Babbie, E. (2017). Basics of social research (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Chapter 15, “Reading and Writing Social Research”
If your last name starts with M through Z, use Article A.
Article A:
Swan, B., Coulombe-Quach, X.-L., Huang, A., Godek, J., Becker, D., & Zhou, Y. (2015). Meeting the needs of gifted and talented students: Case study of a virtual learning lab in a rural middle school. Journal of Advanced Academics, 26(4), 294–319. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X15603366
Picard, D., Martin, P., & Tsao, R. (2014). iPads at school: A quantitative comparison of elementary schoolchildren’s pen-on-paper versus finger-on-screen drawing skills. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 50(2), 203–212. https://doi.org/10.2190/EC.50.2.c
Use of Literature Checklist
Use the following criteria to evaluate an author’s use of literature.
• Look for indications of the following ways the author used literature:
• Introduce a problem
• Introduce a theory
• Provide direction to the research questions and/or hypotheses
• Compare results with existing literature or predictions
• Did the author mention the problem addressed by the study?
• Is the purpose of the study stated?
• Are key variables in the study defined?
• Is information about the sample, population, or participants provided?
• Are the key results of the study summarized?
• Does the author provide a critique of the literature?
• Are sources cited to support points?
• Are the citations to recent literature (within the past 5 years with the exception
of seminal works)?
• Does the literature justify the importance of the topic studied?
Problem Statement Checklist
This checklist serves as a guide for your evaluation. Please do not respond to the checklist in a Yes/No format in writing your Discussion post.
Use the following criteria to evaluate an author’s problem statement:
• Is a problem identified that leads to the need for this study?
• Is a rationale or justification for the problem clearly stated?
• Is the problem framed in a way that is consistent with the research approach?
• Does the statement convey how the study will address the problem?
• Are the citations to literature current (i.e., within the past 5 years with the
exception of seminal works)?
| In Walden’s scholar-practitioner model, a research problem shows promise of contributing meaningfully to the field ONLY if the answer to ALL of the following questions is “yes.” | Yes | No | |
| 1. JUSTIFIED? | Is there evidence that this problem is significant to the professional field? There must be relevant statistics (expressing an unjust inequality, financial impact, lost efficiency, etc.), documentable discrepancies (e.g., two models that are difficult to reconcile), and/or other scholarly facts that point to the significance and urgency of the problem. The problem must be an authentic “puzzle” that needs solving, not merely a topic that the researcher finds interesting. | ||
| 2. GROUNDED IN THE LITERATURE? | Can the problem be framed in a way that will enable the researcher to either build upon or counter the previously published findings on the topic? For most fields, this involves articulating the problem within the context of a theoretical or conceptual framework. Although there are multiple ways to ground a study in the scientific literature, the essential requirement is that the problem is framed in such a way that the new findings will have implications for the previous findings. | ||
| 3. ORIGINAL? | For research doctorates (Ph.D.): Does the problem reflect a meaningful gap in the research literature? For the professional doctorates (Ed.D. and D.B.A.): Does the problem describe a meaningful gap in practice? | ||
| 4. AMENABLE TO SCIENTIFIC STUDY? | Can a scholarly, systematic method of inquiry be applied to address the problem? The framing of the problem should not reveal bias or present a foregone conclusion. Even if the researcher has a strong opinion on the expected findings, scholarly objectivity must be maximized by framing the problem in the context of a systematic inquiry that permits multiple possible conclusions. |