You need to be aware of what it is that Examiners look for in a successful project and dissertation. Ultimately, no matter what the nature of your dissertation, you will need to demonstrate some or all of the following:

• ask a sensible question in a public health or epidemiological domain, drawing on existing scientific and other knowledge. This does not necessarily mean that you need to carry out original research though your work should be original whatever the nature of your dissertation.
• be critically aware of the strengths and weaknesses of relevant literature and/or data set that you are using, and show critical appraisal skills – poor critical appraisal skills are often a weakness that Examiners and supervisors comment on
• answer your question using an appropriate method and appropriate analyses
• present the information you obtain to answer your question in a clear and sensible way using clear and concise methods of presenting your data. You may need to use suitable basic statistics or advanced statistics if appropriate to interrogate any data fully: Examiners appreciate data that have been summarised and presented to highlight the important points
• make sense of the information you have obtained
• interpret and discuss the implications of the information you have obtained with reference to existing policies, strategies and epidemiological evidence that form the context of your work understand the limitations of what you have done
• show that you have learned from the experience about the process of carrying out a project that is transferable to similar exercises
• write up a dissertation in a conventional academic style.