Category: Research methods

The purpose of this final assignment is to develop your own subtopic within the broader topic selected for this quarter. You will compose a research proposal outline using the resources from this course and any other articles you find to support your subtopic. You may take either a qualitative or quantitative approach. You will submit pdfs of the materials you use to support your proposal. Use one of the following templates to explore the subtopic you are proposing and complete all the research characteristics that are reflected in each of the PowerPoint slides: Final Assignment – Qualitative Template [PPTX]. Final Assignment – Quantitative Template [PPTX]. Please leave all subheadings in the PowerPoint slides and build your content under those subheadings. Use a sentence-style outline and be sure to explain your points clearly. Also, be sure to use cited support throughout the outline. Once completed, this template can serve as a guide for your own research proposal project in the future. Instructions This assignment requires that you use your accumulated knowledge about the elements of research. In this final project, you will create a proposal for how you might study the topic selected for this quarter, either qualitatively or quantitatively. You will submit the research proposal you develop on the topic area selected for you and you will also submit PDFs of all of the peer-reviewed journal articles you use for scholarly support in your research proposal outline. A PowerPoint template has been provided for you to outline your ideas. Each slide has a major heading that focuses on the given research component. The major headings are accompanied by subheadings that signal the main points to be addressed. As this is a PowerPoint presentation, you are not asked to provide a full narrative, but rather clear and concise bullet points in brief sentence style, demonstrating your understanding of each aspect of the plan. Please use accurate APA style and format for this assignment including citations and references. Detailed instructions for this assignment are embedded in the PowerPoint template. Please follow the instructions and remove the instructions from the final assignment submission. You may want to use the articles provided for the Week 3 and Week 6 assignments. You should also use the course textbook and any additional scholarly sources you choose to support your proposal. See Program Library Research GuidesLinks to an external site., Reviewing the LiteratureLinks to an external site., and Library HelpLinks to an external site. for guidance. Competencies Measured Competency 1: Analyze the methodology used in scientific research. Detail the methods section (for quantitative proposal) OR detail the procedures section (for qualitative proposal). Competency 2: Evaluate the characteristics, purposes, benefits, strengths, and weaknesses of research methods. Articulate the statement of the problem and the purpose statement. Articulate the research question (and hypotheses for quantitative proposal). Explain the theoretical perspective for quantitative proposals OR the philosophical assumptions/worldview for qualitative proposal. Competency 3: Evaluate ethical issues in research studies. Articulate anticipated ethical conduct. Competency 4: Evaluate data collection and analysis strategies based on the characteristics of the research design. Explain the expected findings for the given topic. Competency 5: Examine the appropriate application of scientific research methodology. Create a complete and appropriate research proposal outline. Competency 6: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with the expectations for members in the identified field of study. Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with the expectations for members of an identified field of study, using APA style and formatting.

No instructions provided

The Importance of Random Assignment

Overview

This short paper assignment will require you to explain the importance of random assignment in psychological research.

Prompt

Imagine that you are an online tutor for an undergraduate Research Methods course. One day, you get this email:

Dear Tutor, I am having some trouble understanding why it is so important to randomly assign participants to experimental conditions. It seems to me that if you have a large enough sample, the results would probably be valid even if you didnt bother to randomize the participants. Why is it important to go through the trouble of randomizing participants? Also, if you are going to randomly assign participants, how should you do it?

Respond to this students email, explaining the concepts at the appropriate level for an undergraduate. In your response, be sure that you explain why it is important to randomize participants. Also, explain some of the ways that a researcher can randomly assign participants. Lastly, be sure to explain how a researcher can draw valid conclusions even in situations where randomization is not possible.

Review Beginning Behavioral Research: A Conceptual Primer, Chapters 7 and 8, to further prepare for this assignment.

Remember that you are writing to a student. Acknowledge their discomfort with the concepts. Help them to understand random assignment to experimental conditions by answering the questions below. Using language identical to the text is not beneficial. Assume they have read the material but do not understand.

Use the following questions to guide your work:

• Why is randomization important?
• Review Chapter 7, which addresses three principal reasons for using random assignment.
• Focus on an overview of why randomization is important in your words.
• When you randomly assign participants, how should you do it?
• Review Chapter 7: How is Random Assignment Accomplished?
• Provide examples of those methods so the student understands.
• How can a researcher make valid conclusions even when randomization is impossible?
• Review Chapter 8, which explains making conclusions without random assignment.

Your paper should include all of the following critical elements:

1. Discussion about the importance of randomization in a psychology experiment
2. An explanation of the methods of randomization that a researcher can use to randomly assign participants
3. An explanation of how a researcher can draw conclusions without randomization

What to Submit

Your paper must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. This paper should be a minimum of three pages (not including the cover page and references) and must follow APA format.

The Required textbook is

Rosnow, R. L., & Rosenthal, R. (2014). Beginning Behavioral Research: A Conceptual Primer (7th ed.). Pearson Education (US).

