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MIDZ_23
powerpoint.pptxWRITING TIPS IN PREP FINAL PAPER
40% of grade
Choose health topic/outcome of interest in MAGH
Evidence based and incorporate literature review on the topic and advocacy/making recommendations
5-7 pages of content (not including title page, Reference page; double spaced, 12 point font)
Minimum 5 peer-reviewed sources (PUBMED is great for articles!)
APA formatting within text and as separate reference page
Due March 15th
FINAL PAPER
Demonstrate sound understanding of the health outcome/issue in MAGH with supporting evidence for impact on health
Include statistics/prevalence of the problem
Describe what communities deal with the problem/who are most affected (You can hone in on one specific community or apply a cross-cultural global comparison, but be clear!)
May be global health issue or country-specific (YOUR CHOICE-but be clear how you define it)
May be cross-cultural health issue or within a specific group (YOUR CHOICE-but be clear how you define it)
REQUIRED: 1) INTRODUCTION/WHAT IS HEALTH OUTCOME ISSUE
Choose at least one theoretical approach that we learned about in this class and apply it to your chosen health issue. Possible approaches include: a) biocultural b) biosocial c) health disparities/social determinants of health d) social justice/structural violence e) health as a human right
Please note you can apply just one of these theories or several of the theories, as there is much overlap between several of them
You will be graded not on the choice of theory, but how you apply the chosen theoretical approach to your specific health issue in a clear structured way utilizing evidence from readings/articles
2) APPLICATION OF A THEORETICAL APPROACH TO THE HEALTH ISSUE
Suggest workable, real world solutions for how to improve this health issue in your population including both
Public health approaches/angles/interventions
Policy related approaches/changes
Include supporting evidence from successful programs/interventions/policies, community needs assessments, including discussion of effectiveness of culturally appropriate programs in the field
Remember if not much is known you can also propose the development of community needs assessments/CBPR type research but if you do so, please be specific in what you'd want to propose doing (what is not known and why you propose it!)
3) MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS/ADVOCACY (HOW DO WE IMPROVE THIS HEALTH ISSUE)
Purpose of HEALTH RELATED Writing
Explanatory
Describing the health issue, affected populations, associated outcomes, and other relevant information to detail the topic and its importance
Analytic
A compilation, synthesis, and evaluation of empirical evidence
Application of specific theoretical approach to examining the issue
Summary and assessment of potential recommendations (public health angles and policy changes)
Advocacy
Persuading the audience toward a particular position or action on the topic
YOUR FINAL PAPER IS ALL OF THESE!!!
Academic Voice IN HEALTH WRITING
Indirect writing voice
Ideas of others
Direct writing voice
Your own ideas
Indirect and direct health science writing
A perfect union of the two to make assertions about health issues and provide evidence to support those assertions
ACADEMIC WRITING HAS 2 COMPONENTS
CONTENT
Finding the EVIDENCE to support your argument
Your resources! (Pubmed for journal articles, .gov for stats)
STYLE
Harder to define/tap down
APA is its own particular STYLE for formatting (IN TEXT CITATIONS & REFERENCE LIST)
But STYLE includes so much more!
BOTH CONTENT & STYLE REQUIRE PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE
Your Direct Voice vs. Your Opinions
Your opinions
Thoughts, ideas, and judgments based on anecdotal evidence and personal experience
Your direct writing voice
Thoughts, ideas, and judgments based on the empirical evidence
Indirect vs. Direct Academic Voice
Read the literature and differentiate between the authors’ thoughts and ideas and the evidence to which they are basing those assertions on.
Direct voice = your assessment of the health behavior, outcomes, risk populations, etc., as supported by the evidence (Indirect Voice)
Look for patterns emerging in the literature and synthesize what’s been said succinctly, rather than listing all evidence separately
FINDING CONTENT: What are appropriate resources?
Peer-reviewed journals (PUBMED database now for journal articles if you don’t know by NOW!)
