Unit 2

• PRINT

• The Literature Review

  INTRODUCTION

  Both action research and program evaluation can help institutions and organizations build upon their strengths and improve their practices. By looking for improvement in one area, it is expected that results can be generalized in other areas. Successful interventions used in one setting may be replicated in another. It is hoped that the result to society is improved functioning and problem solving in a variety of settings.TOGGLE DRAWERHIDE FULL INTRODUCTIONAction research and program evaluation should lead to an improvement from what is currently being done at the organization or community level. The research study should take the next step, fill an important gap, correct a previous plan of action, or improve on a current best practice. The study should contribute additional knowledge about the wider problem and also contribute to the particular organizational problem being studied. In other words, a narrow research problem needs to be solved in order to tackle a broader social problem. Scholarly justification is demonstrated by citing references supporting why the study is needed. Findings can be used to make changes where needed, gain an understanding of the needs of employees or participants, promote better programs, or strengthen organizations within communities.The action research study or program evaluation must be related to the learner’s specialization. The research issue should be valuable and important to others, including scholars, in that field. Scholarly research should be cited that calls for the type of research planned or sources cited that provide guidance on how to solve or address the problem. A needs assessment, prevalence numbers, or other types of descriptive statistics must be used to support the need for the action research study or program evaluation.The study must be meaningful or valuable to more than just the actual individuals involved in the study. It is expected that there is an explanation of how solving a community or organizational problem or program evaluation will create knowledge that can be used by others working with similar problems.

  Action Research

  Action research enhances working relationships between participants as they collaborate together and are empowered by knowing that their thoughts and ideas are being heard. Action research allows participants a voice in the research project. Additionally, action research also allows for the use of the researchers’ and participants’ personal experiences to promote understanding and empower change.

  Program Evaluation

  Program evaluation consists of either formative or summative evaluations. Formative evaluations measure how well the program implemented the plan of action, answering the question, “Did the program do what they said they were going to do?” Summative evaluations measure impacts or outcomes of the program, answering the question, “Is the program having the desired effect?” A summative evaluation is more easily justified as a program evaluation study, since outcomes or performance measures can be more easily linked to a research problem.

  Course Competencies

  The competencies covered in this unit include the following:

  • Competency 2. Apply advanced critical thinking skills to research methods and design.
  • Competency 3. Support ideas and concepts with evidence from the literature in proposing research methods and design.
  • Competency 9. Apply academic communication skills in verbal and written interactions within the research process.

  OBJECTIVES

  To successfully complete this learning unit, you will be expected to:

  1. Develop research and library skills to focus on locating relevant topic and methodology specific resources.
  2. Add to the literature review by using advanced research techniques, such as mining bibliographies and searching cited references.
  3. Demonstrate the ability to create a reference list formatted according to APA style.
• LEARNING ACTIVITIESCollapse All
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  [u02s1] Unit 2 Study 1

  MASTERING THE LITERATURE IN THE FIELD

  Constructing a strong and comprehensive literature review for your dissertation or capstone topic is the core of your writing as an independent researcher. You practice developing a dissertation or capstone literature review each time you do the literature review for a course paper.The dissertation or capstone literature review provides:

  • The conceptual basis for how you conceptualize your research topic and the methodology.
  • The justification for your research topic and the articulation of the research problem you will investigate in your dissertation or capstone.
  • A comprehensive literature review that masters the literature in your topical field is essential to researcher success.

  Many learners mistakenly think that a few good articles are sufficient for the dissertation or capstone literature review—wrong. A recent informal search of dissertations and capstones on the keywords “learn” and (“academic perform” or “school perform”) turned up hundreds of results. The first twenty were selected and their reference lists counted. The mean number of references in those first 20 dissertations and capstones was 143. If, as one librarian was heard to suggest, one should have roughly three times the number of references that one actually uses, that would suggest that an adequate (average) dissertation or capstone literature review will discover about 429 references.In this unit, you will learn library research skills that will help you perform a more comprehensive literature review.Before you begin your dissertation or capstone, you want to learn all there is to learn about:

  • The key theories in your field (the research literatures related to your chosen topic are your “field”).
  • The key controversies, disagreements, or open questions in your field.
  • The dominant (and important emergent) theories that you might choose to guide your research project (if it is quantitative).
  • The detailed theories and procedures for the methodology and design you have selected.
  • The details and areas of agreement and disagreement (among methodologists) about specific sampling, data collection, and data analysis within your chosen methodology.

  Internet Resources

  Visit Authenticity Consulting’s Free Management Library and read the Basic Guide to Program Evaluation.

  Multimedia

  Program Evaluation Media

  • Program Evaluation Process | Transcript.
  • Program Evaluation Overview | Transcript.
  • Framework for Program Development and Evaluation | Transcript.
  • Program Evaluation Life Cycle.

  Action Research Media

  • Action Research Inquiry Cycle | Transcript.
  • Practicalities of Action Research | Transcript.
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  [u02s2] Unit 2 Study 2

  AUTHOR-BASED VERSUS THEME-BASED LITERATURE REVIEW

  Novice learners approaching a literature review have a tendency to take an author-based approach. This means that one paragraph is devoted to one author like so:

  • Literature Review
  • Introduction:
  • Author 1 says….
  • Author 2 says…
  • Author 3 says…

  This is NOT the preferred structure of the literature review.Instead, for your dissertation or capstone literature review, you will combine the findings of multiple authors together, based on different common subtopics, or themes. These subtopics will also be useful in creating deeper searches for literature, making this an iterative or cyclical process.Library guides and resources for structuring your literature review:

  • Metaphors for Reviewing the Literature.
  • Literature Review Subtopic Brainstorming Worksheet.

