Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study

Overview and Guidelines

Overview

The purpose of this Major Assignment is for you to gain experience in taking a topic of

your interest and considering it as a possibility for a qualitative research study.

Major Assignment 1 is composed of three parts, as described further in this Overview

and Assignment Guidelines document. You will work on one part each week, so that

you can turn in your Assignment at the end of Week 4. Your Instructor will provide

feedback by Week 6. By Week 8, you will revise your Assignment based on the

feedback from your Instructor, and you will also submit the revised Assignment.

Major Assignment 1 Schedule

The following table indicates a completion date time line for each part of your Major

Assignment.

Week Assignment Completion Date

Week 1 Overview Day 7

Week 2 Major Assignment 1: Part 1 Day 7

Week 3 Major Assignment 1: Part 2 Day 7

Week 4 Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic

for a Qualitative Study, Parts 1, 2, and the

Annotated Bibliography

Day 7

Week 5 N/A N/A

Week 6 N/A N/A

Week 7 N/A N/A

Week 8 Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic

for a Qualitative Study, Parts 1, 2, 3, Annotated

Bibliography, and References

Day 7

Week 9 N/A N/A

Week 10 N/A N/A

Week 11 N/A N/A

Week 1: Overview

Activity

For this week, you will review the Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for

a Qualitative Study Assignment Overview and Guidelines and begin thinking about

possible research topics.

To prepare for this Assignment:

 Review the expectations of the Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study Assignment Overview and Guidelines. (Note: Make sure you review this document in its entirety before getting started.)

 Review Discussion 2 to explore possible topics for this Major Assignment.

No Assignment submission due this week.

Submit your Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study

by Day 7 of Week 4.

Week 2: Part 1

Activity

For this week, you will work on Part 1 of this Major Assignment 1.

To prepare for this Assignment:

 Review the Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study Assignment Overview and Guidelines and follow the format and guidelines in this document to create your Major Assignment 1.

 Review the Walden Writing Center website related to problem statements.

 Review the Walden Writing Center websites related to annotated bibliographies and consider how you will need to create your annotated bibliography for this Major Assignment.

 Attend the Walden Library Lab webinar and consider how you will need to use the library to assist you in your research. Use the Course Guide and Assignment Help found in this week’s Learning Resources for further information.

 Use the Course Guide and Assignment Help to search and select three articles related to your personal topic of study and include one literature review or meta-analysis article, one theory article, and one research article. The research article may either be from a quantitative or qualitative perspective. This will begin your annotated bibliography that will contribute to your research topic for the final Major Assignment 1.

Part 1

 Create a title page for your Major Assignment 1. Use the Detailed Major Assignment 1 Guidelines at the end of this document for proper formatting of your paper.

 Write a problem statement based on your topic of study. Develop a 1- to 2-paragraph statement that is the result of a review of the articles you located on your topic.

1. Briefly describe the phenomena you are interested in studying. 2. Briefly summarize the key findings or what is understood about this

phenomena based on the three articles you reviewed. 3. Briefly identify the “gap”—what do you see as an important, relevant, next

step in learning more about this topic that would be appropriate for a qualitative study.

(Note: As you write your problem statement, use your literature review/meta-analysis article, your theory article, and your research article to support your problem statement. Also, these articles should be included in your annotated bibliography framework.)

 Include your Annotated Bibliography section. No Assignment submission for this week. Submit your Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Study

Parts 1 (completed in Week 2), 2 (completed in Week 3), and the Annotated

Bibliography by Day 7of Week 4.

Week 3: Part 2

Activity

For this week, you will work on Part 2 of this Major Assignment 1.

To prepare for this Assignment:

 Review the Learning Resources related to research design and methods.

 Review the Detailed Major Assignment 1 Guidelines at the end of this document for proper formatting of your paper.

 Review the Walden Writing Center websites related to annotated bibliographies.

 Attend the Walden Library Lab webinar and consider how you will need to use the library to assist you in your research. Use the Course Guide and Assignment Help for additional information.

 Use the Course Guide and Assignment Help to continue your search for the three articles related to your personal topic of study. You will need one literature review meta-analysis article, one theory article, and one research article. The research article may either be from a quantitative or qualitative perspective. (Note: You previously used this research article for your Discussion 2 in Week 3.)

 You will continue your work on your Annotated Bibliography that will contribute to your research topic for the final Assignment.

Part 2

 Write a purpose statement using terminology of qualitative research. The purpose statement should contain:

1. A statement using the following template: The purpose of this qualitative study

is to [choose one: explore, describe, understand, explain] the

meaning/experience/culture/stories of [phenomenon of interest] in

[population/setting].

2. A justification of why the purpose of your study is suited for the qualitative

approach in terms of:

 The phenomena you choose.

 The “fit” with a constructivist epistemology and ontology.

 The relevance of the naturalistic setting or context to the phenomena of

interest.

