LSC-40030 Project Management and Business Planning Literature Review 2025-26 | KU
LSC-40030 Aims
This assignment aims to allow you to develop and evidence the ability to:
- Develop a critical awareness of current issues and trends within the Biomedical Sciences.
- Critically evaluate scientific literature to assess current practice within Biomedical Science.
- Use scientific research principles to develop new lines of scientific questioning.
- Conduct a literature review in a self-chosen area of interest.
- Communicate personal findings and conclusions to others using written documents.
- Demonstrate innovation and originality within Biomedical Sciences and the application and procurement of new knowledge.
LSC-40030 Description
When formulating the title of your literature review, try to be focused. If the title is too vague or likely to only produce a factual account, it will be very difficult for you to demonstrate the higher-level skills required for good marks. Ideally, your title would be posed as a question that allows you to demonstrate a high level of understanding and critical thinking. For example, a question that asks you to compare and contrast different medications or treatment strategies, evaluate the effectiveness of different biomarkers, or critique the strength of current research in a given area.
The more specific your title/question is, the better and more focused your answer is likely to be. The PICO system might be able to help you here. PICO is used heavily across the health sector to help formulate a good research question. Here, you think about each of the following areas before designing your title:
Population: Does your question involve a specific population? For example, people with a diagnosed illness, adults or children, confined to a specific country or internationally, taking certain medication, etc.
Intervention: What is it you are particularly interested in studying? For example, a new drug, a biomarker, clinical guidelines, etc.
Comparator: Will you be comparing your intervention with anything else? For example, a different drug, different populations, different biomarkers, etc.
Outcome: What is it you are looking for or hoping to measure? For example, quality of life indicators, patient morbidity or mortality, sensitivity or specificity, etc.
The links below may help you to understand the PICO and alternative systems that can be used to help frame a good research question. These are usually used in systematic reviews, but they can still help you to formulate a good question for your literature review.
PICO – the most common framework, good for quantitative studies.
SPIDER – adapted from PICO, good for qualitative or mixed-method research.
SPICE – builds on PICO, used more in social sciences, but good for broader questions.