Revision

Project Plan Guide Professional Doctorate Programs

Instructions

This Project Plan Guide is a companion document to the Project Plan Template. You will insert

your content into the Project Plan Template. This guide is designed to help you recognize how to

develop content for each section. In addition to reviewing the Project Plan Guide, you should

also review the instructions for Assignments in the Virtual Residency courses.

Go to Professional Doctorates and review your professional doctorate program requirements.

Review the Acceptable Topics and Methods document for your program and ensure your topic is within the program requirements:

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Doctor of Health Care Administration (DHA)

Doctor of Information Technology (DIT)

Doctor of Emergency Management (DEM)

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

Doctor of Social Work (DSW)

Doctor of Public Administration (DPA)

Project Plan Guide Professional Doctorate Programs

V e r s i o n 1 .2 0 L a s t R e v i s e d 7.15.22

O w n e r : O f f i c e o f R e s e a r c h & S c h o l a r s h i p 1

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Name:

Learner ID:

Learner Email Address:

School:

Program/Specialization:

Type of project (e.g., dissertation, capstone, etc.):

Topic Topic proposal is grounded in a problem and aligned with program of study.

When selecting a doctoral topic, learners should avoid topics involving significant participant

risk, including those which might be considered highly "sensitive" or involve highly vulnerable

populations. Certain topics are also prohibited at Capella. Be sure to review the information on

Topic Selection on Campus.

Key Scoring Guide Criteria

• Describes the specific topic, including the target population name and

phenomena.

• Applies conventions of voice, academic tone, and discipline-specific language

• Conveys purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence in grammatically sound sentences.

Faculty how can you help the learner here?

A.

B.

C.

Resources for Faculty:

• Alignment of topic, questions, methodology – quantitative (this would be the what

faculty need to know – such here as some basics tips to ensure the learner has aligned everything to a quantitative study) and so forth…

Alignment to the Program of Study

Presents an introduction to a clear topic proposal grounded in a problem within the program,

project, and topic. Suggested length 1-2 paragraphs.

The topic introduction opens the window into your project, orienting the reader to the

topic, focus, and area of interest within your program and specialization. The introduction

should provide a concise, clear overview of the proposed project and make the link

between the topic and your professional doctorate program. Ensure you provide clear

statements regarding how your proposed topic is within your doctoral program.

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Include interesting facts, statistics, or statements that catch the attention of your reader

and which are relevant to your topic and project. Use recent scholarly references

published within the last 5 years plus additional seminal research. Ensure a thesis

sentence exists in which you clearly identify the topic and the specific focus of your

project. Make a strong case for your project topic and focus. Write with proper grammar

and APA format and style, using a scholarly tone, and expert paragraph development.

This is not a purpose statement, background of the project, or justification for the project,

but an opening 1-2 paragraph section introducing your proposed project. The section is

written clearly and is grounded in a problem in your program.

A brief hypothetical example of an opening paragraph for the topic section:

The topic of the proposed project is the unfulfilled psychological contract of Gen

Z employees in the U.S. gaming technology industry. The definition of the Gen Z

psychological contract is an unwritten set of employee expectations regarding

their employment relationship (citation).

Examples of Gen Z workplace expectations are clear and defined productivity

goals, a positive organizational culture, a supervisor who exhibits a caring,

positive attitude, flexible work schedules, and work-life-entertainment balance

(citation). Organizational leaders who violate Gen Zers’ psychological contract

often experience reduced productivity, lower job satisfaction among workers, and

higher employee turnover (citation).

Problem

Key Scoring Guide Criteria

• Articulates the problem to be addressed and the question(s) aligned with the identified problem.

• Explains the proposed gap or problem supported by existing literature.

• Applies conventions of voice, academic tone, and discipline-specific language

• Conveys purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence in

grammatically sound sentences. Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from

the overall message.

• Resources: Scholarly references including seminal research on the topic. Use

primary sources. Include in the Reference section at the end of the paper.

• APA guidelines: Double-spaced paragraph formatting in the body of the paper.

When appropriate, use APA-formatted headings. Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and format. See Evidence and APA

Clearly stated problem aligns with program, reflects literature gap or practice issue, and identifies population of interest.

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for more information on APA style and format.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Problem to be Addressed

Describe a general and specific problem that is clearly defined and aligned with the program,

including what the problem is, who is experiencing the problem, where the problem exists, and

the professional/organizational context. Suggested length 1-2 paragraphs.

The problem is the foundational element of your project. Without a well-grounded and

articulated general and specific problem, you have no foundation to develop the project.

The existence of a real-world problem gives you the foundation needed to complete the

project.

Describe a problem that is currently happening within your program or profession. The

problem should be significant and relate to concerns that people in the industry, field, or

area care about. Current practitioner or scholarly literature should support that this

problem exists. Use recent scholarly references published within the last 5 years plus

additional seminal research.

General problem – what is happening throughout an industry, community, larger fields of

participants, or area of focus. How is the problem manifesting? What adversity is being

experienced? In other words, what harm does the general problem create for the

organization, industry, practitioner, professional, leader, community, group or area of

focus? The general problem is an umbrella problem that the specific problem fits under.

Use a current source (past 1-3 years) to cite the general problem and follow with at least

two cited supporting sentences.

Specific problem – what narrowed group of participants are experiencing the problem

(i.e., a specific organization, a specific type of person, a department, or a specific area of

focus). How is the problem manifesting? What adversity is being experienced? The

specific problem is a subproblem of the general problem. Use a current source (past 1-3

years) to cite the specific problem and follow with at least two cited supporting

sentences.

What is a problem?

• A simple definition of a problem is something to be fixed or something requiring corrective action.

• Another consideration is something that needs to be improved (or requires innovation).

• A form of adversity is associated with a problem. In other words, the problem causes some form of harm or significant concern.

What is not a problem?

• A need (might indicate a gap in practice or gap in literature, but not the problem).

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• A goal.

• Lack of knowledge (might indicate a gap in practice or gap in the existing body of knowledge, but not the problem).

• Lack of understanding (might indicate a gap in practice or gap in the existing body of knowledge, but not the problem).

• Lack of existing literature (indicates a gap in literature, but not the problem

• That which is not appropriate to the discipline or professional doctorate program.

NOTE: The specific problem is NOT a gap in practice, knowledge, understanding, or

literature. What is happening because of the gap in practice, knowledge, or understanding

often is the specific problem.

Here is a hypothetical example:

Leaders in the U.S. technology industry face significant challenges in meeting the

expectations of Gen Z employee (citation). The general problem is unsatisfied

Gen Z workers in the U.S. technology industry is resulting in lower productivity

and increased employee replacement cost (citation). Gen Z workers resign from

their positions at higher rates than any other generational cohort when leaders

fail to meet their needs and workplace expectations (citation).

The specific problem is the unfulfilled psychological contract of Gen Z employees

by complacent leaders of U.S. gaming technology companies resulting in

dissatisfied workers and high employee turnover (citation). The U.S. gaming

technology industry experienced 35% turnover rate of Gen Z workers in 2020

compared to 20% overall turnover rate in the industry (citation). Gen Z workers

claimed a key rationale for leaving their job in the technology industry was that

leaders failed to understand and meet their expectations (citation). Results from a

2020 survey conducted by ABC Consulting indicated that 50% of Gen Z

employees in the gaming technology industry responded that they would change

jobs within the next 12 months if leaders did not recognize and meet their

expectations regarding flexible scheduling, length of workdays, and paid-time-off

(citation).

Here is a sample format structure that you should use as your write your problem

statement:

The general problem is resulting in

(the adversity, the harm created by the general

problem) (CITE A CURRENT SOURCE). Follow with a several cited facts about

the general problem.

The specific problem is (who, what, where,

professional/organizational context) resulting in

(the adversity, the harm created by the specific

problem) (CITE A CURRENT SOURCE).

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Gap

Follow with a few supporting cited statements regarding the specific problem;

including statistics is always good to expose the degree of the problem; how bad

and big the problem is (%, ratio, $ in cost).

Present an analysis of a gap in alignment with the problem and placed within the program.

Addresses the broader questions of “who cares” and “why now.” Suggested length 1-2

paragraphs.

Conducting a gap analysis is essential to justifying your project. Most professional

doctorate programs indicate the need to identify and analyze a gap in practice, especially

when your project is based on the actions of people. Some programs and specializations

prompt you to identify a gap in literature or field of the topic. Ensure you recognize the

type of gap analysis that applies to your professional doctorate program and

specialization.

A gap in literature exists when areas have not been explored or examined or the area is

underexplored or underexamined. In such cases the gap might be associated with the

sampling frame, the methodological approach, the geographic setting, or the type of data

collected.

As most professional doctorate programs are focused on practitioner-based action

projects, the primary focus of this guide section will be explaining a gap in practice,

which could be considered a gap in professional practice, a gap in practitioner practice, or

a gap in area of interest.

The gap in practice provides you with the justification to conduct the project and serves

as a guide for you to select the appropriate project outcomes. Similar to the problem, if no

gap exists, then you have no need to conduct the project; therefore, a clearly articulated

gap is essential to justify the necessity for the project.

Describe how the problem within your professional doctorate program came to be. First,

describe current state of the specific problem and how the problem arrived at that state.

What is the desired state? (What should be happening to mitigate or eliminate the

problem within the company, industry, professional/organizational context, community,

group, or area of focus). Describe the difference between the current state of the problem

and the desired state as the “gap in practice” as it relates to the problem. Cite any sources

which state this gap as part of the problem. Be explicit in your statements to clearly

denote what the gap in practice is and include your gap analysis. Ensure that the gap in

practice aligns with the specific problem and address two critical questions in your gap

analysis: who cares and why now?