But I can submit screenshots of the chapters in case there is no access. The rubric is included as well and more resources used to cite.

Textbook: Beginning Behavioral Research: A Conceptual Primer, Chapter 7, pp. 129135, and Chapter 8, p. 149

These chapters review how researchers assess causality in research. The difference between randomized and nonrandomized research is emphasized. This is an excellent resource for the Short Paper assignment.

Article:

In this article, the authors argue that experimental research is overvalued and discuss its strengths and limitations. They also discuss the need for and importance of other research methods.

Article:

This study examines social anxiety, avoidance behaviors, and extraversion. This provides an interesting look at analysis and reporting.

Submit the most recently revised version of your Chapters 1 and 2 for your Dissertation Chair to review. Be sure you are using the current Dissertation Template with all your submissions throughout the course. Your Dissertation Chair will review and provide feedback for the document submitted according to the Dissertation Criteria Assessment (DCA). Also, be sure to use a Change Matrix appropriately for this submission with your document. You can find a blank Change Matrix on CDS Central.

There are two commonly used kinds of literature reviews. First, a literature review can articulate a research gap in the published peer reviewed journals which your research project can fill. It is the written to review what’s been published in order to determine what knowledge exists on the subject under study. When you identify gaps, then you can show the reader how your project will fit in. Second, a literature review can develop the variables and theoretical framework that will be used in a scientific research study. This type of literature review summarizes a theory to deduce a hypothesis which will be tested later in the next phase of the scientific research cycle. In this style of literature review, the scholar uses previously published articles on a THEORY (or on a related topic) to determine the variables that make up the project. Similar to the thematic analysis in the previous paper, you use the literature review to determine the key measurable variables. This assignment requires you to write 1,000 words on the first kind of literature review and 1,000 words on the second kind of literature review. Be sure to write this paper in a formal academic style using proper citations and peer reviewed sources. Define terms but leave out casual jargon and personal pronouns. For this assignment complete the following steps: 1. Download the State of the Literature assignment template [download] to write your paper. 2. Locate peer-reviewed sources to aid in writing your paper. You may use the same topic as your research question from the week 3 discussion or the week 4 case study. Or you may choose a new topic. Focus on Homeland Security. Write about: Mitigating Cybercrime Threats to Water Supply Systems: A Case Study of the 2021 Oldsmar Water Treatment Plant Cyberattack – This assignment summarizes the “state of the literature.” It does not use data or topical sources like government websites, newspapers, and datasets. The purpose of this literature review is to alert the reader to what scholars are publishing on this topic. – Do a survey of what has been published over the last five years or so. These will be peer reviewed articles published in scholarly journals on homeland security topics. 3. Prepare an APA title page and write a few paragraphs introducing your research topic. 4. Summarize the issues and findings of the published scholarship and find a gap that the scholarship does not cover. Be sure to organize around headings that clarify the themes in the literature. 5. Identify the gap and conclude with a specific research question that can fill that gap in the scholarship. 6. For the second literature review, download the Theory Literature assignment template [download]. 7. Then start with a few paragraphs summarizing the research gap and question that you identified in the gap spotting literature review. 8. Then search for and identify theories that apply to your research topic in homeland security. You may use the ones identified in the AI search from the week six discussion post to help you find one theory to describe in this literature review. 9. After identifying ONE theory, search the APUS library for peer reviewed articles (not newspapers, datasets or government websites) which describe, test, and examine the theory. 10. Summarize the theory, its antecedents and component variables. Use these variables as headings in the literature review. 11. Conclude with a hypothesis that you could use to test the applicability of the theory to your topic and answer the question. 12. Add a summary of the previous literature review and compare the question to the hypothesis. Include some ideas about the topic.

research project of interest-how to better educate the age group of teenagers to young adults by managing and prioritizing their finances.

For this assignment, you will create a self-completion questionnaire for the quantitative research project of interest you described in the Unit II discussion board. As discussed in the Unit III study guide, a self-completion questionnaire should be comprised of three parts: 1) the cover, 2) the instructions, and 3) the survey items. Construct these three parts by responding to the following prompts:

Part 1 The Survey Cover

• State the problem(s) to be solved.
• Describe the population of interest.
• Explain how you would determine sample size.
• Define the sampling frame.
• State the sampling design. (i.e., type of sampling)
• Explain if the survey will be cross-sectional or longitudinal.
• Detail how the surveys will be distributed and collected upon completion.

Part 2 The Survey Instructions

• Create clear and unambiguous survey instructions for participants, in familiar language, that explain how to complete the questionnaire.

Part 3 The Survey Items

• Formulate eight closed-ended survey questions, using a Likert scale of your choosing, that would help solve your problem(s) when answered.
• Include a minimum of four closed-ended demographic questions.

Please thoroughly address all areas listed above and use APA-compliant headings and sub-headings that align with the individual assignment prompts. Respond to the prompts in the same sequence they are requested above and do not combine elements within a section.

