SHN7036 - Public Health Dissertation

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

1 - Develop an ethically informed public health research proposal with a clear rationale, research aim and appropriate methodological approach;
2 - Undertake an independent public health project using appropriate research, evaluation or evidence-review methods;
3 - Analyse and interpret public health evidence, data or findings in relation to relevant theory, policy, practice and population health outcomes; and,
4 - Produce a coherent journal-style dissertation report that critically evaluates the research process, communicates evidence-informed conclusions and makes recommendations relevant to public health practice, policy or research.

Content:

The Public Health Dissertation represents the culmination of the MSc Public Health programme. It enables you to undertake an independent project that addresses a contemporary public health issue and demonstrates your ability to apply advanced knowledge, research skills and critical thinking to public health practice, policy or evidence.

You will identify a suitable topic related to public health, population health, health inequalities, epidemiology, health promotion, behaviour change, public health policy, global health, community wellbeing, intervention design, evaluation or another relevant area of public health. Dissertation topics may be informed by local, national or global public health priorities and may draw on professional, community, policy or research contexts.

The module allows you to undertake an independent public health project using an appropriate research, evaluation or evidence-review approach. This may include primary empirical research, secondary data analysis, systematic or structured literature review, scoping review, policy analysis, service evaluation, intervention evaluation, needs assessment, or another appropriate public health research design. The chosen approach will be agreed with an academic supervisor and must be feasible within the scope of the module.

You will be expected to demonstrate critical engagement with relevant literature, public health evidence, theory and policy. Depending on the focus of your project, you may engage with epidemiological evidence, public health datasets, qualitative or quantitative research, community perspectives, policy documents, intervention evidence or evaluation frameworks.

The module will require you to consider ethical and professional issues in public health research and evaluation. This will include appropriate attention to research ethics, data protection, informed consent where relevant, confidentiality, risk, safeguarding, power, representation, cultural competence, health equity and the potential implications of the work for communities, organisations or public health practice.

By the end of the module, you will produce an independent dissertation that demonstrates your ability to investigate a public health issue in depth, critically interpret evidence and findings, and make evidence-informed recommendations relevant to public health practice, policy, research or intervention development.

The module aligns with the UKPHR Practitioner Standards (2026), supporting the development of capabilities in ethical and transparent public health research, evidence appraisal, data interpretation, project planning, research governance and the communication of evidence-informed recommendations.

Learning and Teaching Information:

This module is delivered through a combination of dissertation preparation sessions, individual supervision meetings and guided independent study. Dissertation preparation sessions will support key stages of the research process, including project design, literature searching, methodology, ethics, data analysis, evidence synthesis, academic writing and dissemination of public health findings.

You will be supported to refine your research question or project aim, identify appropriate literature and evidence, select and justify a suitable methodology, consider ethical requirements, analyse or synthesise data or evidence, and present your findings in an appropriate academic format.

The module will also introduce principles of open and reproducible research practice, informed by sector expectations around research transparency, robustness, integrity and rigour (UKRN). This may include consideration of clear research protocols, transparent reporting, data management, reproducible analysis, audit trails, appropriate sharing of research materials, and the responsible use of data, software and digital tools. These practices will be considered in relation to the ethical, legal and professional requirements of public health research, recognising that openness must be balanced with confidentiality, data protection, safeguarding and the responsible handling of sensitive or identifiable data.

Individual supervision meetings will provide formative guidance at key points in the dissertation process. You will undertake substantial independent study throughout the module, including reading, project planning, ethics preparation where required, data collection or evidence retrieval, data analysis or evidence synthesis, writing and responding to formative feedback.

The module prepares you to work independently, ethically and transparently on a public health issue, developing skills relevant to future employment in public health practice, research, evaluation, policy, health promotion, community wellbeing and related professional contexts.



Lectures
Hours: 15
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Individual Supervision Meetings
Hours: 10

Guided Independent Study Hours: 575



Further Details Relating to Assessment

The assessment requires you to complete an independent public health project and present this as a dissertation/research report. The project will be based on an agreed topic with a supervisor relevant to the MSc Public Health programme and may address an issue relating to population health, health inequalities, epidemiology, health promotion, public health policy, intervention design, evaluation, community wellbeing, global health or another relevant area of public health.

The dissertation may be based on primary empirical research, secondary data analysis, systematic, structured or scoping literature review, policy analysis, service or intervention evaluation, public health needs assessment, or another appropriate public health research or evaluation project. The chosen approach must be agreed with the dissertation supervisor and must be feasible within the scope of the module.

A formative proposal process will support the development of your dissertation/research report. Through this process, you will identify and refine your public health rationale, research aim or question, methodological approach and ethical considerations. There will be a requirement to engage with the University ethics process within this module.

The final dissertation/research report should normally include a clear public health rationale, research question or project aim, critical engagement with relevant literature and evidence, justification of the selected methodology, analysis or synthesis of findings, discussion of implications for public health practice, policy or research, and evidence-informed conclusions and recommendations.

Students will also be expected to critically evaluate the strengths, limitations and implications of their project within the written submission. The exact structure of the dissertation/research report may vary depending on the type of project undertaken and the conventions of the selected research, evaluation or evidence-review approach.

All projects must be conducted in accordance with university procedures for research ethics, research integrity and data management. Where a project involves primary data collection, human participants, identifiable data, sensitive data or organisational data, ethical approval must be obtained before the project proceeds. Projects based solely on published literature or fully anonymised, publicly available data may not require full ethical approval, but students must still follow University guidance on ethical research practice.

Formative feedback will be provided through individual supervision meetings and dissertation preparation activities. Students will be expected to take responsibility for managing the dissertation process, maintaining regular contact with their supervisor, meeting agreed milestones and responding to formative feedback.

Full assessment guidance, marking criteria, supervision expectations and submission requirements will be provided in the Module Handbook.

Assessment:

Fact File

Module Coordinator - PRS_CODE=
Level - 7
Credit Value - 60
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered -

Click here to go back to previous page