Gaps in practice exists when professionals/practitioners:

• are not doing everything they could.

• are not doing things correctly.

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• could improve what they are doing.

Examples of how gaps occur include when:

• laws change (i.e., Affordable Care Act).

• crises occur (i.e., pandemics).

• competition changes, (i.e., innovations).

• customer needs change (i.e., changing demographics).

Gaps can be in:

• knowledge (professionals/practitioners do not know something).

• competence (professionals/practitioners do not know how to do something, do not

have methods or strategies).

• performance (professionals/practitioners not doing something in their practice).

NOTE: Clearly and explicitly state the gap in practice. The first sentence in the Gap section

should begin with: The gap in practice is_______________________________(Cite a current

source).

Here is an example:

Current state (Gap analysis question: What is currently happening?): The unfulfilled psychological contract of Gen Z employees by complacent leaders of

U.S. gaming technology companies results in dissatisfied workers and high

employee turnover (citation).

Desired state (Gap analysis question: What should be happening?): Leaders in

the gaming technology industry fulfill the psychological contract of Gen Z

employees to improve worker satisfaction and reduce employee turnover

(citation).

Gap in Practice (Gap analysis questions: Why does the current state exists? What

is the underlying root cause of the gap?): Gaming technology industry leaders do

not obtain the training necessary to fulfill the employment psychological contract

of Gen Z employees (citation).

Substantiating the Gap (What evidence in the literature exists to validate or

prove the gap exists?): Business leaders in the U.S. gaming technology industry

lack the generational cohort training to meet the expectations of Gen Z workers

(citation).

Here is an example of alignment among key sections of a project using the gap

analysis above:

• The specific problem is the unfulfilled psychological contract of Gen Z

employees by complacent leaders of U.S. gaming technology companies

resulting in dissatisfied workers and high employee turnover (citation).

• The purpose of this qualitative inquiry project is to explore the

perspectives of Gen Z employee in the U.S. gaming technology industry

regarding the leader’s role in fulfilling their employment psychological

contract.

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• Project Question: What are the perspectives of Gen Z employees in the U.S.

gaming technology industry regarding the leader’s role in fulfilling their employment psychological contract?

• A gap in practice is gaming technology industry leaders do not obtain the

training necessary to fulfill the employment psychological contract of Gen Z

employees (citation).

Supporting Evidence

Key Scoring Guide Criteria

• Identifies the theoretical foundation or practice orientation for the proposed study

supported by literature.

• Articulates the problem to be addressed and the question(s) aligned with the

identified problem

• Conveys purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence in grammatically sound sentences.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from

the overall message.

• Resources: Scholarly references including seminal research on the topic. Use

primary sources. Include in the Reference section at the end of the paper.

• APA guidelines: Double-spaced paragraph formatting in the body of the paper.

When appropriate, use APA-formatted headings. Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and format. See Evidence and APA

for more information on APA style and format.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Primary Orientation

Provide an introduction to the review of scholarly literature, an argument for conducting the

review, and a primary theoretical (and practice) orientation. Suggested length 3-4 paragraphs.

The introduction is an orientation for your reader to know what you will address in the

literature review. Provide an opening paragraph that includes your strong argument for

how and why you are conducting the literature review, including concepts such as

conducting a synthetic review using critical analysis and reviewing scholarly literature.

Orient your reader to your theoretical, conceptual, or applied framework as applicable to

your project and your professional doctorate program. Ensure you link your review of the

literature with the applicable framework and provide the professional practitioner

orientation applicable to your topic. Remind the reader of the topic,

Literature review addresses previous relevant research and articulates theoretical (practice)

orientation.

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organizational/professional context, and/or area of interest within your professional doctorate program as related to the literature review to follow.

A brief hypothetical example based on the project question: What are the perspectives of

Gen Z employees in the U.S. gaming technology industry regarding the leader’s role in

fulfilling their employment psychological contract?

Reviewing, analyzing, and synthesizing literature is essential to ground this

proposed project in the existing body of knowledge. The focus of the review

remains on current scholarly and seminal literature regarding the workplace

expectations of Gen Z employees published within the past 5 years. Excluded

from this review of literature are unreliable sources such as blogs, opinion-based

publications, and information from internet sites such as Wikipedia or

Investopedia.

The project is conducted through the lens of the managing Gen Z employees applied framework with the key concepts of (a) supporting career development,

(b) optimization of technology, (c) flexible work arrangements, (d) exhibit

concern for mental health, and (e) maintain an open-door policy to keep the

feedback loop open. The objective of this literature review is to expose the

existing understanding of the unwritten psychological contract between Gen Z

workers and their employers and the results when leaders or employers violate the

contract.

Efforts to Address the Problem

Provide a synthesized review of the scholarly literature to expose, explain, and analyze previous scholarly efforts to address the problem. Suggested length 3-4 paragraphs.

The word “synthesize” as applied to a review of the literature is defined as a combining,

comparing, and contrasting of findings, theories, themes, gaps, and opinions found in the

topical literature and a drawing of new conclusions from the literature. Synthesis occurs

through the combining of two or more parts to form a new whole. When you combine the

literature through comparative and contrasting content, critically analyze, evaluate, and

interpret the combined, compared, and contrasted literature, and write up your critical

analysis, evaluation, and interpretation, you create a new whole. Critical analysis requires

critical reading and critical thinking.

Critical reading involves:

• Ascertaining if the authors used credible evidence to support their findings as opposed to offering personal opinions or worldviews.

• Determining if the authors provided a sound argument for their conclusions.

• Evaluating the limitations of the research, relevancy to topic, significance to the

field, and implications of the findings.

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Critical thinking involves:

• Using logic and reasoning to evaluate the article.

• Ascertaining the constancy and consistency within the article.

• Forming an objective judgement of the article’s value, validity, and usefulness.

Questions to ask when conducting a critical analysis:

• What is context and background of the topic and problem?

• Who is affected, involved, and interested and why?

• How, when, where, and why does this problem or issue occur?

• What was the progression of the problem or issue and why did the progression

occur?

• What are the implications resulting from the problem or issue?

• What can be learned from evaluating the problem or issue?

In creating a synthetic literature review, your goal is to develop a new, relevant, useful

perspective by synthesizing the findings and results of previous researchers. Reflect on

the word synergy: the combining of two or more parts, substances, companies to produce

a greater effect that the sum of the parts, substances, or companies. As you develop the

literature review, you will combine, compare, contrast, analyze, evaluate, and interpret

the literature to create a synthetic literature review. This section of the Project Plan is not

your fully complete literature review, but a robust preliminary review of the literature.

A review of the scholarly literature is necessary to understand your project problem from

the perspective of scholarly researchers. You need to understand the findings and results

of past and current studies conducted by scholarly researchers to address the problem.

Open with a two-to-three sentence introduction to orient the reader to what will be

presented in this section. Follow with a synthesized review of the scholarly literature to

expose scholarly efforts to address the problem. Close out this section with a two-to-three

sentence concluding statement to address the problem and gap to justify the basis and

need for the project. Ensure the review remains in alignment with your topic and specific

problem within your professional doctorate program and specialization. Consider the

following as you develop content:

• Introduction

• What scholarly literature includes a discussion of the problem?

• How are scholarly researchers addressing the problem?

• What are the degrees of success or failure in overcoming the problem?

• What are the areas of agreement, disagreement, and conflicting positions of the scholarly researchers addressing the business problem?

• What data collection techniques are being used?

• What data collection instruments are being used?

• What are the results?

• Conclusion

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A brief hypothetical example based on the project question: What are the perspectives of

Gen Z employees in the U.S. gaming technology industry regarding the leader’s role in

fulfilling their employment psychological contract?

Gen Zers are people born from 1997-2009; therefore, in 2021, the oldest Gen

Zers are 24 years old, resulting in a lower number of Gen Zers in the workforce

compared to the Millennial generational cohort (Sasha, 2021). Although Gen

Zers are the newest generational cohort to join the ranks of employment, ample

literature and published studies exists in which researchers addressed the

problem of the unfulfilled psychological contract of Gen Z employees. A review of

previous efforts to address the problem is essential to grounding this project in

the existing body of knowledge.

Fred (2020) conducted a quantitative, correlational study to test the relationship

among the variables of Gen Z worker satisfaction rates and Gen Z turnover rates

in the U.S. technology industry, finding a positive and significant correlation

between satisfaction rates and turnover rates. Fred noted that leaders in the U.S.

technology industry must recognize and meet the expectations of Gen Z workers

to improve satisfaction and turnover rates. In agreement with Fred, Sally (2021),

through a qualitative multiple case study, collecting data from three U.S.

technology companies through interviews with leaders and Gen Z employees and

a review of company records, found that leaders lack a full understanding of the

psychological contract and expectations of Gen Z workers. Sally recommended

that technology industry leaders obtain more generational cohort training to

better understand the wants, needs, and expectations of their Gen Z employees. In

contrast to Sally, Zippora (2021) suggested that technology leaders should not

alter their communication or leadership style to accommodate a specific

generational cohort, as doing so sends mixed signals and creates organizational

conflict among the general workforce. Leaders in the technology industry often do

not understand how to interact and communicate with Gen Z workers (Dalton,

2019). In a study of Gen Z workers’ satisfaction drivers conducted using the

qualitative inquiry method, Dalton (2019) found that satisfaction rates increased

when Gen Zers had flexible work schedules, could maintain work-life balance,

and were presented with meaningful, challenging work projects. When leaders do

not consider the workplace expectations and fulfill the psychological contract of

Gen Z workers, job satisfaction rates diminish, and turnover rates increase

(Dalton, 2019). The preponderance of the evidence in the literature indicates that

leaders in the technology industry should accommodate the wants, needs, and

expectations of Gen Z workers to improve job satisfaction rates and lower

employee turnover rates.