OTHER SOURCES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Department of Health & Human Services
World Health Organization
Pew Research
Kaiser Family Foundation
UNICEF
AAP, AMA
And more (.gov best, avoid .com)
EASY TIPS TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE
ORGANIZATION/FORMATTING
ACADEMIC TONE
GRAMMAR POINTS
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
PUNCTUATION ERRORS
STYLE: OrganizATION & FORMATTING
Cover/Title Page (separate first page,title, name, institution, class, prof/TA, date submission)
Introduction of Health Issue/outcome (in bold heading)
Application of a Theoretical Approach (in bold heading)
Making Recommendations (policy and public health) (in bold heading)
Reference Page (separate end start new page---in bold heading)
APA style citations WITHIN text and as full reference page
USE Bold headings and subheadings
Clean margins, uniform font (12 point)
STYLE: FORMATTING
Clean formatting presents clear visual to your reader aesthetically
Preferred typefaces/fonts keep consistent throughout : Times Roman, Courier, Palatino
Size of Type: 12 points
Double-spacing preferred between all lines
Never underline; bold or italics are useful for headings and subheadings only
Uniform one inch margins at top, bottom, right and left every page
Separate Cover Page
STLE: FORMATTING CONT’D….
Paragraphs must consist of two or more sentences
Spell out numbers
Use consistent font and size throughout
Headings and Subheadings are Useful in BOLDFACE
Paragraph Formatting
Paragraph composed of at least two full sentences; longer than one double spaced page too long
All should be indented five spaces from the margin the first line (TAB)
After first line remaining lines typed to uniform left margin
STYLE: IMPROVING ‘ACADEMIC TONE’
Become a reader of scientific literature!!! You’ll be able to copy the style easier more familiar you are with it!
Do not write as though you are speaking! Not speaking to a friend, not a conversation
Use complete sentences/avoid run-on too long-winded
Err on side of sounding formal
Precision in sentence structure as opposed to creative writing
Not an essay/journalism 100% opinion---this is SCIENCE- need to STATE EVIDENCE FIRST/INFORMED WRITING
STYLE: IMPROVING TONE
Avoid use of personal pronoun (keep “I” out of it)
Avoid Use of Contractions—spell them out (Can’t, Don’t become can not and do not)
Avoid colloquial, informal, slang phrasing or terms that are too casual not formal
Spell out abbreviations
Best to use nouns over pronouns
STYLE: GRAMMAR POINTS/SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Subject-verb agreement
Singular noun or subject requires a singular verb
Plural nouns/subjects require plural verb
Noun-pronoun agreement
Agreement singular or plural
Past vs. Present tense
Best to use past rather than present for describing actions or conditions that occurred in the past---research usually already occurred
INCORRECT: Mucha (2017) finds that….
CORRECT: Mucha (2017) found that
STYLE: GRAMMAR POINTS Cont’d…
ACTIVE VOICE. When using past tense use active rather than passive voice
PROBLEMATIC: The experiment was designed by Mucha (2017).
PREFERRED: Mucha (2017) designed the experiment.
PRESENT TENSE.
Best to use when describing IDEAS/THEORIES/DEFINITIONS in literature itself---to theories, definitions
INCORRECT: Mucha (2017) argued that acculturation is a key dimension of immigrant health
CORRECT: Mucha (2017) argues that acculturation is a key ….
STYLE: SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Use Complete Sentences:
Addresses one main thought, concept or idea
Related sentences can be connected yet separated via semi-colon---although simplifying separate sentences individually into two is sufficient
Avoid Run-on Sentences:
Too much information may lose readers’ attention
Avoid Incomplete Sentences:
In contrast to creative writing, all sentences academic papers must include a SUBJECT and a VERB
STYLE: PUNCTUATION ERRORS
Double quotation marks.
Avoid placement inside commas and periods
Always placed outside commas and periods (but inside a page reference)
Overall, best to maybe avoid them/often colloquial
Not loving direct quotes unless formalized definition
Commas.
Often mistakes in not including where appropriate
Use before a coordinating conjunction that links main clauses….
and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet
When clauses are short may omit
APA Style: http://www.apastyle.org/ index.aspx
Purdue Owl: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01 /
Learn this all once and you’ll be set for life!
STYLE: APA Format
When in Doubt, Cite Cite Cite!!!!
APA Style is standard for most health sciences
Review slides in Lecture 2 for details
2 TYPES OF CITING:
1)IN TEXT CITATIONS within the text of your writing
2) FINAL REFERENCE LIST PAGE at end
