Assignment Task

Purpose

Like a typical scientific conference, you will submit an abstract for ‘acceptance’ into the conference. This assessment is designed for you to provide a clear and concise summary of what will form your Conference Poster for Assessment 4. Creating a conference abstract  mimics real life conferences which require abstract submissions as part of the acceptance process. 

Assessment structure

You will complete an abstract, which is a summary of what will ultimately appear in your Conference Poster. Having formulated your research question, there should be sufficient background to highlight the importance of the issue and develop a clear rationale for the study. Methods can be summarised at this point, but the experimental design should be clear. A brief discussion of what successful outcomes of the study would mean for future work should be included. The abstract should be submitted in a word document in a style similar to abstracts in the journal Trials. 

Introduction: This section should describe - convincingly and concisely - what you will investigate and why the research is important. The first sentence of your introduction should convey the message of how the problem is important and how your overall study contributes to that particular field of research. The introduction should demonstrate clearly the context of the study, or where the research problem originates or is relevant within the national and international context. Explain the problem, concept or question that is being investigated and the basis of your theory or rationale for undertaking the study.

Aims & Hyothesis: Firstly consider the purpose of your research. The aims should clearly identify the broad question or concept underpinning the research. The hypothesis should relate to the aims, but be specific, directional and testable by your experimental design.

Methods: The methods section is usually brief, but in this case can be a bit more expanded as it is what you are planning on doing. It should describe how you will achieve the aims of your research - the experimental design needs to be clear. This involves a short description of the study design and any underpinning theoretical or conceptual frameworks, the sampling technique(s) used in the study, e.g. qualitative or quantitative, and the method(s) used in the data analysis. You should also include the method of data collection used in the study, e.g. experiments, surveys, animals or patient cohorts etc. The sample size, criteria for selection and whether the sample was randomized or non-randomized should be included. Mention the type of data analysis/statistics that will be employed. Finally, state if ethics approval needs to be obtained.

Discussion: When you have completed the introduction, aims and methods, your conclusion should support the completed framework by presenting the implications of the benefits of the proposed study.