Synthesis of the Evidence

Provide a logically organized and synthesized review and analysis of the literature in close

alignment with the topic, problem, and gap. Suggested length 3-4 paragraphs.

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A synthesis of the literature occurs when you combine, compare, and contrast the

findings, theories, themes, gaps, and opinions found in the topical literature, analyze, and

evaluate the compared and contrasted literature, and draw new conclusions from the

analysis and evaluation. As you develop content for this section, you will combine,

compare, contrast, critically analyze, evaluate, and interpret the literature on your topic,

industry, organizational/professional context, and/or area of interest within your

professional doctorate program and specialization to provide a synthesis of the literature.

This section is not designed to comprise a fully completed review of the literature. The

objective is to provide a robust preliminary review and analysis of the literature to

synthesize the evidence to support your project.

Questions to ask when conducting a critical analysis:

• What is context and background of the topic and problem?

• Do the authors of the literature provide credible evidence?

• What are the limitations of the authors’ research?

• Do the authors of the literature provide a constant and consistent discussion,

resulting in valid, trustworthy findings and conclusions?

• Who is affected, involved, and interested and why?

• How, when, where, and why does this problem or issue occur?

• What was the progression of the problem or issue and why did the progression

occur?

• What are the implications resulting from the problem or issue?

• What can be learned from evaluating the problem or issue?

Expose the similarities and differences between the literature authors’ opinions, findings,

and theories. Compare and contrast the literature authors’ opinions, findings, and

theories, clearly denoting who agrees with who, who built on the previous work of who,

who disagrees with who, and who takes an alternative stance to the industry norm or

standard as related to your topic and problem.

A brief hypothetical example based on the project question: What are the perspectives of

Gen Z employees in the U.S. gaming technology industry regarding the leader’s role in

fulfilling their employment psychological contract?

Gen Z workers expect employers to fulfill their psychological contract defined as

an unwritten agreement between workers and employers as to the employee

meeting the expectations of workers regarding rewards, career development, job

satisfaction, organizational culture, positive and open communication channels,

and work-life balance (Marsh, 2020). Kay (2021), in agreement with Marsh

(2020), noted that if employers violate the psychological contract of Gen Z

workers, the results are increased turnover, lower productivity, and increased

overall organizational costs. Through a qualitative multiple case study, Roger

(2020) found that Gen Z employees in the technology industry will leave a place

of employment with 18 months if they deem their workplace expectations are not

met.

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Gen Z employees in the technology industry seek upward career mobility, yet will

quickly leave a place of employment when they sense the leader does not care

about their professional development (Eli, 2019). In concert with Eli (2019),

Vivian (2020) noted that Gen Zers deem career development opportunities highly

important and essential to remaining satisfied and motivated. Conversely, Naomi

(2021) found through a quantitative correlational study that no significant

relationship exists between Gen Z career mobility and intentions to quit. Naomi

did find more Gen Zers expressed an intention to quit because of regimented work

schedules and poor work-life balance issues.

Employees within the Gen Z cohort expect optimized technology within the

workplace (Freddie, 2019). Paul (2021) conducted a study of the use of

technology by Gen Zers, finding that Gen Zers, on average, spend 8 hours a day

using some form of technology, such as a computer, a smart phone, social media,

or video gaming. Gen Zers’ personal technology desires extend to the workplace

in that they expect their positions and daily work task to involve technology (Paul,

2021). Leaders in the technology industry who fail to recognize the need to

upgrade their networks and technology hardware and software risk losing Gen Z

workers at a higher rate than member of older generational cohorts (Stan, 2020).

Purpose of the Project and Project Questions Purpose and questions align with topic, problem, and supporting evidence, including definition of

terms.

Key Scoring Guide Criteria

• Within the purpose of the project, identify the project technique, the population,

variables to be examined (quantitative), concepts or phenomenon to be explored

(qualitative), the target population, and the geographic location written in a de-

identified method (Census regions).

• Lists project questions that align with the topic, problem, and supporting evidence

within the program.

• Explains terms and definitions as they relate to the program, topic, problem, gap,

program, and framework.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• Resources: Scholarly references including seminal research on the topic. Use

primary sources. Include in the Reference section at the end of the paper.

• APA guidelines: Double-spaced paragraph formatting in the body of the paper.

When appropriate, use APA-formatted headings. Resources and citations are

formatted according to current APA style and format. See Evidence and APA

for more information on APA style and format.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

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Purpose of the Project

Provide one-to-two sentences aligned with the topic, problem, gap in practice, and project question

to state the purpose of the project.

The purpose of the project is a statement about what you intend to study, based on the specific

problem you identified and the gap in practice you seek to address. By fulfilling the purpose, you

may create new knowledge to inform or shrink the gap in practice.

Here are some examples:

The purpose of this qualitative inquiry project is to explore the perspectives of middle-managers in

the U.S. banking industry regarding succession planning.

The purpose of this quantitative correlational project is to examine the relationship between bonus

incentives and employee satisfaction among U.S. front-line workers in the restaurant industry

during the pandemic.

Statement of Primary Question(s)

Provide 1-3 project questions that align with the topic, problem, and supporting evidence within

the program.

Project questions are influenced by your specific problem and the identified gap you seek

to address. Project questions are formulated as interrogative statements that express the

knowledge you are seeking to obtain through conducting your project. You should

critically examine and align the project questions with the topic statements and the

specific problem. Alignment must exist among all the foundational elements and all

elements be within your professional doctorate program. Ensure project questions cannot

be answered with yes or no.

Alignment means that each key sentence in the foundation sections (topic, problem, gap,

project questions) are focused on the same issue and are consistent and congruent.

Here is an example of alignment using the qualitative inquiry technique:

• Topic: The focus of this qualitative inquiry project is to explore the reasons why a

nationwide group of former American women engineers chose to leave the

profession.

• Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative inquiry project is to explore the

perspectives of U.S. women engineers who chose to leave the profession.

• Specific Problem: The specific problem is that the percentage of women in the

engineering workforce remains low and there is a net drain on female talent as

more women choose to leave than are entering resulting in significant costs for

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engineering companies from talent discontinuity and unrealized business

revenues (citation).

• Gap in Practice: Despite the emphasis placed on hiring women into engineering

professions, the underrepresentation of women in the engineering workforce

continues (citation), and the need for practitioners to fully understand and

address the causes of the phenomenon continues (citation).

• Project Question: What are the perspectives of U.S. women engineers who chose

to leave the profession?

Here are two more examples of alignment/congruency:

• The purpose of this qualitative inquiry project is to explore the phenomenon

of succession planning as described by middle-managers in the banking

industry located in the Southeast region United States.

• Project Question: What are the succession planning practices of banking middle

managers?

• The purpose of this quantitative correlational project is to examine the

relationship between bonus incentives and employee satisfaction among United

States front-line workers in the restaurant industry during the pandemic.

• Project Question: What is the relationship between bonus incentives and employee

satisfaction among front-line workers in the restaurant industry during the

pandemic?

•

There should be no less than one and no more than three project questions. Include

evidence from the literature to support each project question. Please note that DSW

learners must ask qualitative questions and use qualitative measures in their projects.

Definition of Terms

Present a list of terms and definitions that relate to the program, topic, problem, gap, and

project framework. Define each important term.

Define any important terms to allow your reader to understand the specific use of those

terms throughout the project. Define important terms related to the topic, industry,

professional/organizational context, and/or area of focus. Cite each definition using high-

quality practitioner or scholarly literature. Avoid using a dictionary or .pedia websites

(i.e., Wikipedia, Investopedia, etc.) as a source to define the term. State the term to be

defined and follow with the definition. Place the terms in alphabetical order.

Example:

Corporate Social Responsibility. The definition of corporate social responsibility

is… ........ (citation).

This should be written in a glossary format, where the terms are listed in alphabetical

order.

Proposed Project Framework Methodological approach is clearly defined and includes constructs, phenomena, variables, and population.

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Key Scoring Guide Criteria

• Identifies the proposed methodology (and design, if applicable) and rationale for

this methodology.

• Describes the population sample of participants, statistics, and potential

recruitment sources.

• Refines the descriptions of constructs and phenomena based on the proposed

methodology and alignment with the topic, problem, gap, and question(s).

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• Resources: Scholarly references including seminal research on the topic. Use

primary sources. Include in the Reference section at the end of the paper.

• APA guidelines: Double-spaced paragraph formatting in the body of the paper.

When appropriate, use APA-formatted headings. Resources and citations are

formatted according to current APA style and format. See Evidence and APA

for more information on APA style and format.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

You will develop the proposed project framework, including the methodological

approach, the population and sample, and the constructs, phenomena, and variables of

your doctoral project. Several key elements and activities included in your doctoral

program might be labeled as a framework. For clarity, do not confuse the proposed

project framework with an applied framework, a theoretical framework, or a

professional development framework. Please note that DSW learners must choose

qualitative methods for their projects and that projects must be action research or

program evaluation projects.