  As you read the articles you have gathered, use the themes or subtopics to create deeper literature searches.Resources for Synthetic Reading:

  • Categorizing Articles as You Read.

  Resources for Deeper Searches:

  • Using Search Builder.
  • Subject Searching – Deepening and Focusing Your Literature Searches.
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  [u02a1] Unit 2 Assignment 1

  ADVANCED SEARCHING TECHNIQUES

  Resources

  • Advanced Searching Techniques Scoring Guide.
  • Interlibrary Loan Guide.
  • Journal and Book Locator Guide.
  • Google Scholar – Bibliography Mining and Cited Reference Searching.
  • Bibliography Mining and Cited Reference Searching Library Guide.
  • Public Service Leadership Ph.D. Research Guide.

  Two Strategies for Increasing the References in Your Literature Review

  Strategy 1: Mining Bibliographies & Reference Lists

  It is likely you have already been using bibliography mining in your research to find additional resources.Bibliography mining is the technique of looking at the reference list of an article and “mining” it for references that may be relevant to your research. When you use bibliography mining, you will be finding articles older than the original article that you have in hand.The hands-on version of bibliography mining involves:

  1. Taking an article from your search.
  2. Reading the literature review section.
  3. Highlighting in-text references that you want to track down.
  4. Grabbing the full citations from the reference list.
  5. Checking to see whether the article is available in the library.

  Strategy 2: Cited Reference Searching: Who Has Advanced the Research?

  Cited reference searching works in the reverse direction. This technique involves looking at which other authors or publications have been citing your article for their research. When you use cited reference searching, you will be finding articles more current than your article.

  Assignment Preparation

  At this point, you should have gathered several articles related to your research through library database searching. Now, it is time to expand your pool of articles even further by casting a wider net. Tap into the scholarly conversation surrounding the articles you have found. To do this, you will need to piece the conversations back together. Using the techniques described above and the tutorials in the resources, locate 10 new articles for your literature review.

  • Bibliography Mining: Find five older sources from the articles that you already have.
  • Practice Cited Reference Searching: Find five more recent articles that cite your original articles.

  Note: If you do not have a large assortment of relevant articles gathered already, please contact the library for recommended search strategies. You can also refresh your basic search techniques by specialization, by viewing our Program of Research Library Guides or using our Search Builder tool.

  Assignment Instructions

  In a Word document titled “Firstname_Lastname_Reference_List” (for example, John_Doe_Reference_List), report on the results of your searching with the advanced techniques. Report a minimum of ten articles:

  • Be sure to use both strategies when procuring your articles.
  • Be sure to cite all of your articles using APA format.
  • For each article discovered, write a brief description of what it adds to your literature review on the dissertation or capstone topic. As always, provide correct in-text citations.
  • Submit your work to the assignment area.

  Review the assignment due date information provided in both the Syllabus and the Faculty Expectations discussion to effectively plan your time.

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  [u02a2] Unit 2 Assignment 2

  APA REFERENCE LIST

  Resources

  • APA Reference List Scoring Guide.

  For this assignment, you will create a properly formatted APA reference list and will add it to the References section of your dissertation or capstone research plan. Using Chapter 7 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association as your resource, complete this assignment:

  • Use the reference list you created in the previous assignment, Advanced Searching Techniques.
  • After the reference for each article in that reference list, include the example number and page number(s) of the reference example that best matches the article. Use Chapter 7 of the APA Manual (6th edition) to make your selections.
    • For example, if the reference is to a journal article with a DOI, the example number and page number would be “Example 1, p. 198.”
    • If your formatting of the reference is not formatted according to APA style (according to that example), correct it here and then add the corrected item to the References section of your dissertation or capstone research plan.
    • Here is an example of what your entry should look like for this assignment: Jones, J. (2011). Possibilities of error in APA reference formatting. Journal of Library Science, 43, 111–117. DOI: 1234567890. Example 1, p. 198.

  To complete the assignment, submit the list with the APA Manual examples and page numbers to the assignment area.Note: Formatting errors cost points when seeking dissertation or capstone research plan approval and in the comprehensive examination, and may be responsible for some learners not gaining approval or passing who otherwise present successful content and writing. Now is the time to master this simple way to succeed in academic writing.Review the assignment due date information provided in both the Syllabus and the Faculty Expectations discussion to effectively plan your time.

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  [u02d1] Unit 2 Discussion 1

  SMART FORM

  Resources

  • Discussion Participation Scoring Guide.
  • Scientific Merit Action Research Template (SMART) Form – PSL [DOC].

  Please complete sections 1 and 2 of the dissertation or capstone research plan (SMART form, linked in the Resources) based on the research design you have been working on throughout your coursework. Be sure to read the instructions found in the left-hand column.When you have completed sections 1 and 2 of the SMART form, post the SMART form as a word document for your discussion response.

  Response Guidelines

  Respond to at least two other learners in your group. In your responses:

  • Focus on communicating what your peers have done well on their SMART forms.
  • Ask open-ended questions about areas that may be unclear to you.
  • Offer a constructive critique for how a specific section or response could be improved.
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  Updates and Handouts

  Periodically, information will be posted in this space for the good of the class.

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  Ask Your Instructor

  This forum was created to provide a convenient space for you to ask questions—questions about particular assignment and discussion activities, questions about the course in general, questions about expectations. If there is something that you feel you could use help with, please post your question here. Most likely, some of your classmates will have the same concern, so your post may help several learners. If you feel your question is private, please use the Messages tool found under Notifications.