PUBLIC HEALTH

Pregnancy- Hispanic Teens

The following is your rubric for the Project. Include all requested information listed below for each section for a good project score. Minimum of one page for each section!

1. Statement of the Problem (or Objective of your Study). (we done this part)

· Clearly state what it is that you want to study.

· Why is the hypothesized situation important to DeKalb County?

· If not now, could the problem be significant in the future due to possible changing demographics or other changes in the County’s health needs? When might this be?

· How does your proposed study contribute to the overall health status of your target population and the general health status of the DeKalb County population now and in the future?

· Null Hypothesis (including independent and dependent variables). Use full wording.

See “Course Information” for required wording (you can use this ver batim).

· Alternative Hypothesis (including independent and dependent variables; “if-then”) significant causation implied. What kind of causal relationship is it that you think is worthy of further funding and community intervention by the DeKalb County Health Department?

· Additional concerns for you to include:

· Are you proposing a Formative or Summative kind of evaluation and why?

· Include Validity and Reliability of the Study that you are doing, to confirm problem exists.

· Purpose of proposed study: Exploratory, Explanatory, and/or Descriptive? Why?

Now we are starting from here

2. Literature Review- 1 page

· Include in your discussion (compare and contrast) the following:

· At least 7 peer-reviewed articles (no older than 4 years old for materials you pick).

· Goodman article: pick at least three of Goodman’s Principles and discuss their relevance to your study.

· Relevant points from Joel Cowen’s Mental Health Study for DeKalb County.

· DeKalb County IPLAN (current edition 2017-2022).

· You may also use Perrin if your reference is relevant to your discussion.

· Note: Goodman’s article and Cowen’s PowerPoint are of course older than 4 years. We are

using Goodman for evaluation theory and Cowen for the form for four kinds of assessment.

· DeKalb County IPLAN; DeKalb County: what data were specifically relevant to your particular study, and why? (Make sure that you use the 2017-2022 MAPP version, NOT the old APEX-PH model version). Available under “Course Information”.

· Also include how each of the 10+ resources is expected to contribute to the quality (validity and reliability) of your study. Compare and contrast all ten+ of your sources; find similarities and support for your Hypothesis.

· NO WIKIPEDIA citation of information can be used! (Not necessarily a competent or reliable source of information)! Automatic loss of 10 overall points each time cited!

__________________________________________________________________2 of 5

3. Subjects for Study – 1 page

· Health status, as expressed in incidence or prevalence of your target population’s problem,

is ALWAYS your dependent variable. The health status of the target population is what you eventually wish to change to reflect progress toward a stated goal. The usual reason it has been chosen for study is that it is abnormally higher or lower than the incidence or prevalence of a problem on a statewide or national basis.

· What is your independent variable? Why was it chosen (usually suggested by previous research/ findings)? What do you hypothesize is causing the rate of incidence or prevalence to be less or more than the desired status (use State of Illinois and Federal “benchmarks” as points of comparison and evaluation of the need for the intervention).

· Why is this health status anomaly a true “problem”, not merely a “condition”?

Other considerations you will want to address in “Subjects for Study”:

· Whom or what will you study in order to collect data?

· In specific terms, who or what is available for study?

· How will you reach them?

· What kind of sample(s) are you going to have? How will you do that?

· Do you know if the sample you intend to select will be representative of

your Target population? How and why do you know?

· Is there any possibility that your study will affect those you study?

· How will you ensure that your study doesn’t harm them?

· How will our choice of a survey or field research methods influence subject selection

4. Measurement- 1 page

· What kind of research method (study design) do you propose to use and why? (best to have four indicators of a problem coming from different perspectives, as in Joel Cowen’s presentation). This is a short explanation of options and which would be best for your study.

· Quantitative? Qualitative? Both? Why one or the other? Why both?

· Field Research/ Community Assessment

· Secondary source analysis?

· Key Informant?

· Focus Groups?