Go to Professional Doctorates and review your professional doctorate program

requirements.

As each doctoral program has different approved methodological approaches (or

techniques), review the Acceptable Topics and Methods document for your program and

ensure your methodological approach is within the program requirements:

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Doctor of Information Technology (DIT)

Doctor of Emergency Management (DEM)

Doctor of Social Work (DSW)

Doctor of Public Administration (DPA)

Methodological Approach

Provide a description and explanation of the methodological approach. The methodological

approach must align to the topic, problem, supporting evidence, and data sources. Suggested

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length 2-3 paragraphs.

As you complete this section, make sure you have addressed triangulation (if required by

your methodology). From what 3 sources will you collect data (information)?

Quantitative descriptive and exploratory often use surveys. Qualitative studies often use

one-on-one interviews, focus groups, archival or artifact reviews, observations, and field

journals. Mixed methods will use a combination of the above.

To justify the methodological approach for the project, you must make a sound, logical,

and strong argument for why the technique is best for you to collect data that is relevant

to the topic, problem, purpose, supporting evidence and data sources. The simple way to

understand a methodological approach is to recognize that all projects will use either a

qualitative methodology, a quantitative methodology, or a mixed-method approach--

qualitative and quantitative. Once you have the method, you must identify a design that

aligns with the method. Here are some examples:

• Quantitative (method) Correlational (design)

• Qualitative (method) Ethnography (design)

• Qualitative (method) Appreciative Inquiry (design)

• Qualitative (method) Generic Qualitative Inquiry (design)

• Quantitative (method) Experimental (design)

You might find the word technique used interchangeable with methodology or method

and design as the methodological approach determines the technique you will use to

collect data. For instance, if you were conducting a quantitative correlational project, you

would most likely collect data from participants through validated surveys and possibly

secondary data found in databases or archived data from the organization. If you were

conducting a qualitative inquiry project, you would collect data from participants

through interviews, focus groups, or qualitative surveys.

Describe the methodological approach and explain why you will use this technique.

Explain how the methodological approach aligns with the project question(s) you seek to

answer. As you develop content for this section, consider these questions:

• How does the methodological approach align with the topic, problem, supporting

evidence, and data sources?

• Why is the chosen methodological approach appropriate and suitable for your

project and topic?

• Why is the chosen methodological approach better than one other technique you considered and then did not choose?

• How will using the methodological approach result in collecting data relevant to answering, responding to, or informing the project question(s)?

• What sources of data will you need to implement this methodological approach?

• What are the advantages and benefits of using this methodological approach?

• What are the disadvantages and limitations of using this methodological approach?

• How and why have current and previous researchers used this methodological approach?

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A brief hypothetical example based on the project question:

What are the perspectives of Gen Z employees in the U.S. gaming technology industry

regarding the leader’s role in fulfilling their employment psychological contract?

The methodology and design for the proposed project is the qualitative inquiry.

To answer the project question regarding the perspectives of Gen Z employees in

the U.S. gaming technology industry about the leader’s role in fulfilling their

employment psychological contract, collecting rich insightful information from

Gen Z workers is essential to completing this project. The use of the qualitative

inquiry technique is appropriate when the objective is to explore the perspectives

of participants (Mark, 2018). The primary data collection technique employed

when using the qualitative inquiry is semistructured interviews with qualified

participants (Able, 2020).

Semi structured interviews are an excellent means to gain a deeper understanding

of a phenomenon (Sue, 2017). The best way to collect open, expressive

information from participants is through asking open-ended questions with

probing follow-up questions in a semistructured interview setting (Bruce, 2015).

Collecting numeric data using a quantitative methodology would not result in

data regarding the feelings, perspectives, perceptions, and beliefs of Gen Z

workers regarding the leader’s role in meeting their workplace needs and

expectations.

Population and Sample (including site if necessary)

Describe the general target population (e.g., size, characteristics). Suggested length 1-2 paragraphs.

All doctoral projects involving human subjects involves some degree of participant risks.

Even doctoral capstone projects that do not involve human subjects research as defined

by the federal regulations may present risks to the individuals involved. Since most

doctoral learners have minimal previous research experience, in most cases, projects

undertaken toward completion of a doctoral capstone should be appropriate for a novice

researcher and present minimal risks to participants. Projects involving significant

participant risks will not be approved.

Carefully review Assessing Participant Risk in Research for an understanding of how to

assess potential topics for risk and mitigate risk.

When selecting a doctoral capstone topic, learners should avoid topics involving

significant participant risk, including those which might be considered highly "sensitive"

or involve highly vulnerable populations. Certain topics are also prohibited at Capella.

Be sure to review the information on Topic Selection on Campus

Identifying the right people to serve as participants in your project is critical to your

success, and critical to the credibility, trustworthiness, and validity of your project’s

results. You must identify people who possess the right skillsets, experience, expertise,

and knowledge for you to collect dependable, credible, valid data to analyze and answer

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your project question(s). You must have Capella University Institutional Review Board

(IRB) approval to begin contacting and recruiting participants, but when you propose a

target population, you must have some good degree of confidence that these people are

accessible and ample in number for you to proceed once you have IRB approval.

Consider the following as you develop this section:

• Provide the justification for targeting this population as related to the project question(s) and proposed methodology.

• Describe any potential vulnerabilities of this population that may impact their risks as participants.

• Explain any potential barriers to reaching and engaging with this population for the purposes of research.

• Describe the general population (size, characteristics, demographics). NOTE: The

general population is everyone within your eligibility or inclusion criteria. For

example, if your eligibility or inclusion criteria were small business restaurant

owners in North Carolina, the general population would be all the small business

restaurant owners in North Carolina.

• Describe the target population (size, characteristics, demographics). The target

population is the people you intend to use as participants, while allowing for

potential attrition. For example, if you were conducting a qualitative inquiry

project, you would want to identify and target about 15 small business restaurant

owners in North Carolina to be relatively sure you could interview 8-10 of the

owners. For a quantitative methodology project in which the plan is to survey

participants, you should identify a much larger target population than the

calculated minimum sample size. For example, after calculating the sample size

using G*Power sample size calculator, you determine your sample size is 78. You

must recognize that a low percentage of potential participants are likely to

complete and return the survey. If you based your target population on a 20%

response rate, you would need 390 people in your target population.

• Describe the setting/site: (geographic location, organization, without inserting

actual organizational or company names in your project, area of interest, etc.).

Ensure your geographic setting is broad enough to avoid inadvertent identification

of your participants. For example, instead of writing, “The target population is 15

leaders of three large automotive companies in Detroit, Michigan,” write, “The

target population is 15 leaders of automotive companies with operations in a

Midwestern state in the US.”

A brief hypothetical example based on the project question: What are the perspectives of

Gen Z employees in the U.S. gaming technology industry regarding the leader’s role in

fulfilling their employment psychological contract?

The sample frame for this proposed project is Gen Z employees in U.S. gaming

industry. In 2021, Gen Z employees made up approximately 35% of U.S.

workforce, with approximately 5 million Gen Z employee in the technology

industry (Martin, 2021). The population for this project is Gen Z workers in the

gaming sector of the technology industry. The U.S. gaming sector has

approximately 250,000 employees of which 92,000 are within the Gen Z cohort

(Susie, 2021). The target population is five Gen Z employees from each of at least

four different gaming companies in California, for a total targeted population of

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20 Gen Zers to allow for attrition. California is the headquarters of more

companies in the gaming sector than any other U.S. state (Mick, 2020). The

sample to be interviewed consists of 12 Gen Z gaming sector employees, with a

minimum of two from any one of the four companies. This sample is appropriate

for this project as they are the only group who possesses the needed information

to answer the project question.

Constructs, Phenomena, Variables

Present evidence and explanation for the final choice of framework. Constructs, phenomena,

and/or variables must align to the topic, problem, gap, and project questions. Suggested length

2-3 paragraphs.

You must be able to explain and support the use of your chosen constructs, phenomena,

and, if applicable, variables. In this section provide ample evidence that your constructs,

phenomena, and, if applicable, variables align with your chosen methodological

approach, population, and sample. A high-quality project framework is essential to the

success of your project. Refine the descriptions of or if needed, adjust your constructs,

phenomena, and, if applicable, variables. Explain how each of your chosen components

(constructs, phenomena, variables) align with the topic, problem, gap, and questions.

Ensure you understand the difference between constructs, phenomena, and variables by

conducting your own research. Below are some examples.

Constructs are somewhat abstract, broad topics or concepts. Some examples of constructs

are self-esteem, prejudices, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, trauma,

creativity, intelligence, leadership style, and personality.

Phenomena are issues, unsatisfying circumstances, problems, or topics that could be

chosen as the area of focus for a doctoral project. Examples of a phenomenon are

ineffective leadership, crime, organizational conflict, business failure, societal suffering,

low employee engagement, public corruption, or a disaster.

Variables, used in quantitative projects, are developed by transforming a construct into a

measurable concept. If you propose to conduct a quantitative project, you should

investigate the means to measure the variable prior to committing to a specific variable.

A brief hypothetical example based on the project question: What are the perspectives of

Gen Z employees in the U.S. gaming technology industry regarding the leader’s role in

fulfilling their employment psychological contract?

The key construct to be explored in this proposed project is the psychological

contract between Gen Z employees and their employers. The psychological

contract is an unwritten, somewhat abstract contract that pertains the employees

meeting the expectations of Gen Z workers (citation). Understanding the

organizational leaders’ role in fulfilling the psychological contract is central to

the objective of the project. Key phenomena addressed in this project relate to the

problems and issues created when leaders do not fulfill the expectation, the

psychological contract with Gen Z employees.

