HA599 Masters Capstone in Healthcare Administration

CAPSTONE CREATIONS presents

~$ ASTUDENT'S GUIDE TO t: THE CAPSTONE

HOW TO MASTER THE UNIT 1PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

WORKING TITLE The title cannot exceed 12 words in length. contain any

abbreviations or words that do not serve a purpose. or words that indicate causation. correlation. or association.

GENERAL PROMEM STATEMENT

The general problem statement is one sentence that identifies the broad problem.

The general problem is viewed at the national level with

supporting evidence from credible sources. such as

government websites. At least one citation is needed to

support your general problem. The paragraph must begin

with, 'The general problem is..."

GOOD EXAMPLES

MUST CLEARLY ANSWER

What is the problem? Why is it a problem?

Where is it a problem?

• The general problem is poor quality of care exists in nursing homes in the United States (DHHS. 2013).

• The general problem is teen pregnancy is prevalent in the United States (CDC, 2016).

POOR EXAMPLES • The general problem is that all nursing home residents are

abused and neglected. • The general problem is teenagers are having sex before

marriage and getting pregnant without thinking about the repercussions and it is causing problems for them to graduate high school and get a job and make it in real life.

' \ I I,.:(J:. fi£LPFUL TIPS: -:, ... Do not use absolutes. Do not indicate

causation. Do not include more than one problem. Do not hypothesize. Do not include your opinion.

SPECIFIC PROBLEM STATEMENT

The specific problem statement is one sentence that identifies the specific

problem. This is accomplished by restating the general

problem narrowed down into an identified population.

demographic. geographic location . etc.

The specific problem is viewed at the local level with supporting evidence from credible sources. such as local health

departments. Medicare compare websites. etc. At least one citation is needed to support your specific problem. The

paragraph must begin with. "The specific problem is...•

GOOD EXAMPLES • The specific problem is poor quality of care exists in nursing

homes in Minnesota. • The specific problem is teen pregnancies are prevalent in

Mississipp i.

POOR EXAMPLES • The specific problem is that nursing home residents are

being abused physically, mentally, and being financially exploited while living in a nursing home.

• The specific problem is that teenagers are not waiting long enough to have sex which is causing them to get pregnant well before they are capable of taking care of a baby.

~ The purpo~~!e:~~~ ~nce that 'tells the reader the purpose of the research

and a few sentences thereafter that asserts the importance of the research. Citations are

needed to support your purpose statement.

The purpose statement is an evident action or directive that can yield results (i.e. increase. decrease. improve.

develop, eradicate. etc.). The purpose statement is not a generic unidentifiable statement (i.e. to determine. to

educate. to see. to find. etc.). The purpose aligns with your specific problem statement. The paragraph must begin

with. "The purpose of this research is to..."

,,,,.,:Q-: HELPFUL TIPS: .- ... You can easily identify the purpose of your

" research by revisiting your original passion for the need to conduct research . If you had a magic wand .

what would you do to eliminate the original problem that you identified? This action is your purpose statement.

GOOD EXAMPLES • The purpose of this research is to increase quality of care for

nursing home residents in Minnesota. This is important to research because the population segment aged 65 and older is rapidly aging and will require long-term care (DHHS, 2013).

• The purpose of this research is to reduce the prevalence of teen pregnancies in Mississippi. This is important to research because Mississippi ranks the highest state for teenage pregnancies (Stork. 2012) and teenage pregnancies impact opportunities for adolescents entering the workforce (CDC. 2016).

POOR EXAMPLES • The purpose of this research is to understand why nursing

home abuse continues. • The purpose of this research is to educate teenagers on

abstinence.

RESEARCH QUESTION(S) The research questions are open-ended

questions relative to your general problem or specific problem. The research

questions aim to probe the root cause underlying the problem statement. They

cannot be easily answered or hypothetical. Label your research questions in numeric ,?\

order (RQl . RQ2. RQ3, etc.). U-J ~ The specific problem is poor quality of U care exists in nursing homes in Minnesota.

GOOD EXAMPLES • RQl: What initiatives can be developed to improve

quality of care among nursing homes in Minnesota? • RQ2: Why is quality of care substandard in Minnesota

compared to other midwestern states?

POOR EXAMPLES • RQl : Do nursing homes residents have a voice? • RQ2: Why do nursing home administrators permit

abuse in their facilities?

~o The specific problem is teen pregnancies are prevalent in Mississippi.

GOOD EXAMPLES • RQl : What initiatives can be developed to increase

teen pregnancy awareness in Mississippi? • RQ2: Why is teen pregnancy more prevalent in

Mississippi compared to other southeastern states?

POOR EXAMPLES • RQl : How are teenage pregnancies happening? • RQ2: Why don't parents do more to prevent their kids

from having sex?

REFERENCES Include at least five scholarly references. Only

scholarly. credible. or peer-reviewed sources will be accepted. You do not need to create a separate

page for your references: however. be sure to follow proper formatting techniques with the individual

sources in your reference list (i.e. alphabetized. capitalized properly. italicize appropriately. etc.).

Your general and specific problem statements will each have a

minimum of one reference. Your purpose statement will have a

minimum of two references.

ACRNOWLEIX;EMENT You are expected to maintain the University's standards for academic research and professional writing. These are the

research. citation. and APA formatting standards outlined in the policy. Writing with Integrity: Expectations for Academic

Research and Professional Writing.

At a minimum. students need to adhere to the following standards when developing their capstone research. Please note that /)

students are expected to review thelj policy for all academic research and

professional writing standards. as this is not an all-inclusive list.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION • The use offirst or second person is prohibited • Assertions that are not common knowledge must

be cited • Direct quotes should be avoided: however. if one is

needed . you are permitted to have one direct quote per 2-3 pages of originally developed content

• Content should be paraphrased and cited (this is different than a direct quote)

• Accidental plagiarism is treated as intentional plagiarism

• The use of previous work is prohibited in your capstone: all content must be developed originally for class

• Double-check for misspellings. grammatical errors. and formatting inaccuracies