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Upload your assignment to Canvas by midnight Sunday February 5
For weekly assignment 7, you will submit a draft of Major Assignment #1.
All of the materials you need to complete the draft are available in the Major Assignment #1 description, which you can access through the week 5 module.
As with all drafts, the more content you can include, the better feedback I can offer. So I would advise that you try to generate a draft that mirrors the final version expected for Major Assignment #1.
This is Major Assignment #1
The following spreadsheets all convey information on the state of American health. Suspend disbelief and transport yourself back in time to 2007. You have been hired as a communications expert by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC,) who would like for you, based on all the data provided, to construct no more than a three-page brief on the state of American health in relation to the key areas of data provided in these spreadsheets. The communication will be available in the lobby of the conference hall and will serve as a summary for a presentation on the state of American health at the 2007 Public Health Conference. Attendees at the conference range from local, state, and federal health officials (those who make and enforce policy), practitioners of all levels, and individuals from industry and non-profit organizations who are directly aligned with public health practices. The information will be used by these attendees to get a concise and accurate understanding of some of the health concerns facing US residents and where future efforts should be directed. Your audience is one that is heavily influenced and informed by science and quantitative data sets. And the setting in which these readers will view the brief requires that the communication be heavily visual and well designed so that the information is easy to access. Readers are looking at your document not for a detailed explanation of the health issues; rather, they are looking at the brief as a means to identify some of the key health issues and the primary data that suggests that these issues need to be addressed.
You may use Word, PowerPoint, or other appropriate applications, but remember you must not exceed three pages in length. Your communication should be concise yet comprehensive in terms of directly conveying the major health concerns and the data that supports your contention as to the seriousness of these concerns. To achieve the goals of this assignment, think about the value of visuals (appropriate graphs) and the need for concise yet informative titles and captions. Also, recognize while the graphs will convey important and accessible trends and data, they may not be able to tell the entire story that is available in the data. Therefore, some written information may have to compliment the story conveyed in your visuals. The spreadsheets contain an abundance of data so you will need to identify the proper amount of data to include and the most appropriate way to convey the data. Follow the conventions outlined in the lecture notes and discussed in Chapter 8.
Use the models I have included in the week 4 module as a guide.
You will notice that the document is structured as a report (It contains an introduction, results, and conclusion section). You can organize your communication in a similar way. Your primary emphasis should be on the results and conclusion. Ask yourself: What conclusions can be drawn from your data and how does the data support the conclusion? Remember your audience. They are primarily scientists whose profession and discipline are centered around objectivity and science. They will expect to see specific conclusions and specific data that supports that conclusion. The conclusion should give readers a clear list of the actions to take based on the results/interpretation of the spreadsheets. Your conclusion should answer the fundamental question: Where should time and money be devoted given the concerns raised in the spreadsheets and communicated in the results section?
The spreadsheets are attached below:
deathrates.xlsDownload deathrates.xls
infantmortality.xlsDownload infantmortality.xls
lifeexpectancy.xlsDownload lifeexpectancy.xls
newcancer.xlsDownload newcancer.xls
obesity.xlsDownload obesity.xls
Evaluation Criteria
Purpose/Audience
Does the communication offer the various readers a clear, informative, and accurate account of the state of American health. Can the readers use the information to get a clear sense of where policy and practice related to health are heading? Is a clear conclusion on American health offered and does the data provided support this conclusion?
Visuals
Are graphics used to offer a clear and comprehensive account of the various aspects of American health. Is text effectively used to help the reader gain an understanding of the various health aspects being communicated?
Design
Is the three-page communication effectively designed so that readers can easily see the data, understand relationships, and identify the conclusion?
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