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Common problems associated with the unfulfilled contract are higher employee

turnover, lower job satisfaction, lower productivity, poor individual performance,

higher instances of employee fraud and theft (citation). The findings from this

project might benefit business owners and leaders in the technology industry as

well as any business practitioner who employs Gen Z workers. The gap in

practice is gaming technology industry leaders do not obtain the training

necessary to fulfill the employment psychological contract of Gen Z employees

(citation). By informing this gap in practice, leaders might be more equipped to

fulfill the unwritten contract, improve turnover rates, increased productivity, and

have a more satisfied and motivated workforce.

Proposed Data Sources

Key Scoring Guide Criteria

• Describes the instruments, data collection procedures, tools, or artifacts used for the question(s).

• Describes the processes to implement the measure by the participants, observers, or researcher.

• Describes a plan for protecting against threats to data dependability.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from

the overall message.

• Resources: Scholarly references including seminal research on the topic. Use primary sources. Include in the Reference section at the end of the paper.

• APA guidelines: Double-spaced paragraph formatting in the body of the paper.

When appropriate, use APA-formatted headings. Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and format. See Evidence and APA

for more information on APA style and format.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Measures or Artifacts to be Reviewed

Present a description of instrumentation or data collection tools. Measures or artifacts must closely align with the methodological approach. Suggested length 3-4 paragraphs.

Data collection tools or data collection instruments are the means for you to gather the

information needed to analyze and then answer your project question(s). The tools and

instruments must align with your (as applicable) constructs, phenomena, and, variables.

The tools and instruments must align with your methodological approach.

An artifact is a meaningful object created by a person, not an abstract phenomenon. An

artifact is the tangible, concrete evidence of an event, such as the written transcript of a

face-to-face interview or speech, a diagram, or a photograph. An artifact of an

observation could be written field notes. Preparing to collect data collection and actual

data collection for your project will likely result in the creation of a variety of artifacts.

Instrumentation and data collection tools address research concepts; ethical threats and their mitigation are detailed.

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Expert review (sometimes referred to as a field test) helps establish the credibility of the

data collection tool. In quantitative research, expert review can be performed to

determine whether the face validity of items proposed for use when developing an

instrument. Expert reviews are also used to review qualitative instruments such as

interview guides, open-ended questionnaires, and observation checklists. Credible

instruments are those that have been reviewed by experts in the field and determined to

be appropriate, clear, coherent, and representative of perspectives of the field. Expert

reviews also help ensure that instruments are appropriate for the population and will not

put participants through distress or discomfort.

Expert review helps determine the best wording for questions, eliminate unnecessary

questions, and identify questions that might be stressful or inappropriate for the

participant. Expert reviews are highly recommended for novice researchers as a means of

ensuring the credibility and integrity of the work and mitigating participant risks and are

required for DSW learners. The IRB will typically require expert review of the data

collection tool(s) for all greater-than-minimal risk studies.

Learners should double-check their school resources for any school specific expert

review requirements and the Expert Review, Pilot Studies, Test Runs page on Campus

for more information.

For qualitative projects, using interviews, consider the following as you develop content:

• When conducting interviews, you are the primary data collection instrument.

• Develop an interview guide that includes a detailed interview protocol (the step-

by-step processes you will engage in before, during, and after the interview).

• Develop interview questions in direct alignment with the project question(s).

• Interview questions are open-ended; cannot be answered with yes or no.

• Develop potential follow-up, probing questions in the event the participant does not fully answer the initial interview question.

• Describe how the interview guide/protocol/interview questions align with your chosen methodological approach.

A brief hypothetical example to explain and document key measures:

In this qualitative inquiry project, the key measure is the perspectives of Gen Z

workers regarding their leaders’ role in fulfilling their psychological contract. No

means exists to statistical test or measure the level of a person’s perspective.

However, when leaders fulfill the contract, the typical results are higher Gen Z

worker productivity, lower Gen Z turnover, and increased job satisfaction rates

among Gen Z employees, all of which represent tangible, measurable concepts

(citation). Data collection occurs through semistructured interviews with

participants using Zoom video conferencing with the transcription feature

activated. A resulting artifact from data collection will be the set of interview

transcripts, which will serve as the basis for data analysis.

For quantitative projects, you will develop variables. You must operationalize each

variable to be able to measure the variable. For example, if one of your variables was

emotional intelligence, you could go to https://mindgarden.com (no endorsement of any

company that offers licensing of validated surveys is made), search “emotional

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intelligence” and find the Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills Inventory to

operationalize your variable.

For quantitative projects, consider the following as applicable to the selected measures:

• Describe the instruments used for data collection and explain how each instrument aligns with project questions, hypotheses, topic, problem, and

variables.

• Provide previously reported validation and reliability data (Cronbach’s alpha

measure of reliability or consistency) for each instrument and cite the sources.

• Explain why this instrument will work for your project (cite previous similar studies using the instrument).

• Detail how the instrument measures the variables and describe any subscales. Explain the scoring process for each scale or subscale.

• Explain how each measure aligns with the topic and methodological approach.

• Specify the type and level of data (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) collected with

each instrument for each variable and how the data aligns with the selected

design/statistical analysis approach.

• Include demographic information to be collected that is needed or specific to the project. Note: Do not collect unneeded demographic information. Provide a

rationale for any demographic data that is collected.

• Review and consider all Capella IRB requirements as you identify validated

instruments, such as obtain written permission or purchasing a license from the

holder of the instrument’s copyright. When you begin to finalize your proposal,

consider that you will need to insert documents, such as site permission,

instrument permission, or licensing agreements with copyright holders in

appendices.

A brief hypothetical example to explain key measures:

In this quantitative, correlational project the key measures are leadership style

and employee burnout. To operationalize leadership style, I will use the

Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) to survey leaders and subordinates

to measure the quartile rankings of the leaders’ style. To operationalize employee

burnout, I will use the Maslach Burnout Inventory to measure the level of

employee burnout by surveying employees.

The MLQ is designed to measure transformational, transactional, and passive

leadership style in quartile rankings from 5%-95%. A participant ranking in the

5% quartile of passive leadership style would mean that 95% of total population

would rank higher in passive leadership tendencies than the participant. A

participant ranking in the 95% quartile for transformational leadership style

would mean 95% of the total population would rank lower in transformational

leadership tendencies than the participant. The MLQ is deemed reliable with a

Cronbach’s alpha score above 0.80.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory is a means to measure three key phenomena

consisting of (a) emotional exhaustion, (b) depersonalization, and (c) personal

accomplishment. The scale for emotional exhaustion is a measure of emotional

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and mental exhaustion caused by work related activities. The higher the

participant scores, the higher the level of exhaustion. The depersonalization scale

is a measure of burnout related to how others treat the participant regarding

workplace instructions, communications, and overall treatment. The higher the

score, the higher the level of burnout. The personal accomplishment scale is a

measure of feelings or perceptions of achievement, successful work, and

workplace competence. Lower scores indicate higher levels of burnout.

For further information on finding an instrument, visit the Library's Finding Tests and

Measures resource or consult the Finding Tests and Measurement Instruments guide.

Detailed Procedures

Present a description of the processes needed to complete the instruments by the participants or

observers. Suggested length 3-4 paragraphs.

The processes that your participants will engage in to complete the data collection

instruments are highly contingent on your methodological approach. You must be keenly

familiar with the data collection process from the participants’ point of view to be able to

explain to your participants what participating your project requires and entails. Based on

your methodological approach (or technique), describe the step-by-step process that

participants will undertake to complete the instrument(s) of data collection.

For a qualitative inquiry project, participants will engage in an interview with you as the

interviewer. From the first step to the last, what are the processes required for the participants to

complete the interview? Do you propose any follow-up process, such as a transcript review by

the participants?

A brief hypothetical example:

For this qualitative inquiry project, participants will complete a semistructured

interview using Zoom video conferencing. To participate, they must be willing to

use and have access to Zoom and be willing to be audio recorded. The interviews

are expected to last from 45-60 minutes; therefore, participants must plan and be

prepared to spend an hour to complete the interview. If determined by Capella

IRB that this project is considered human subjects research, participants must

provide informed consent by signing the consent form and returning a copy to me

prior to the interview. At the start of the interview, participants must answer

several demographic and professional-experience related questions. Participants

will be asked 10 predetermined interview questions. They have the right and

option to refuse to answer any question but doing so repeatedly would render

their interview data unsuitable for this project. After responding to each interview

questions, the potential exists for me to ask a probing follow-up question to gain

additional clarity. The expectation is participants will provide robust, rich

information when responding to the questions.

After the interview, a transcript will be generated from the audio recording. The

transcript will be compared to the audio recording for accuracy. All participants’

names will be removed and replace with an alphanumeric unique identifier. A

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copy of the transcript will be sent to the participants for them to review and verify

the accuracy. After the transcript review, the participants have completed all the

processes association with participating in the project.

For a quantitative inferential statistics project, you might be examining the relationship

among two variables that require two sets of participants to complete two validated

surveys. For example, a quantitative correlational project with the variables of leadership

style and employee burnout would require instruments to operationalize both variables.

To operationalize leadership style, you could use the Multifactor Leadership

Questionnaire to survey leaders and subordinates to measure the quartile rankings of the

leaders’ style. To operationalize employee burnout, you could use the Maslach Burnout

Inventory to measure the level of employee burnout by surveying employees. In such a

project, you must know the processes for both groups to complete both surveys.

