Research Assignment (Literature Review & Critical Analysis) (Due: 6/25/21 to dropbox)
The purpose of this assignment is to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify, summarize, and critically analyze published empirical research quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods) and identify implications for practice, policy, and future research. This assignment should be in APA format and including the following components (page numbers are approximate, not mandates):
Title Page (1 page) Running head; Page number and heading; Title, author, institution.
Introduction/Background (2-3 pages)
Your first sentence of your introduction should identify the research problem. This sentence or two should address why the research is important and what the implications for social work (policy, practice, future research, education, etc.) will be. You should also be sure to outline the major components of your paper, including the sources of information, key words, and databases employed. It is also important to connect the topic area to social work ethics/values. What is the problem/topic/intervention under investigation?
Next, your goal is to convince the reviewers that the topic area is applicable and necessary to explore. This is accomplished by outlining the significance of the literature reviewed. Typically, there is a focus on at least three specific areas: practical significance, theoretical significance (and/or significance for future research/exploration), and social policy (justice) significance. The degree to which you emphasize these areas will depend upon your audience but for the purpose of this assignment, address all three areas. In sum, this section describes what is going to be reviewed (studied) and why it is important (to study).
Literature Review (3-4 pages)
Your review of the literature should only include the most recent or relevant articles (usually within past 10 years unless a seminal study being cited). Using previous research, you should develop the general background of the research problem and identify research gaps to show how your research experiment can further research in the field. Please use one of the literature review models outlined in your text and consider including a literature map as a supplement.
Strengths/Limitations of the literature reviewed (1-2 pages OR embedded throughout)
This is where you want to be sure to address the strengths and limitations of the designs employed including insight about validity and reliability threats. You may also want to address sampling (participant demographics and other applicable characteristics, sampling strategy, criteria, size, etc.)
Ethical Considerations (1-2 pages OR embedded throughout)
Be sure that your proposal includes an explanation of the ethical considerations with respect to the topic area and literature reviewed as well as other ethical responsibilities in terms of future research, policy, and practice, as applicable.
Implications (1-2 pages)
This is where you will address the impacts of the literature reviewed including potential gaps in the literature and areas for future research. You may also address the broad societal implications and how the findings/results summarized may be used. You may also discuss the ramifications of failing to study the problem further (would things change, stay the same), and why would that be a problem? Please be sure to address the implications of oppression, discrimination, and strategies to advance social, economic, and
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environmental justice.
Critical Analysis and Recommendations for Future Study (1-2 pages)
This includes an analysis of the literature reviewed and a justification for what you believe would be the best design (quantitative, qualitative, and/or mixed methods) for the topic you studied in future research. You may even wish to identify your research statement/question. Please explain the rationale for your assertions and be sure to cite and support with links to your class material and the Creswell text.
References (8-10 peer reviewed scholarly references PLUS the NASW Code of Ethics, Creswell text and other supportive material): Please be sure that you have reviewed both quantitative and qualitative literature for this assignment.
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