M1A2 (Discussion)

Defining Your Area of Research Interest

In this assignment, you will explore a topic and develop the same for  your research project. Using sources such as those described in the  online lecture material, locate two published studies (one from a  peer-reviewed journal and the other from a government research  organization) that relate to the topic you wish to explore. For example,  if you intend to study aspects of prison rehabilitation programs,  locate two studies that relate in some way. For example, you could use a  study on the effectiveness of post release employment counseling.

On the basis of your research and analysis gathered from the chosen published studies, respond to the following points:

• Describe the research question that the authors attempted to answer  and the way they pursued the answers to these questions in their  studies.
• Summarize the findings of the authors and give your impressions on  the findings. Are the authors' findings similar to what you expected?
• Analyze whether the studies produce results that can be used to improve some aspects of the system.
• Describe how the methods in the peer-reviewed journal differ from the government-published report.
• Explain how the studies selected by you relate to the topic that you wish to explore.