This module gives you the opportunity to conduct independent research in the third year of your BSc Population Health Sciences degree programme. Your dissertation will be a substantial piece of research that you will choose in your second year and conduct in Year 3. Supervisors will provide suggested projects but you can also create your own ideas, in discussion with potential supervisors. Your dissertation project will be original and will address a testable research hypothesis in the field of population health. It will involve independent thought, secondary analyses of existing data, interpreting your findings, and writing a dissertation report in the style of a research paper for a population health journal.

After completing this module, you should have


	Developed a deeper understanding of a specific issue in contemporary population health
	
	
	Completed a quantitative or qualitative dissertation, or systematic review on the topic
	
	
	Developed research skills (developing a research question and planning your research, and conducting and interpreting data analyses)
	
	
	Developed transferable skills (project management, time management, communication and presentation, negotiation and critical thinking, report writing, and commitment to see a project through to its conclusion)
	
This is a final-year module for students on the BSc Population Health Sciences programme, running over Term 1 and Term 2.

You will be conducting your own independent research on a topic of choice which must be discussed with a supervisor. Your project must involve quantitative secondary data analysis or qualitative data analysis. You will engage in self-directed reading, data analysis, and write-up of your project, and will also have regular meetings with your project supervisor. You will have to give a short presentation to your peers about your project and any preliminary results you may have towards the end of Term 1 in Year 3.

The module will be assessed by a 6,000-word dissertation which counts for 90% of your final mark on this module, and a 10 minute Oral presentation which counts for 10% of your final mark on this module.

Module lead is Dr Annemarie Lodder