A brief hypothetical example:

For this quantitative, correlational project, participants must complete the ABC

survey. Each person identified as a potential participant by meeting the inclusion

criteria will receive a copy of the ABC survey and an informed consent form by

U.S. mail. If the person decides to participant, an informed consent form must be

signed and returned along with the completed survey in the provided addressed,

stamped envelope. The ABC survey has 45 questions. A survey is deemed complete is the person answers at least 40 of the questions. To complete the

survey, participants must read each statement and pencil in on a radio button one option selected from the Likert-scale options of (a) never, (b) seldom (c)

sometimes, (d), frequently, or (e) always. Once all questions are answered, the participant mails the completed survey back to me along with the signed

informed consent form.

As you complete this section, consider the following questions:

• What, if at all, do your participants need regarding technology, software,

materials, or tools?

• What must your participants do to prepare to participate?

• What type of consent applies to your project’s participants?

• What do participants need to do to consent?

• What, if any, permissions must your participants provide?

• What, if any, demographic information will your participants need to provide?

• What are the step-by-step processes participants must complete to participate?

• What, if any, follow-up processes by the participants are required?

• What difficulties to you anticipate that the participants might experience in

attempting to complete the instrument?

Validity/Reliability/Credibility/Dependability

Identify and present the potential threats to reliability and validity (quantitative techniques) or

trustworthiness (qualitative techniques). Include a proposed plan to mitigate the noted threats.

Suggested length 1-2 paragraphs.

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Your goal as a doctoral practitioner-scholar is to conclude the project with valid findings.

You need to identify and understand the potential threats to reliability and validity

(quantitative techniques) or trustworthiness (qualitative techniques) before you can

recognize how to mitigate these threats and present valid and accurate findings.

For qualitative methodology / techniques, be sure to note any trustworthiness issues

related to data collection and analysis and the implications for interpretation of findings.

Describe and explain the proposed procedures to ensure dependable, credible,

confirmable, and trustworthy data and findings. Explain how you propose to improve the

prospects of future researchers transferring the findings to other projects and settings.

Describe the potential threats to trustworthiness and include your proposed plan to

mitigate the noted threats.

Note: Using triangulation (3 sources of qualitative data) is one means of demonstrating

trustworthiness of data and is required by several programs. Be sure to check

Professional Doctorates and review your professional doctorate program requirements

Consider the following if using a qualitative methodology/technique:

• Define trustworthiness using a scholarly source.

• Define dependability using a scholarly source.

• Describe potential threats to dependability.

• Explain the proposed plan to mitigate threats to dependability.

• Define credibility using a scholarly source.

• Describe potential threats to credibility.

• Explain the proposed plan to mitigate threats to credibility.

• Define confirmability using a scholarly source.

• Describe potential threats to confirmability.

• Explain the proposed plan to mitigate threats to confirmability.

• Define transferability using a scholarly source.

• Describe potential threats to transferability.

• Explain the proposed plan to mitigate threats to transferability.

A brief hypothetical example:

Trustworthiness of a qualitative project refers to the level or degree of confidence

in the data, data analysis protocols, findings, and overall results (citation).

Dependability is the degree of trust in the data as well as the constancy and

stability of the data over time (citation). An audit trail documenting all the

processes involving recruiting participants, collecting, assembling, and analyzing

data, and presenting the findings will be maintained to ensure dependability.

Credibility refers to the degree of confidence that the findings are true and

accurate (citation). Presenting the findings from the participants’ point-of-view,

allowing the participants to review the transcripts for accuracy, and maintaining

a project log of all activities are the proposed ways to ensure credibility.

Confirmability is the level of confidence that the findings are consistent and

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objective to the point that the project’s results could be replicated in another

project following the same procedures (citation). Avoiding subjective

interpretation of the data, maintaining an audit trail of all processes and

decisions, and using the participants’ perspective to be the basis of the findings

are the means to ensure confirmability.

Transferability is the degree of usefulness of the findings to a reader or the degree

to which findings from another project conducted using the same methodology,

design, and processes as this project has the same or similar findings (citation).

Collecting dependable data and presenting credible, confirmable findings

through meticulous documentation of all steps to complete this project are the

proposed ways to improve the prospects of transferability.

For quantitative methodology / techniques, be sure to note any reliability and validity

issues and the implications for interpretation of the findings. Explain the concepts of

reliability and validity in general terms and then in specific terms as related to your

project. Describe the potential threats to validity and include your proposed plan to

mitigate the noted threats.

Consider the following if using a quantitative methodology/technique:

• Define validity using a scholarly source.

• Describe the potential threats to the validity of your project.

• Explain the proposed plan to mitigate the threats to validity.

• Define reliability using a scholarly source.

• Describe the potential threats to the reliability of your project.

• Explain the proposed plan to mitigate the threats to reliability.

A brief hypothetical example:

To ensure that a quantitative methodology project can be replicated, and the

results can be generalized to the total population, the focus must be on reliability

and validity (citation). Reliability is an essential prerequisite of validity (citation).

Reliability refers to degree of consistency in the measures or instruments used to

collect and analyze data, or the degree that the survey instrument delivers

consistent results if replicated in another project (citation). The use of survey

instruments with proven Cronbach’s alpha reliability scores at or above 0.80 is

the means to ensure reliability. The use of unreliable and unproven instruments is

a threat to validity (citation). Validity refers to degree of accuracy and precision

that the instruments used to collect data measure what was intended to be

measured (citation). The use of proven, validated instruments is the proposed

means to ensure validity.

Proposed Data Collection

Key Scoring Guide Criteria

Describe sampling, recruitment, data collection procedures, and potential ethical considerations.

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• Describes the number of participants, rationale for the number, benefits, and potential limitations to the proposed sample size based on the methodology or

design.

• Describes the proposed recruitment process and plan.

• Explains each procedure involved in the collection of data to answer the question(s).

• Refines ethical considerations addressing privacy, confidentiality, and data

security based on the current plan. Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• Resources: Scholarly references including seminal research on the topic. Use primary sources. Include in the Reference section at the end of the paper.

• APA guidelines: Double-spaced paragraph formatting in the body of the paper.

When appropriate, use APA-formatted headings. Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and format. See Evidence and APA

for more information on APA style and format.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Sampling Strategy, Number participants

Describe, explain, and justify the sampling strategy to be used. Suggested length 2-3 paragraphs.

The sampling strategy is a key element of your ability to recruit people who meet the

eligibility or inclusion criteria to participate in the project. You must identify the

appropriate sampling strategy (purposive, convenience, snowball, random) based on your

methodology, design, technique, topic, problem, purpose, and project questions.

Describe, explain, justify, and rationalize the appropriate sampling strategy. Ensure the

sampling strategy aligns with your methodological approach.

As you develop content, address the following:

• State your sampling strategy (purposive, convenience, snowball, random).

• Describe and explain your sampling strategy, noting how and why the sampling strategy aligns with your methodological approach (or technique).

• State and justify the sample size as adequate drawing on the evidence in the peer- reviewed, scholarly journal articles and seminal literature.

• Describe the strategies to account for attrition of participants.

For qualitative methodology projects, justify your sample size using peer-reviewed,

scholarly journal articles and seminal literature. Identify published studies that used your

chosen methodological approach (technique), note the sample size used, and then

rationalize why a similar sample size is appropriate for your project.

A simplistic hypothetical example:

The sample for this qualitative inquiry project is 10 executive directors of charity-

based nonprofit organizations. Fred (2020) conducted a qualitative inquiry study

using a sample of eight nonprofit executive directors. Sally (2021) conducted a

qualitative inquiry project regarding leaders’ communication strategies in

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nonprofit charities and reach data saturation after interviewing 11 nonprofit

executive directors. Jane (2020) studied the leadership motivation strategies

among nonprofit leaders using a sample of 10 executive directors. This proposed

project is similar in scope, topic, methodology, and geographic setting to Fred,

Sally, and Jane; therefore, 10 is an appropriate sample size for this project.

Fifteen potential participants will be identified to account for attrition.

For quantitative inferential statistics projects, you must identify and justify the minimum

sample size using a power analysis. G*Power is a software program you can download

for free to conduct the power analysis to determine the minimum sample size for your

quantitative project.

A simplistic hypothetical example:

The sample size for this quantitative, correlational project is 78. Using G*Power

sample size calculator with the settings of (a) bivariate correlational testing (b)

power test value of 0.80, (c) effect size of 0.30, and (d) alpha value of 0.05, the

output is a statistically significant sample size of 78. Mark (2020) noted that

researchers sending surveys to participants should expect no more than a 20%

response rate. The plan to account for attrition is to send out 390 surveys to

potential participants. A 20% response rate would result in 78 participants,

meeting the minimum sample size for this proposed project.

Recruitment Procedures

Provide a recruitment process to identify, screen, and recruit participants as it aligns with the

methodological approach. Present the inclusion and exclusion criteria for participating in the

project. Suggested length 2-3 paragraphs.

Refer to the Recruitment page on Campus for more information.

The recruitment process is a detailed set of procedures you propose to engage in to

identify, recruit, gain access to, and eventually secure the participants for your project.

Provide the recruiting steps in logical order from your first proposed recruitment activity

to the final activity. Explain in detail how recruiting will occur, who will be invited to

participate, why these people were selected, and how you know these people possess the

knowledge, experience, expertise and/or needs required for you to collect data from to

answer the project question(s). Therefore, clearly explain the participant eligibility

criteria (inclusion and exclusion criteria) that will be used to screen potential participants.

