Research Methods

SCS 502 Final Project Milestone Three: Expanding Upon the Topic Guidelines and Rubric

Overview: For the final milestone for your final project, research and select an additional study which pertains to the topic area you selected in the earlier milestone assignments. You will also evaluate the three studies you selected for their contribution to their topic area. Finally, you will integrate the information presented in the published studies and the information learned in this class to draw your own conclusions about the topic area using appropriate evidence to support your claims. This assignment will use the same three articles as you used in Milestones One and Two.

Be sure that your submission addresses the following critical elements:

• Select an additional research article that aligns with the appropriate standards and guidelines of the field which would help inform future research into the topic area of the chosen studies. In other words, based on what the chosen studies have demonstrated about the topic area, what present research might help conduct future research in this area?

• Explain how the article you chose follows the appropriate standards and guidelines of the field. Some questions to consider: Is the article peer- reviewed? Is the article relevant to the topic? Is the article still currently relevant?

• Explain how the research article you located would help inform future research into the topic area of your chosen studies. Be sure to support your response with examples and support from the chosen studies.

• Describe how the evidence in the chosen studies (preselected and additional) contributes to the collective understanding of the topic. • Explain any new conclusions that you could reach about the topic area based on the evidence provided in your chosen studies. In other words, in your interpretation of

the evidence provided in the chosen studies, what conclusions can you reach that go beyond the research? • Predict what future research in the topic area of the chosen studies could explore.

In Milestone One you described the articles, and in Milestone Two you critiqued them. Now you will move on to a big-picture summary and future directions. See the following detailed instructions:

1. First you will need to conduct a literature search to find a new article in the same topic area as the other three papers. The “same topic area” has a small amount of room for interpretation. You have developed some expertise in the area so assume that you are introducing the topic to a new person—what additional article would you include that you believe would enhance their understanding of the topic as a logical next step? So long as you can justify this selection (a requirement of this milestone), then it should work. Make sure you have read and fully understand the article yourself before continuing.

2. Once you have found and are familiar with your new article, you are ready to start writing. Copy and paste the title page and reference list from Milestone Two into a new document. Hopefully the running head copies over as well, but if it does not, add that back in. Be sure to address any feedback from your instructor on these sections regarding proper APA style formatting so you have the best version moving forward.

3. Next, begin the new narrative by briefly describing the article you have chosen. This does not have to be indepth but must cover the following appropriate standards and guidelines:

• Hypothesis • Participants • Brief overview of methods

• Brief overview of results and discussion This should be more in depth than an abstract but does not need to be as detailed as what you have written for Milestone One. Basically, you want to provide enough information that readers can form an opinion on the claims you will make later in this assignment. Also, discuss why you have decided this particular article is credible. Why should a reader trust this article? In addition to the questions posed in the guidelines, consider a similar review as you did for the other three articles in Milestone Two. Make sure to discuss reliability and validity.

4. Then, discuss how this particular article is relevant to the topic at hand. What does it add to the discussion that you found particularly meaningful? How would it guide someone as they considered future directions for research in this topic area?

• Typically students choose articles that they consider credible, but if you have chosen an article that you do not feel is credible, discuss why you feel that it still has value in light of the concerns you outlined above. It is certainly possible that an article has value, even if the conclusions drawn are not credible.

5. Finally, reflect on the overall topic and the work done in all three milestones. • Discuss how this article contributes to the collective understanding of the topic. What is your current understanding of the topic? How did all four articles

contribute to this understanding? Can you integrate all four articles into a cohesive overview? Is there conflicting information? How have you attempted to deal with that information?

• Based on the evidence provided in your chosen articles, what new conclusion can be reached? What does it all mean? Be sure to consider your conclusions on the credibility of each article.

• Predict one new idea for a future direction of the research. Given everything you have learned, what would you recommend for somebody wanting to take the next step in this topic area?

PLEASE NOTE: You will have added at least one new references in this section so make sure to include the APA style reference in the reference list.

Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted as Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, running head, title page, and at least four sources cited in APA format. This submission should be approximately 2–3 pages (not counting title or reference page). It is anticipated that you will use the same title page and reference page as submitted in Milestone Two, with any feedback from your instructor incorporated and at least one additional source added to the reference page.

Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value Additional Research

Selects an additional research article that aligns with the appropriate standards and guidelines of the field which would help inform future research into the topic area of the chosen studies (100%)

Selects an additional research article which would help inform future research into the topic area of the chosen studies but fails to describe the article with enough information to justify claims of credibility (70%)

Does not select an additional research article which would help inform future research into the topic area of the chosen studies (0%)

15

Appropriate Standards and

Guidelines

Meets “Proficient” criteria and explanation demonstrates a sophisticated ability to determine how research follows the appropriate standards and guidelines of the field (100%)

Explains how the article chosen follows the appropriate standards and guidelines of the field (90%)

Explains how the article chosen follows the appropriate standards and guidelines of the field but explanation is cursory or contains inaccuracies (70%)

Does not explain how the article chosen follows the appropriate standards and guidelines of the field (0%)

15

Future Research Meets “Proficient” criteria and explanation demonstrates keen insight into what the future research in the topic area could explore (100%)

Explains how the research article you located would help inform future research into the topic area of your chosen studies (90%)

Explains how the research article you located would help inform future research into the topic area of your chosen studies but explanation is cursory or contains inaccuracies (70%)

Does not explain how the research article you located would help inform future research into the topic area of your chosen studies (0%)

15

Contributions to Collective

Understanding

Meets “Proficient” criteria and description demonstrates keen insight into how the chosen studies collectively contribute to the shared understanding of the topic area (100%)

Describes how the evidence in the chosen studies contributes to the collective understanding of the topic supporting response with examples and support from the research (90%)

Describes how the evidence in the chosen studies contributes to the collective understanding of the topic but description is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or does not support response with examples and support from the research (70%)

Does not describe how the evidence in the chosen studies contributes to the collective understanding of the topic (0%)

16

Conclusions Meets “Proficient” criteria and explanation provides unique and insightful conclusions regarding the topic area that are appropriately supported by the research (100%)

Explains the new conclusions that could be reached about the topic area based on the evidence provided in your chosen studies, supporting response with examples and support from the research and personal claims (90%)

Explains the new conclusions that could be reached about the topic area based on the evidence provided in your chosen studies but explanation is cursory, contains inaccuracies, or does not support response with examples and support from the research and personal claims (70%)

Does not explain the new conclusions that could be reached about the topic area based on the evidence provided in your chosen studies (0%)

16

Predict Meets “Proficient” criteria and prediction demonstrates keen insight into what the future research in the topic area could explore (100%)

Predicts what could be explored by future research in the topic area of the chosen studies (90%)

Predicts what could be explored by future research but explanation is cursory or contains inaccuracies (70%)

Does not explain the new conclusions that could be reached about the topic area based on the evidence provided in your chosen studies (0%)

16

Articulation of

Response Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy-to-read format (100%)

Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization (90%)

Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas (70%)

Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas (0%)

7

Total 100%