Week 2

The non-portfolio or non-internship action research project involves actively researching a current technological problem or issue. The problem or issue can be internal or external to a business; however, the research requires fieldwork. This project’s duration must be at least eight weeks (four, two-week iterations of at least 40 hours of activity per iteration).

The introduction, as the minimum, is one to two pages long and should not have an APA heading. The introduction must include:

· A brief history/background of the business if the problem involves a business or the background support for your technological problem or issue if the problem does not involve a business

· A discussion about the circumstances of the situation that you plan to improve or change

· You may want to discuss, ‘what is wrong or deficient…and why you think making changes will result in improvements. Include why the improvement is of value to you (the stakeholder)

· Refer to the assignment on Blackboard for additional assignment criteria

The methodology section of the paper, as a minimum, is two to three pages long. Essentially, this section is a mini-research paper defining and explaining the Action Research (AR) Methodology including its application to technology research.

The methodology paper must include:

· Five (5) professional (subject matter experts) or scholarly references

· A discussion about the history of AR and application/uses along with its applicability to researching technology issues

· A transitional paragraph at the end of the section describing how AR is an appropriate methodology for the research you are doing

· Refer to the assignment on Blackboard for additional assignment criteria

A literature review is a research paper about your topic. This section, as the minimum, is three to four pages long using a themed (topic sections) presentation approach with as much detail as possible. Depending on your topic, specific examples or literary support may be difficult to find. You may need to use a surrogate (somewhat related) topic in order to complete the literature review. For example, improving the ‘needs assessment’ process in organization XYZ may not yield research results, so you will need to generalize the topic. Generalizing the topic could may require examining research on the value of need assessments, the processes associated with needs assessment, or how to a conduct needs assessment.

The literature review section/paper must include:

· At least eight (8) professional (subject matter expert) and/or scholarly references

· Refer to the assignment on Blackboard for additional assignment criteria

The proposal section contains a high-level overview of your project as laid out in a minimum of four iterations. Each iteration should represent approximately two weeks, with a minimum of 40 hours of activity in each iteration.

Do not try to layout your full plan at this point, keep this to one or two paragraphs for each iteration description. At this point, you should focus on the big picture.

Hypothetical situation…Let’s say your proposal deals with improving the ‘needs assessment’ process in organization XYZ. You know the process is weak and requires improvement, but do not know what the weak points are or how to correct them. You assume you will need the following iterations:

In iteration 1, you anticipate two or three brainstorming sessions with representatives from each of the three divisions with each session last a maximum of two hours. The session discussions will include identifying current process flow, a gap analysis, gathering process requirements, and communication flow. In addition, the iteration will include compiling, analyzing, and reporting the results of each brainstorming session. At this point you can go into a little more detail but not too much…keep this statement to one or two paragraphs.

Remember, this is an example and one meeting is not sufficient for an iteration.

You expect there will be several one-hour follow up session with each of the division representatives to discuss the outcome of the brainstorming session, clarify information, and gather more detail about their division’s requirements. Again keep this to one or two paragraphs, I encourage you to focus on the big picture.

Remember, this is an example and one meeting is not sufficient for an iteration.

This iteration will be a two-hour follow-up meeting with the three division representatives to discuss identified common requirements, possible integration of requirements, and discussion of how unique requirements will be managed at the division level. The researcher will manage common and integrated requirements, and the appropriate division must manage unique requirements. At the conclusion of this meeting, the division representatives will be tasked with formulating a solution for all unique requirements.

Remember, this is an example and one meeting is not sufficient for an iteration.

You need to fully analyze the feedback concerning the requirements from each of the divisions. Then, document a final process to collect ‘needs’ from each of the divisions,

Remember, this is an example and one meeting is not sufficient for an iteration.

A final two-hour meeting is needed to present the new process. Copies of the new process will be provided to each division.

Remember, this is an example and one meeting is not sufficient for an iteration.

A figure, see Figure 1, showing at least four iterations of your Action Research project’s flow must appear at the end of your proposal. The figure shown here should be used as a template for the information needed in the figure. Remember to revise the information in each of the Iteration number blocks!