For guidance, refer to the sections on Survey Instrument Design and Advice for Survey Construction in the Unit III study guide. The survey that is developed should appear professional and in a format that would be suitable for distribution to participants.

Your assignment should consist of a minimum of two pages in length. No references are required unless information is quoted or paraphrased.

Use the Assignment 1 Instructions (PDF included in this module) for creating a cloud-based data collection form. CDC and HCUPnet offer you a real glimpse into databases that are currently available for use. They will provide first-hand examples of what data is being collected and how you might develop your form. Examples of demographics you may want to consider: Gender, Age Group, Marital Status, Household Size (including adults, infants, and children of all ages), Race/Ethnicity, Highest Completed Education, Current Employment Status, Gross Income before taxes, Type of Housing (Own/Rent), Urban/Rural, Internet Access The form should include a variety of response options for the seven survey items including date, short answer, paragraph, multiple choice, checkboxes, dropdown list, and scale.

Walmart, a discount retailer, was started by Sam Walton in the small town of Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. By 2014, Walmart had become the worlds largest retailer, with more than $476 billion in revenues and 10,000 stores. As the new century began, Walmart faced new competitors and new challenges. Walmarts success in the future would require responding effectively to the growing trend toward online purchases and the emergence of Amazon.com as a major competitor.

This case will explore Walmart’s evolution and how its unique approach to retail and operations management has enabled it to be successful, even as new challenges come its way.

As you read the case below, consider how you’d answer the following questions:

1. Why has Walmart been successful? What is the single most important factor that has contributed to Walmarts phenomenal success?
2. Why exactly are Walmarts costs lower than its competitors? Examine each element of the cost structure (e.g., Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), labor, rent, advertising, distribution, technology, etc. as a percentage of total sales) and assess where Walmarts costs are lower than competitorsand why.
3. What should Walmart do to respond to the emerging trend of online purchases, and more specifically to the threat of Amazon.com as the dominant competitor?

To Receive Full Points:

• AI Guidelines: You are welcome to use AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Bard, or other platforms) to support brainstorming, outlining, or fact-checking. However, you must disclose how you used AI in a short note at the end of your paper (e.g., I used ChatGPT to help organize my outline and suggest additional references). Failure to disclose AI use will result in a deduction.
• References: Use at least 5 credible references (academic journals, company reports, business press such as The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg, or government/industry data sources). In-text citations and a reference list in APA format are required.
• Dataset Requirement: Incorporate at least one dataset or chart (e.g., Walmart vs. Amazon revenue growth, cost structure comparison, or e-commerce adoption rates). You may use Statista, IBISWorld, U.S. Census Bureau, or other reliable data repositories. Be sure to explain how the dataset supports your argument.

Your literature review must be organized by themes/debates (not a list of author-by-author summaries) and it must end with a clear gap what my study will do bridge to your own project.

Instructions: Upload one PDF that includes Sections AD in this order:

A. Literature Review Draft (60 points)

Length: 610 pages (double-spaced, 12-pt font, 1-inch margins) not counting references/appendix

Sources: Minimum 12 scholarly sources (peer-reviewed journal articles and/or reputable working papers such as NBER/IZA/World Bank)

Required Structure

1) Introduction (121 page)

• State your research question clearly (one sentence).
• Define the scope (what you include vs. do not include).
• Provide a roadmap of your themes (24 themes you will use).

2) Theme Sections (47 pages total) (organized by themes, not authors)

Each theme section must include:

• What the literature generally finds.
• Where evidence is mixed and why (measurement, context, data, identification strategy, time period).
• Boundary conditions (for whom/where/when results change).
• A few anchor studies discussed with more depth (data + method + key findings).

3) Gap + Contribution Bridge (121 page)

End with a clear explanation of:

• What gap exists in the literature.
• What your study will do to address it (setting, variables, identification idea, mechanism, or dataset).

4) References (required)

• Use a consistent citation style (APA, Chicago, etc.).
• Non-negotiable standard: If you cite it, you must have opened it and verified it.

B. Synthesis Evidence (25 points)

Include your most current versions of the following:

B1. Updated Synthesis Matrix (15 points)

Minimum 12 rows (one per final source). Must include:

• Theme bucket
• Setting/context
• Data
• Method/identification strategy
• Key results
• Limitations
• Implication for my model/specification

B2. Updated Thematic Outline (10 points)

12 pages that clearly matches the structure of your written draft.

C. Revision Memo (10 points) (1 page)

Include:

• 3 strengths of your current draft (specific).
• 3 targeted revision goals for your next draft (what you will change and how).
• 1 paragraph explaining how your organization supports your argument.

I have attached a previous assignment to use for the literature review. Only use the sources from the “Links for sources pdf”

Please review the rubric and follow the instructions closely while completing the work. Ensure strong research, clear explanation of the problem, correct MLA citations, and organized methods so the essay meets the maximum grading criteria. The topic I chose the topic of dreams and how they influence a person so the main focus about the essay it dreams. Make sure you in third person.