Assessment Overview
This individual assessment is designed to evaluate your understanding of key concepts used in epidemiological investigation and their application in public health practice. It assesses your ability to distinguish different measures of disease frequency, understand their association with determinant factors, apply principles of sampling and data validity, and interpret epidemiological information in real-world public health contexts.

Assessment Format & Structure

• The assessment questions will be available in Moodle as a softcopy Workbook Word format.
• It will consist of five short-answer questions, requiring critical thinking, data interpretation, and application of epidemiological concepts.
• The total marks available for this assessment are 50 marks.
• The assessment will be available from Friday, 1 May 2026 (Week 7) and is due on Friday, 8 May 2026 (Week 8) at 6:00 pm.
• Please download the softcopy Workbook, record your response spaces provided beneath each question, and submit the completed Workbook in Moodle.

Scope of Assessment
The assessment covers content from Weeks 1 to 7, focusing on fundamental epidemiological principles, including:

Epidemiological Measures:

• Measures of frequency: cumulative incidence, incidence rate, point and period prevalence
• Measures of mortality, morbidity and case fatality, and data standardisation

Measures of Association:

• Relationship between exposure and outcomes
• Calculation and interpretation of risk ratios, rate ratios, odds ratios, measure of impacts

Epidemiological study designs:

• Characteristics of descriptive and analytical quantitative study designs
• Associate measures of association

Population data distribution, presentation and analysis:

• Distribution of data into exposure and outcome groups
• Conducting appropriate analyses, explaining effects, and interpreting findings.

Sampling process and data validity:

• Identification of sampling strategy and procedures
• Assessment of data validity, representativeness, and generalisability

Preparation & Study Recommendations
To ensure you are well-prepared:

• Engage with Weekly Content: Review lecture materials, tutorials, readings, and discussions from Weeks 1–7.
• Review Quizzes and Activities: Revisit previous quizzes and learning activities to reinforce key concepts.
• Seek Clarification: If you have questions, contact your lecturer or participate in the discussion forums.

Important Note:

You are responsible for keeping a backup copy of every assessment and any materials used to complete it. If a submission becomes corrupted, incorrectly uploaded, or lost, you may be asked to provide the backup. All submitted work may be checked electronically or by other means to detect breaches of academic integrity, including plagiarism, collusion, and contract cheating. You must act honestly and uphold academic integrity, as CQUniversity treats all breaches seriously. This unit uses a universal submission time of 6:00 pm AEDT/AEST.

The 72 Hour Grace Period does not apply to this assessment.

Please refer to the Level of Generative AI Use guideline provided on your Moodle site for information on the acceptable and unacceptable use of generative AI in this unit.

• Marks will be allocated according to the weighting of each short-answer questions and its component parts.
• A set of requirements align with each question types will be developed and used to assess the quality of responses and determine grades of this assessment task.
• The detailed marking criteria will be available on the unit Moodle site.

Assessment Overview
This individual assessment is designed to evaluate your skills in statistical data analysis and your ability to interpret results within public health practice. It assesses your capacity to distinguish between different types of quantitative data, produce appropriate data visualisation, select suitable statistical methods to examine associations between variables, and interpret analytical outcomes using correct statistical terminology.

Assessment Format & Structure

• The assessment questions will be available in Moodle as a softcopy Workbook Word format.
• An SPSS dataset in .sav format will be provided. This dataset contains the data required to complete the assessment questions, conduct analyses, and generate output files.
• The assessment consists of four short‑answer questions that require you to identify variable types, assess data distribution, conduct appropriate analyses, and interpret statistical outputs.
• The total marks available for this assessment are 50 marks.
• The assessment will be available from Friday, 22 May 2026 (Week 10) and is due on Friday, 29 May 2026 (Week 11) at 6:00 pm.
• Please download the Workbook and the SPSS data file, conduct the required analyses, record your responses in the spaces provided beneath each question, and submit the completed Workbook in Moodle.
• You must also submit the SPSS output file and the syntax file containing the commands used for your data analysis.

Scope of Assessment
The assessment covers content from Weeks 8 to 10, focusing on statistical data analysis concepts and methods, including:

Data identification:

• Data and variable types: dependent, independent, categorical (nominal, ordinal), and numerical (discrete, continuous, interval, ratio)
• Data spread: parametric and nonparametric distributions

Statistical analysis:

• Descriptive analysis: data summarisation (tables and charts), means, median, IQR, SD, SE, z-score, correlations between variables
• Inferential analysis: confidence interval (CI), p-value, t-tests, ANOVA, and chi-square tests

Outcome presentation:

• Presentation of relevant tables and charts
• Accurate interpretation of analytical results
• Reporting findings in a clear and coherent format

To ensure you are well-prepared:

• Engage with Weekly Content: Review lecture materials, tutorials, readings, and discussions from Weeks 8–10.
• Review Quizzes and Activities: Revisit lecture and tutorial materials, including week 10 practical statistical session.
• Seek Clarification: If you have questions, contact your lecturer or participate in the discussion forums.

