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Below are the 10 “Substance Areas” of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR), a professional organization whose mission it is to “To provide an educational forum for family researchers, educators, and practitioners to share in the development and dissemination of knowledge about families and family relationships, establish professional standards, and work to promote family well-being” (http://www.ncfr.org/).

During the 8 weeks of this senior seminar students will, with the guidance of their instructor, select and conduct a review of peer reviewed literature related to the 10 substance areas (Note: All articles must be retrieved from the APUS online library).  The phrase “peer reviewed” means that a publication contains articles reviewed and deemed academically sound and scientifically rigorous by the author’s peers in the field.

Students will select, from the larger body of child and family development literature, three peer reviewed journal articles per substance area and review, summarize and critique them in one paper per area (each article review should be between 1 and 1½ pages – double-spaced, equating to 3-4 ½ pages per substance area).   The format for this assignment should be:

1. Substance Area Name
   • Research article 1 (include the title of the article)
   • Research article 2 (include the title of the article)
   • Research article 3 (include the title of the article)