Based on your knowledge of reflexivity, explain your relationship to the problem;

and the issues of bias and positionality to be addressed.

Include a brief description of the setting and possible sources of data.

 Write a research question using terminology of qualitative research. (Note: This could be the same research question you created in your Discussion 1 for this week ONLY if it applies to your topic of study for this Assignment.)

The research question should incorporate and mirror the purpose statement using

the following template: What is the meaning/experience/culture/stories of

[phenomenon of interest] in [population/setting]?

 Include your updated Annotated Bibliography section. No Assignment submission for this week. Submit Parts 1 (completed in Week 2), 2 (completed in Week 3), and the Annotated Bibliography by Day 7 of Week 4.

Week 4: Submission

Activity

For this week, you will submit Parts 1, 2, and the Annotated Bibliography of your Major Assignment 1 to your Instructor to receive feedback.

Submit Parts 1, 2, and your Annotated Bibliography section of your Major Assignment 1 by Day 7. (Note: Once you receive your Instructor’s feedback, you will incorporate their feedback and re-submit in Week 8 when you complete Part 3 of this Major Assignment 1.)

Week 8: Part 3 and Final Submission

Activity

In Week 4, you submitted your Parts 1, 2, and your Annotated Bibliography to your Instructor for feedback. For this Major Assignment 1, you will incorporate your Instructor’s feedback if you have not already done so. Also, you will finalize your Major Assignment 1 and complete Part 3. Part 3 To prepare for this Assignment:

 Review the Detailed Major Assignment 1 Guidelines at the end of this document for proper formatting of your paper.

 Incorporate your Instructor’s feedback from your Parts 1 and 2 submission in Week 4 if you have not already done so.

 Update your Annotated Bibliography to include any new articles you have read since Week 4 that would be appropriate to include.

 Continue on to Part 3 and finalize this section for your final submission. Use the Detailed Major Assignment 1 Guidelines at this end of this document to format your paper.

Part 3: Potential for Social Change

 Based on your understanding of social change, write one paragraph to describe how the results of your study might contribute to making a difference at a local/community, regional, or national level.

 Finalize your Annotated Bibliography. Use the Detailed Major Assignment 1 Guidelines at this end of this document to format your paper.

 Finalize your References section of your paper. Use the Detailed Major Assignment 1 Guidelines at this end of this document to format your paper.

Submit Parts 1, 2, 3, the Annotated Bibliography, and the References section of your

final Major Assignment 1: Developing a Research Topic for a Qualitative Research

Study by Day 7.

Detailed Major Assignment 1 Guidelines This document serves as a guideline for the content and format of your first Assignment. Format

1. Set up your MS Word document with margins 1.5” L; 1” R; 1” T; 1” B. 2. Use Times New Roman 12 point as your font. 3. Place a page number on the top right corner of every page using the page

number function in Word. Do not do this by hand. 4. Use the headings as shown in your document.

Content Week 2: Part 1

Title 1. Start your title with “RSCH 8310 Research Topic” and a colon, and then include

the title as it appears on the title page. Double-space if over one line of type and center it at the top of the page.

2. Below that type, centered:

Your Name Course Title

Date

Problem Statement Develop a 1- to 2-paragraph statement that is the result of a review of the articles you located on your topic.

1. Briefly describe the phenomena you are interested in studying. 2. Briefly summarize the key findings or what is understood about this phenomena

based on the three articles you reviewed. 3. Briefly identify the “gap”—what do you see as an important, relevant next step in

learning more about this topic that would be appropriate for a qualitative study.

Week 3: Part 2

Purpose Statement

The purpose statement should contain:

1. A statement using the following template: The purpose of this qualitative study

is to [choose one: explore, describe, understand, explain] the

meaning/experience/culture/stories of [phenomenon of interest] in

[population/setting].

2. A justification of why the purpose of your study is suited for the qualitative

approach, in terms of:

 The phenomena you choose.

 The “fit” with a constructivist epistemology and ontology.

 The relevance of the naturalistic setting or context to the phenomena of

interest.

Based on your knowledge of reflexivity, explain your relationship to the

problem; and the issues of bias and positionality to be addressed.

Include a brief description of the setting and possible sources of data.

Qualitative Research Question

The research question should incorporate and mirror the purpose statement using the

following template: What is the meaning/experience/culture/stories of [phenomenon of

interest] in [population/setting]?

Week 8: Part 3

Potential for Social Change

Based on your understanding of social change, write one paragraph to describe how the results of your study might contribute to making a difference at a local/community, regional, or national level.

Annotated Bibliography

Prepare an annotated bibliography that contains a reference list entry in APA style for each of the three articles that you found following the format described in the Academic

Guides website. (http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/assignments/annotatedbibliographies/application)

References

On a new page, list your references formatted in the correct style (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).