· (See Joel Cowen’s presentation—his four ways of assessing health disparities within the Community). The best presentation will show how each of the four types of data

acquisition will be used in your type of evaluation. Actual survey or focus questions need to be submitted, shown in your Appendix. How are you going to measure what you propose to collect? What kind of format are you going to use so that your form of measurement and results are clearly presented?

· How do you propose to measure changes you expect to see in the dependent variable caused by your independent variable (intervention) in your final plan? Changes need to be expressed in exact terms—can’t just be “we want to see an increase”. An increase in what in terms of Measurement? (Hint: Incidence or Prevalence per 1,000 or 10,000. etc.).

Page 3 of 5

5. Data-Collection Methods-1 page

· How will you actually collect the data for your study?

· Will you conduct an experiment or a survey? (see above: coordinate with the person doing Measurement).

· This section is what you actually choose as research, and how you’re going to go about it.

· Will you undertake field research (above) or focus on reanalysis of existing statistics already created by others (think IPLAN, data sets from state, local, federal and “specialty” not for profits).

· Remember that the more sources confirming the same problem you have, the better your research and evaluation of a community problem will “sell”. A single indicator of a “problem” in a community may only indicating a “condition” of a particular set of persons, not a confirming “problem” which is endemic to a significant part of a target population.

6. Analysis-1 page

· Choose the kind of analysis you want to conduct that’s conducive to the stated aims and choices made by other participants in this exercise (Qualitative, Quantitative? Kind?)

· Spell out the purpose and logic of your analysis once again (Exploratory, Descriptive, Explanatory)

· Do you intend to explain why things are the way they are? Do you plan to account for some variations in health status—comparison of your target population to the general population of DeKalb County?

· What possible explanatory variables are you going to highlight in your search to find the reason for identifying significant differences between your Target population and the general DeKalb County population (what do you think makes this population worthy of intense study and intervention)?

· How are the forms of Measurement and Data Collection that you’ve chosen going to

use in this proposed study going to explain why it would be a good idea to spend money on trying to reduce the incidence or prevalence of the problem you’ve identified?

Page 4 0f 5

Part B. Individual Requirements: Format—Paper

1. Formal 10 Page Paper (Minimum number of pages, excluding Title Page, Contents Page and References page).

· Is there a Title page for your Project?

· Have you included your first and last name? Your ZID number?

· Name of course and section? (PHHE 467-1)

· Is all the information centered in the middle of the page?

· If you’ve used a chart or graph, is it been located in the Appendix to the paper, at the end of the paper? You should describe, in words, the content and purpose of the graph or chart in the paper itself. Any actual charts or graphs (like a Schedule or Budget) should be located in your Appendix, in the order in which the item is discussed in your paper.

· You need to make reference to the chart in your Appendix by noting the page it’s located on. For example, “see Appendix, page 25”).

· For any chart or graph, is it clearly marked so that it can be read as a “stand alone” document (can it be understood what it is by looking at it—are parts of the chart clearly marked, and so forth).

· For the Literature Review, are there at least ten (10) peer-reviewed journals, or other primary or secondary information sources discussed? Is there a description of each general source, reference to specific data used or extracted from the set, and why each specific piece of information would be useful to your investigation of the disease or condition you’re studying?

· Are all Literature Review sources, as well as any other references, duly acknowledged and listed in the “References” section of the paper? In the main body of your paper

by using in-text citations?

· Do all the references you’ve selected for your paper support your hypothesis or problem you are studying? (no unrelated references should be used).

· Are you comparing/ contrasting your references selected (remember that this is NOT

an annotated bibliography. There is a big difference)!

· Remember that three (3) of your ten (10) references selected need to be the DeKalb County HD IPLAN (2017-2022), Robert Goodman article and Joel Cowen’s classic Needs Assessment. All can be found in your “Course Information” section of the course menu on the class website.

DeKalb County Illinois IPLAN

To access the IPLAN, click onto:

2017-2022 Illinois Project for Local Assessment of Need (IPLAN)

alternative browser access:  health.dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IPLAN-2017-2022.pdf

https://health.dekalbcounty.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IPLAN-2017-2022.pdf

(teen pregnancy)