 3 weeks of
the research methods module. All references must be listed and cited correctly.
You are directed to choose one topic from the options provided below:
Topic 1: Obesity among Libyan adults

 Lemamsha, H., Randhawa, G., & Papadopoulos, C. (2019). Prevalence of overweight

and obesity among Libyan men and women. BioMed Research International.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8531360
 Lemamsha, H., Papadopoulos, C., & Randhawa, G. (2018). Understanding the risk
and protective factors associated with obesity amongst Libyan adults: a qualitative
study. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5411-z
Topic 2: Public perspectives on COVID-19 vaccination in South Asia

 Kumari, A., Ranjan, P., Chopra, S., Kaur, D., Kaur, T., Kalanidhi, K. B. et al. (2021).
What Indians think of the COVID-19 vaccine: A qualitative study comprising focus
group discussions and thematic analysis. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical
Research & Reviews, 15(3), 679-682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsx.2021.03.021
 Haque, M.M.A., Rahman, M.L., Hossian, M., Matin, K.F., Nabi, M.H., Saha, S., Hasan,
M., Manna, R.M., Barsha, S.Y., Hasan, S.R. and Siddiquea, S.R. (2021). Acceptance of
COVID-19 vaccine and its determinants: evidence from a large sample study in
Bangladesh. Heliyon, 7(6), p.e07376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07376

3|Page
Your work should include and cover the following sections/aspects and content (as shown
and stated in the table below). The specific percentage marks allocated to each
section/aspect of your work is stated below. Please also note that the Level 7 marking
criteria (located towards the end of this assessment brief) will also be used to reflect this
overall grade. Please remember that achievement and demonstration of both learning
outcomes 1,3,5 and 6 is being assessed in this assessment.

1. Introduction 15 marks
• Address the purpose and focus of the assignment
• Explain which public health topic has been selected and provide some
background information about the issue
• Introduce the main research paradigms that underpin public health
research and discuss which paradigm the two research papers align with.
2. Main body 60 marks
• Describe, contrast and compare the qualitative versus quantitative
approaches taken in the two research studies by exploring and critically
discussing the:
a. underlying philosophical stance and perspectives
b. research question
c. ethical dimensions of the research
d. methods of data collection and analysis
• Critically discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a qualitative
versus a quantitative approach for addressing the chosen topic.
3.Conclusion 10 marks
 Provide an effective summary of the key points of the main body

4. References and Presentation 15 marks

 Follow Harvard style of referencing throughout the work and

professional type of presentation.
 High quality presentation that conforms to principles of academic
writing and contains minimal errors in sentence construction,
grammar and punctuation.
 The assignment followed appropriate academic conventions
regarding in-text citations and referencing.

4|Page
LJMU Level 7 Grading Criteria

5|Page
6|Page