Important Note:

You are responsible for keeping a backup copy of every assessment and any materials used to complete it. If a submission becomes corrupted, incorrectly uploaded, or lost, you may be asked to provide the backup. All submitted work may be checked electronically or by other means to detect breaches of academic integrity, including plagiarism, collusion, and contract cheating. You must act honestly and uphold academic integrity, as CQUniversity treats all breaches seriously. This unit uses a universal submission time of 6:00 pm AEDT/AEST.

The 72 Hour Grace Period does not apply to this assessment.

Please refer to the Level of Generative AI Use guideline provided on your Moodle site for information on the acceptable and unacceptable use of generative AI in this unit.

• Marks will be allocated according to weight of the short questions and their component questions.
• A set of requirements by the question types will be created which will be used to assess the quality of the response to the questions and allocation of grades on the assessment task.
• Assessment marking criteria will be available on the unit Moodle site with the distribution of marks per questions.
• Three days grace period may apply
• Late penalty may apply for late submission of the assessment.

Assessment Overview
For Assessment Task Three, you will be provided with a peer‑reviewed research article and required to conduct a systematic and objective critical appraisal to evaluate its trustworthiness, relevance, and findings. This task requires a strong understanding of the epidemiological and statistical concepts covered throughout the unit.

This assessment is designed to develop your ability to critically evaluate epidemiological research and apply key public health principles in a structured and evidence‑based manner. It requires you to draw on all topics and learning activities covered during the Term.

To support the appraisal process, you will be provided with a validated critical appraisal checklist (tool) to systematically extract and assess key information from the selected article. Based on this analysis, you will then construct a critical appraisal report that synthesises and evaluates the evidence.

Each student will select one article from the four articles provided for review.

Assessment components: You must submit two files:

1. The completed critical appraisal checklist (Graded but excluded from the word count).
2. A 1,500(±10.00%) words critical appraisal report (Graded, with the title, abstract and reference list excluded from the word count):

A detailed assessment instruction sheet and the marking criteria outlining the requirements for the report are available on the unit's Moodle site.

Important Note:

You are responsible for keeping a backup copy of every assessment and any materials used to complete it. If a submission becomes corrupted, incorrectly uploaded, or lost, you may be asked to provide the backup. All submitted work may be checked electronically or by other means to detect breaches of academic integrity, including plagiarism, collusion, and contract cheating. You must act honestly and uphold academic integrity, as CQUniversity treats all breaches seriously. This unit uses a universal submission time of 6:00 pm AEDT/AEST, and late penalties apply to work submitted after 11:59 pm AEDT/AEST.

GenAI Scale 2 is acceptable for use in PBHL29005 Assessment Task (AT) 3. More information on Generative AI Assessment Scale is available on your unit Moodle site.

Marking Criteria for Critical Appraisal of Epidemiological Study

TITLE (Weighting 2.00%): Concisely described the critical appraisal report topic

• Summarises the research article topic and extent of the review Is in 15 words or less
• Assessment marking criteria will be available on the unit Moodle site.

ABSTRACT (Weighting 5.00%): Provides a concise and accurate summary of the report in 150 words, by considering

• Structured or non-structured
• Content: background. Methods, findings and conclusion

INTRODUCTION and BACKGROUND (Weighting18.00%): Relevant introduction & background information of research topic

• Highlighted and assessed the scientific background and rationale for the study
• Specific objectives mentioned
• Highlighted prespecified hypothesis/es to be tested?

METHODS (Weighting 35.00%): Components and steps of investigation

• Study design: study design is stated, and justified the appropriateness to the study objective/s and/or hypothesis addressed, any limitation of the study design mentioned
• Participants: sample size calculation and justification; criteria, sources and methods of case ascertainment; methods of control selection, control matched, any limitation of the matched control (if any)
• Biases: Sources of biases and confounders identified and specified control strategies
• Analysis: Statistical methods and appropriateness of analysis, control of confounders mentioned
• Ethical approval sought, and ethics approval authority

RESULTS and DISCUSSION (Weighting 15.00%)

• Main findings presented, both descriptive and analytical epidemiological outcomes with 95% CI and p-values
• Outcome findings, with adjusted values presented
• Appropriate presentation of results, e.g., described with relevant table and charts; results are easy to follow
• Consistency of the findings with existing literatures, interpretations of findings and the implications of the findings discussed
• Representativeness and generalisability of the findings discussed and commented on

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS (Weighting 5%): precise, relevant and realistic

• Identified key findings of the study
• Future direction of the research discussed
• Recommendations provided
• Any conflict of interest?

CRITICAL APPRAISAL CHECKLIST (Weighting 10%)

• Checklist questions attempted and appropriate boxes checked
• Explanations (reasons) for the checklist questions are provided

REFERENCES AND REFERENCING (Weighting 5.00%): Correct citations and acknowledge the original sources of evidence

• Statements and ideas are referenced appropriately (in-text citations)
• Reference list is accurate and complete
• APA7.0 format/style used for referencing and reference list

SCIENTIFIC WRITING STYLE and PRESENTATION (5.00%): Information is conveyed effectively

• Perspectives and arguments within the report flow logically
• Tone is appropriately formal
• Writing style is clear, coherent, concise, and free from grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors 
• Layout and formatting are accurate and follow a professional style

A detailed grade distribution for each marking criteria is available on the Moodle site.