Note: exclusion criteria should not be the simplistic negative of the inclusion criteria. For

example, if inclusion criterion was “5 years’ experience in the field,” the exclusion

criterion would not be “Does not have 5 years’ experience in the field.” Exclusion

criteria are those variables that exist in people who meet the inclusion criteria that make

them ineligible to participate. For example, if someone has the required 5 years'

experience in the field but is also on probation in their job, you might not want to include

them in the study. Ensure your recruitment procedures align with the chosen

methodological approach.

You might consider using a fee-based participant recruiting company. Although no

endorsement is made of any specific recruiting company, many learners have

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successfully used the services of companies such as User Interviews, Inc.

(https://www.userinterviews.com/). You will pay a fee that is not including in your

tuition, but you might save many weeks in the participant recruitment phase of your

project.

As you develop content for this section, consider the following:

• Go to the Capella IRB recruitment page and ensure you are proposing an acceptable recruiting process. Capella Institutional Review Board (IRB)

• Will you be posting recruitment announcements on online or at organizational

sites? If so, what permissions do you need?

• What information would you include in a recruitment announcement?

• If recruiting from a specific site or organization, what permission is needed? What

is your connection to the site or organization?

• See IRB Conflicts of Interest

A brief hypothetical example based on the project question:

What are the perspectives of Gen Z employees in the U.S. gaming technology industry

regarding the leader’s role in fulfilling their employment psychological contract?

The project population consists of Gen Z employees in the U.S. technology gaming

industry. The target population is five Gen Z employees from each of at least four

different gaming companies in California, for a total targeted population of 20 Gen

Zers to allow for attrition.

The specific participant inclusion criteria are:

• A member of the Gen Z cohort.

• Employed by a technology gaming company in the state of California.

• Held a position in a technology gaming company for at least one year.

• Can attest to having a basic understanding of the unwritten psychological contract regarding their workplace expectations.

Exclusion criteria are:

• Has an ownership stake in the technology gaming company of which they are employed.

• Has a family member who serves as a direct leader, manager, or supervision.

Participant recruitment occurs as follows:

• Conduct an internet search of technology gaming companies in California.

• Identify at least eight gaming companies with published, public contact

information.

• Email the company with information about the project and then follow up with a telephone call.

• Seek permission to contact the human resources department and obtain a list of employees.

• Email the employees information about the project as well as the inclusion

and exclusion criteria (see Recruitment Letter in Appendix C).

• Screen potential participants based on eligibility criteria.

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• Confirm at least 12 participants from at least four different companies who are qualified and willing to participate.

In the event the stated recruiting process does not yield 12 participants, I will set

up an account with User Interviews, Inc., post the inclusion and exclusion

criteria, and select potential participants who self-identify as meeting the

eligibility criteria. I will contact potential participants located using User

Interviews, Inc. to confirm that they meet the inclusion criteria to participate in

the project.

Data Collection Process

Provide a logical step-by-step data collection process as it aligns with the methodological

approach. Suggested length 3-4 paragraphs.

To prepare for data collection, you must have a keen understanding of the various steps

and procedures as well as the order of the steps to be successful. Writing a proposed plan

for data collection is a detailed process that requires you to think and write in recipe card

mode. You must be aware of all the steps and have them in the correct order. The only

way you can replicate another chef’s recipe is to follow the exact process and procedures;

hence, the objective here is for you to provide, describe, and explain the step-by-step

procedures you propose to use to carry out all the major steps for data collection for the

project in a way that would allow another researcher to replicate the project.

Describe how raw data will be prepared for analysis and how the integrity of the data will

be assured (i.e., recording and transcribing interviews, conducting transcript reviews, data

export formats (if applicable), scoring process for survey instruments, etc.). Explain how

you propose to mitigate personal biases, remain objective during data collection, and set

aside personal worldviews.

As you develop content, take into consideration the following information.

Qualitative methodology / technique:

• State the proposed data collection and recording activities for each instrument.

• Explain how you plan to recruit participants.

• State the proposed location of the interviews (onsite; offsite; Zoom virtual face-

to-face, etc.).

• Denote who will be present for the interviews.

• State the proposed number of participants.

• How do you plan to confirm the credibility of your data collection instrument? (Note: A field test or expert review is a good way to do this.)

• Describe the materials you plan to provide to the participants (informed consent,

recording devices, handouts, or others).

• Detail how you propose to introduce the interview process to the participants.

• Describe how will the interview transcripts and project findings will be shared

with the participants (if at all).

• State the anticipated length of the interviews.

• Describe the proposed format and process for the interviews.

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• Detail the demographic characteristics of the sample population with emphasis on characteristics having bearing on the results/findings.

• Describe the mechanism for collecting demographic information.

• Develop an interview guide/protocol for an appendix (List interview questions;

illustrate how your interview questions map back to your project questions. Detail

possible follow up probing questions to participants responses. Detail how you

propose to close out the interview.)

• Justify how the literature helped to inform the creation of the interview questions.

• Identify concepts of the applied framework that guided the creation of the interview questions.

• Explain your plan to deal with variations or unusual participants or organizational conditions encountered in data collection.

• Explain how variations of conditions will be addressed.

A brief hypothetical example:

Data collection will consist of semi structured interviews with technology gaming

companies’ Gen Z employees. The interviews will take place using Zoom video

conferencing, with the audio recording and transcription feature activated. Alice

et al. (2020) noted that a best practice for conducting interviews was to use an

internet-based video-conferencing platform in which the audio can be recorded

and a transcript of the interview generated. The interviews will be scheduled at

times that are convenient for the participants. No defined location for the

interviews exists as they are being conducted in a virtual setting. The interview

process will follow a preset interview guide. Each interview is expected to take

approximately 45-60 minutes to complete, broken down as 5 minutes of initial

welcome, greeting, and building rapport, 35-50 minutes of asking interview

questions and receiving responses, and 5 minutes to close out the interview.

Nathan et al. (2019) commented that interviewers should spend a few minutes building a good rapport with interviewees prior to starting a formal interview.

A summary of the process is as follows:

• Schedule a time for each interview.

• Following the interview guide, welcome each participant and thank each

for their time.

• Ask the preset interview questions and use the probing follow-up questions

as needed to obtain additional clarity.

• Close the interview, again thanking the participant for their time

• Remind the participants that they will receive a copy of the transcript to review for accuracy.

• Download the audio recording and transcript.

• Review the transcript while listening to the audio recording and make any needed corrections to the transcript to match the audio recording.

• Deidentify the transcript, removing participant or company names.

• Email the transcript to the participant so they can verify the accuracy of

the transcript.

• Assemble all 12 interview transcripts to prepare for data analysis.

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Quantitative methodology / technique:

• Describe in detail the proposed systematic procedures to carry out all major steps in the data collection for the project.

• Explain and justify the project technique and methodological approach to align with the project question(s) and hypotheses (independent and dependent

variables).

• Explain and rationalize the proposed population, sampling frame, and sample size

(i.e., use of sampling software; G*Power)

• Provide boundaries (inclusion & exclusion) criteria of the participants.

• Describe the proposed setting in the context of the project.

• Formulate, describe, explain in detail, and justify the proposed data collection

process including measurement scales of the instrument(s) and variables

(independent and dependent variable(s) (i.e., levels of measurement).

• Detail information on how instrument(s) or measures will be administrated. Who

will administrate the instrument(s)? Describe the protocol for administrating the

instrument(s) or other measures.

• Explain and justify the proposed data collection process, how the raw data will be

collected, techniques for evaluating the data and identify and fully explain the

software provider and version if applicable.

A brief hypothetical example:

The sample size for this quantitative, correlational project is 78. Using G*Power

sample size calculator with the settings of (a) bivariate correlational testing (b)

power test value of 0.80, (c) effect size of 0.30, and (d) alpha value of 0.05, the

output is a statistically significant sample size of 78. Mark (2020) noted that

researchers sending surveys to participants should expect no more than a 20%

response rate. The plan to account for attrition is to send out 390 surveys to

potential participants. A 20% response rate would result in 78 participants,

meeting the minimum sample size for this proposed project.

The data collection plan for the project is to send through U.S. mail the ABC

survey and the XYZ survey to 390 employees who meet the participant inclusion

criteria. The licensing agreements for the ABC survey and the XZY survey are

located in the Appendix. Both surveys have been deemed valid and reliable by

Mickey (2010), Sally (2012), and Tom (2014). The data collection process is as

follows:

• Each potential participant receives a personalized invitation to participate

letter.

• Each potential participant receives an informed consent form

• Each potential participant receives a print copy of the ABC survey and the

XYZ survey, with completion instructions.

• Each potential participant receives an addressed, stamped envelope to

return the completed surveys and a signed copy of the informed consent

form.

• The initial data collection period is 20 days from the mailing of the

surveys. If at least 78 people return fully completed surveys within the 20-

day period, data collection will cease. If 78 people have not returned fully

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completed surveys, the period will extend in 10-day increments until reaching the minimum sample for the project.

Ethical Considerations

Identify potential ethical issues and provide a proposed plan to adhere to strict ethical

standards. Include details regarding privacy, confidentiality, and data security procedures and

concerns. Suggested length 1-2 paragraphs.

