Research Method

Background (Recommended 2 pages)

This section should provide a brief background on the development of research on the topic and engage the reader by explaining the importance of this body of research.  This may include a discussion of the prevalence, risks, costs, and/or other information about your selected topic.  The information provided must be supported by current, reputable sources and can include citations to government or organization websites, reference or textbooks, and/or empirical studies that are too old to include in your study analysis table.

General Conclusions from Current Research (Recommended 2 pages)

Provide a brief explanation of the general conclusions that can be drawn from the existing research, and references to the specific findings supporting these conclusions.  This section should be filled with APA citations to your studies!

For this section, begin with a short paragraph (several sentences) summarizing the overall conclusions you reach. And then provide specific themes (synthesized findings, category of conclusions, etc.) as illustrated below. This section MUST contain at least two themes, but you may offer a third. The first sentence of each theme should concisely present for the reader the overall finding from the research. The topic statement is very important and allows you to build the rest of the section around it. Once you have your topic statement, you can begin crafting your section and citing to studies to support the synthesized finding. Do not discuss one study at a time, you will discuss all of the studies that had the common results and compare (similarities? differences? trends between studies?). All six sources in your study analysis table should be cited at least once in the text of this section. Please see paper assignment explanation for questions to brainstorm in crafting your synthesized findings.

Theme # 1: ~2-7 Word Summary of this Finding

Begin with a topic sentence that summarizes this overall first common finding supported by several studies. Then explain how multiple studies support this finding finding. For example, several studies may have found one result, but another another study came to a different conclusion; this would be an interesting discussion. Perhaps the reason was that the studies used different participants or methods or locations. Critical thinking is valuable when comparing and critiquing the research. Conclude with a sentence recapping how these findings from these multiple studies relate to one another. A full and well-supported discussion of this synthesized finding will likely be several paragraphs long.

Theme # 2: ~2-7 Word Summary of this Finding>>

Discuss this theme from your research here.

Theme # 3: ~2-7 Word Summary of this Finding>>

This third Synthesized Finding is optional, depending on the depth of your analysis and discussion in your first synthesized findings.

Need for Further Research (Recommended 2 pages)

In this section, you should identify a single important gap/deficiency in the research, provide an explanation for why this gap needs to be addressed, and propose a study design that could address this gap. In doing so, please provide specific references to how this proposed study builds upon the existing body of research.

The first sentence of this section should clearly stated the gap you identified. Following this, provide an explanation of why this gap should be addressed with citations to relevant sources. Finally, in this section you should propose a study that could address this gap. As explained further in the assignment explanation and outlined below, there are six specific questions you must address the description of your study. Rather than addressing these questions in order and individually, please craft a narrative description of your study. This narrative description should show how the methods you propose mirror build upon previously used and validated methods. Do this by providing by citing to specific examples of the research studies you presented in the study analysis table. This is the section should also demonstrate that you can correctly apply research methods concepts and terminology presented throughout the course. Show the reader that you can build a study that meaningfully addresses a gap left open by previous studies conducted.

· Description of Proposed Study (the narrative explanation of your proposed study must address all of these questions, but do not address them individually or in this order):

· What specific research question would your proposed study address?

· Who would be the participants?

· What research methodology or study design would you use?

· What data collection and analysis methods would you use?

· What procedures will be used to assure ethical treatment of participants?

· How is this study feasible and realistic, in light of the existing research on this topic?

The closing paragraph of this section should provide a summary of how your proposed study addresses the gap(s) you have identified and how it will advance knowledge on the topic. Also include a brief description of limitations in the proposed design and barriers or challenges that may be experienced in implementing the project.

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