Introduction*******
In this assessment, you will be conducting a literature review to choose the topic for your Human Services Doctoral Project (HSDP). In HMSV-FPX8612, you completed a needs assessment. For this assessment, you should use the findings from your needs assessment to identify an appropriate topic and find supporting literature. Your topic proposal and approval (Assessment 6 in this course) should describe an organizational or a community program or policy issue, develop support for examining the problem, and describe a systematic approach to theoretically and methodologically identify strategies that address the human services problem. Assessment 6 must be approved by the DHS program faculty.
In the literature review, you will need to support your topic choice with data from national professional organization web sources or reports from organizations such as CDC, SAMHSA, HUD, National Center for Homeless Education, National Center for Preventing Homelessness, National Foster Youth Institute, National Center for Children and Families, Child Welfare Information Gateway, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Census Bureau, and/or any number of other professional organizations relevant to your topic.
In this assessment, you will also conduct a gap analysis. The gap analysis focuses on the issue within the organization that you would like to change. The purpose of the gap analysis is to evaluate the extent to which current processes align with the best practices. During the gap analysis, you will identify organization-level performance or service delivery gaps that pose a significant risk to addressing the human service issue identified in your topic.
Note that the gap you identify will be the program or topic of your project, so you should seek input from organization leadership or staff to be sure all information is obtained. Further, this gap will become your program question.
PREPARATION***********
To ensure that you and the stakeholders of the organization are aligned in your understanding of the issue, you will need to meet with program leadership or other stakeholders and review organizational documentation to verify and clarify the issue of interest and to understand the existing processes.
- Identify the current state of the program.
- Review documentation of organizational practices, policies, and procedures (procedural manuals, employee handbooks, organization’s mission, vision and values statements, et cetera).
- Identify and define best practices needed to reach the desired state of the program.
- This is also a good time to figure out why there is a gap. To do that, ask questionsand question the answers to those questionsof everyone involved in the process, at all levels.
- This may involve in-person, facilitated focus groups or discussions with key stakeholders (clinicians, administration, execs, et cetera). What are people (both leaders and workers) noticing day-to-day surrounding this issue?
- Also, review your documentation around organizational policies and procedures, which may be a contributing factor. You will have to dig deep to find these answers.
- Determine how close the organization is to achieving the desired state of the program.
- Identify and document the gaps.
- Review the results of the gap analysis and define the next steps in the implementation process.
INSTRUCTIONS********
Conduct a literature review to provide empirical support for the problem that your program evaluation will address, as well as the gap analysis (justifying the problem that your program evaluation will address). Successful literature reviews synthesize the research literature: a common challenge is differentiating between a summary and a synthesis.
So, for this assessment, submit both summaries and a synthesis so each part is clear.
- The summaries ensure understanding of each article.
- The synthesis requires going beyond summary to apply the articles to the problem the program evaluation will address.
Step 1: Summary
Write a summary of each reference you plan to include as part of the project problem. This summary should be no longer than one paragraph for each reference. The summary must include:
- The purpose of the study (that is, the research question).
- The method (qualitative, quantitative or mixed-method, how the data were collected and analyzed).
- The findings.
- Implications of those findings as they relate to the program evaluation.
- It is highly recommended that you provide PDF copies of all the articles you plan to use in this assessment.
Step 2: Synthesis
After you have provided a summary of each reference you intend to include, synthesize your research articles to discuss the problem in two paragraphs. This means you must identify the two key points that these articles support (one point per paragraph). Use the MEAL plan to structure the paragraphs: your research articles are part of the evidence, but you must go beyond describing the studies to explain how these findings support the point of each paragraph. This means you do not have space to summarize individual articles.
Please see the to see what is appropriate for each problem section based by type of program evaluation. You should also download the to make sure your information aligns with what the annotated project plan includes. Your instructor or faculty auditor will use this for reviewing your work as well.
Step 3: Gap Analysis
Write one paragraph that explains the gap (that is, what your program evaluation is going to address). This should directly relate to the problem you identified in the two paragraphs to explain the problem.
Please make sure to submit a complete reference list in APA format as well.
Note: The research literature should relate to the program evaluation itself, which may not be the problem that the program addresses. If conducting a formative program evaluation to propose a new program, the literature review will relate directly to the problem the program addresses. However, a process evaluation is about how the program is functioning, such as fidelity to expected procedures. The problem the program addresses may or may not be relevant.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS*****
Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:
- Written communication: Write concisely and directly using correct grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanics to convey clear meaning and engage readers.
- References: Include 1015 current (published within the past 57 years) peer-reviewed, primary resources to support statements. Provide PDF copies of the articles you summarized.
- Format: Use current APA style and format for references and in-text citations. Include headings for sections of the paper, aligned with APA standards for headings. See the for APA resources specific to your degree level.
COMPETENCIES MEASURED*****
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
- Competency 1: Identify a project topic clearly and consistently throughout a project proposal.
- Submit summaries for all articles.
- Provide articles that are identified as appropriate to support point of paragraph and are no more than seven years old.
- Summarize all articles accurately.
- Compose synthesis paragraphs according to MEAL plan, with all elements included.
- Competency 2: Conduct a gap analysis to justify topic.
- Provide a project problem analysis that is appropriate for the program evaluation type.
- Relate the gap analysis to the program evaluation.
- Competency 5: Achieve scholarly excellence in key academic deliverables.
- Write concisely and directly using correct grammar, usage, spelling, and mechanics to convey clear meaning and engage readers.
- Competency 6: Integrate into text appropriate use of scholarly sources, evidence, and citation style.
- Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.