Every doctoral learner who conducts a project faces a variety of ethical considerations;

therefore, the need exists to identify potential ethical concerns prior to recruiting

participants and collecting data. Recognize the importance of having a plan to maintain

strict ethical standards. Identify any ethical concerns in applying the project

methodology, recruitment of participants, and collection of data. Explain in detail

privacy, confidentiality, and data security procedures and concerns. Discuss the measures

to be taken for protection of participants’ rights. Begin now to review the Capella

Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements for your chosen methodological approach

(or technique) and data collection procedures.

As you develop for this section, consider the following concepts:

• Obtaining Capella University IRB approval.

• Adhering to The Belmont Report protocols of respect for persons, beneficence,

and justice.

• Obtaining informed consent from participants, if applicable.

• Ensuring the participants understand the potential risks and benefits of

participating in the project.

• Ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of participants.

• Explaining participants’ right to withdraw as well as withdrawal procedures.

• Mitigation of conflicts of interest if applicable.

• Avoiding the use of excessive participant incentives.

A brief hypothetical example:

Data collection for a qualitative project involves gathering data through

conversations with people about their professional roles; therefore, utmost care

to maintain the highest ethical standard exists (citation). This capstone project

involves semi structured interviews with participants. Prior to contacting any

potential participant or collecting data, I will obtain approval to proceed to

recruitment and data collection from the Capella University IRB. To ensure

privacy and confidentiality, no information will be shared regarding the

personally identifiable information of participants, nor will their feedback be

shared in a way the participants could be identified. Each participant will receive

a unique identifier consisting of P1-P12. Privacy and confidentiality are two of

the most important considerations with using human participants (citation).

Participants can withdraw from this project at any time for any reason or no reason up to the point of the project’s final approval. The use of incentives to

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entice participation can be considered undue coercion and result in flawed data

(citation). Participation in this project is voluntary as no incentives will be

offered to participants.

The three basic ethical principles published in The Belmont Report are respect for

persons, beneficence, and justice (citation). To maintain these principles,

minimization of risks to participants occurs through maintaining confidentiality,

no coercion to participant takes place, and all data collected will be secured in a

locked file in my home office for 7 years. After 7 years, all print copy data will be

shredded, and electronic files stored on a flash drive will be deleted and the flash

drive destroyed.

Resources:

Informed Consent

Conflict of Interest

Data Collection and Compliance

Proposed Data Analysis Plan Articulate data analysis techniques appropriate to project framework.

Present a plan to analyze and present data with techniques that are appropriate to the project,

framework, data sources, and sample size. Suggested length 3-4 paragraphs.

Key Scoring Guide Criteria

• Describes a plan for analysis and presentation of the data to be collected for

the question(s). Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• Resources: Scholarly references including seminal research on the topic. Use primary sources. Include in the Reference section at the end of the paper.

• APA guidelines: Double-spaced paragraph formatting in the body of the

paper. When appropriate, use APA-formatted headings. Resources and

citations are formatted according to current APA style and format. See

Evidence and APA for more information on APA style and format.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

The data analysis plan is a logical step-by-step process to organize, process, analyze, and

interpret the data, followed with the plan to present the analyzed data. Explain how you

will analyze the data using the recipe card approach (i.e., list the steps in the proper

order). Ensure your data analysis plan is appropriate in consideration of the data

collection technique and plan.

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For each project question, provide a description of the techniques to be used for data

processing and analysis (such as coding, classification, categorization, tabulation, %,

graphing and statistical techniques, etc.). Define your approach for how you will present

the final deliverable, which includes outcomes, findings, and recommendations to your

appropriate target audience or site and describe what that deliverable will be – a report, a

training, a resource guide, etc. Specify who that target audience (or site) will be. The

information must be contextualized to the project question(s) and the nature of the data

collected to show that you understand how to apply the procedures to your project.

Explain how you propose to mitigate personal biases, remain objective during data

analysis, and set aside personal worldviews.

As you develop content, take into consideration the following information (as applicable

to the selected project method).

Qualitative methodology / technique:

• Describe the proposed procedures to identify relevant information from the data

(thematic, theoretical; deductive and/or inductive coding). Note: Qualitative data

analysis programs, such as Atlas.ti or NVivo can assist in the coding process.

• Describe the method you plan to use to classify the data from concepts into categories and solution of information.

• Discuss the proposed specific analysis approach and procedures to address the

overarching project question(s).

• Describe your plan to address data analysis logically and sequentially for all

project questions.

• Describe your plan to present data to support each finding in the form of tables or

charts.

• Describe your plan to present of descriptive data, quotes from transcripts, and pertinent textual descriptions.

• Denote that your objective is to answer the project questions.

A brief hypothetical example:

Manual thematic analysis of the data begins after completing data collection.

Thematic data analysis is the most commonly used technique to analyze

qualitative data (citation). The process begins with developing deductive codes

using the key concepts from the applied framework as the basis for the codes.

Deductive coding is a process of developing codes (i.e., words/phrases) prior to

analyzing the transcripts (citation). Each interview transcript will be coded using

the deductive codes. After deductive coding, a second review of each transcript

takes place with the assignment of inductive codes to any key common words or

phrases that did not fit within a deductive code category. Inductive coding is a

process of assigning codes during the review of the interview transcripts

(citation).

After manually coding all the transcripts, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet

containing all the coded data including the frequency of codes, the assignment of

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codes to individual participants, and the total of all codes within each deductive

and inductive code category. Upon completion of the spreadsheet, tables will be

built consisting of frequency of codes, assignment of codes to individual

participants, and overall code categories. The overall code categories table will

be used to develop a key themes table consisting of the key themes that emerged

from the code categories. Each key theme must align with the project question

and at least, in part, provide an answer to the project question.

Quantitative methodology / technique:

• State the purpose statement and project question(s) and hypotheses (independent

and dependent variables)

• Explain your plan to analyze the participant demographics using table, justifying

the sample size, discussing potential sampling outcomes and emergent limitation of the data you propose to collect.

• Describe how you will use descriptive statistics to describe the measure of central

tendency (mean, median and mode), range, variance, and standard deviation.

• Explain how you plan to analyze, evaluate, and critique the results of the

descriptive statistics.

• How will you report the results in detail using appropriate tables and/or figures for categorical or continuous variables?

• Describe your plan to analyze and verify data that are normally distributed using parametric or nonparametric statistical tests and figures.

• Describe the proposed plan to test and assess hypotheses and report the analysis

and assumptions of the statistical results and findings in detail using appropriate

tables and/or figures.

• Describe how you propose to present the results, justify the key finding, and

report out how the findings answer the project question(s).

A brief hypothetical example:

This quantitative, correlational project consists of one independent variable (IV)

and one dependent variable (DV); therefore, data analysis takes place using

bivariate correlational testing. Statistical procedures within the Statistical

Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS) provides several methods to test

for the existence of a significant correlation between the IV and the DV. Relying

on a single correlation test can result in Type I and Type II errors (citation).

Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient (Pearson) and Spearman’s Rho Rank-Order

(Spearman) correlation tests are appropriate bivariate correlation procedures to

test the existence of a relationship among two variables (citation). Data collected

was in the form of numeric data based on survey responses of participants

consisting of marking a response on a 1-5 Likert scale. Such data could be

considered interval data suitable for Pearson testing. However, the Likert scale

was designed with ordinality (i.e., never, seldom, sometimes, frequently, always);

therefore, Spearman is an appropriate statistical procedure as the basis of the

numeric data was an ordinal scale.

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The proposed data analysis procedures for this project are to test the significance

of the relationship between the IV and DV using Pearson and Spearman, and then

comparing and reporting the results of both procedures. A p value of 0.05 or less

indicates a significant correlation at the 95% confidence level of not committing a

Type I error or rejecting a true null hypothesis at an alpha value of 0.05.

The survey used to collect data will be analyzed using the scoring key provided by

the survey developer. The resulting numeric data will be placed in a Microsoft

Excel spreadsheet. The data will be imported to SPSS to begin the statistical

procedures. After running Pearson and Spearman procedures, the output for each

will be copied from SPSS and placed in a table in the project’s findings section. A

detailed explanation of the results will accompany the table.

Resources

Quantitative and Qualitative Skills Center

References APA formatted reference section that includes a reference for each citation used in text.

Key Scoring Guide Criteria

• Provides an APA formatted reference section that includes a reference for each

citation used in text. Minor APA formatting errors exist.

Ensure you have a reference in APA format for each citation in the text. Ensure you have a

citation in the text for each reference listed. If you use the “cite” feature from the Capella

Library, double check the reference entry as most times, the cite feature does not produce a

reference in strict APA compliance.

• References are formatted according to current APA style and format. See Evidence

and APA for more information on APA style and format.

• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

• Use “live” hyperlinks to all doi and URLs.

Examples:

Book:

Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage

Publications, Inc.

Journal Article with no doi, using the URL to the article:

Project Plan Guide Professional Doctorate Programs

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Connelly, L. M. (2016). Trustworthiness in qualitative research. Medsurg Nursing, 25(6),

435-436. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30304614/

Journal Articles with doi:

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research

in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Clarke, V., & Braun, V. (2017). Thematic analysis. The Journal of Positive Psychology,

12(3), 297-298. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1262613

DeCuir-Gunby, J. T., Marshall, P. L., & McCulloch, A. W. (2011). Developing and using a

codebook for the analysis of interview data: An example from a professional

development research project. Field Methods, 23(2), 136-155.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X10388468

Fugard, A. J. B., & Potts, H. W. W. (2016). Shine bright like a diamond? A reply to Braun

and Clarke. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 19(6), 745–746.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2016.1205794