The task
You are expected to individually (not in groups) complete a critique of the available and contemporary evidence to form the background to the problem that we will be investigating through the research project (Assessment 2) in this unit titled: Using wearable activity trackers and health awareness in adults.
Aim of the critique
The aim of the critique is to provide a rationale for undertaking the research; that is, ‘why we should do the research’. A common reason for undertaking research is that there is new knowledge needed in the area and the new knowledge is of some benefit to a certain population or to people generally. The literature that you source to include in your critique should be no older than 7 years (that is, no older than 2010), unless these are foundational works.
What to and what not to include…
The critique should only include primary research such as qualitative or quantitative research. Do not include editorials, reviews or commentaries, blog information, newspaper articles or fact sheets. To critique the papers you include please refer to the critique checklists available from CASP or the JBI as these will help you to ‘un-pack’ each paper you have included, helping you to ‘critique’ each paper thoroughly.
Structure of background
The background should include the following elements; however, these should not be represented as heading but are an indication of paragraphs topics.
- Introduce the topic – provide context of the research
- Begin broadly, introduce any international trends then focus on Australia
- Identify gaps in knowledge related to the topic
- Specific relevance and focus on the research problem
- Aim of the research
- Anticipated benefit of the research findings
Word count: 1000 (+/– 10%)