Discussion 1: Affinity Group Checkpoint #2

In this Discussion, you will have the help and support of your peers by engaging in a discussion of your coursework with your Affinity Group. Please be thoughtful in the comments that you give to other class members, assuring that the information is both relevant and useful.

What you discuss this week depends on the particular project track you have chosen:

· For those in the Research Paper Track:

· Post the Introduction,

· Overview, and Statement of the Problem, and discuss how the literature is shaping the description of your study for your Affinity Group

· For both tracks, your initial post should be 4–5 paragraphs.

· Refer to the Assignment 1 area of this week for more information.

To prepare for this Discussion:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:

Wiseman, L. (2017). Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter (Rev. ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins.

· Chapter 5, “The Debate Maker”

· Chapter 6, “The Investor”

Assignment:

Post your initial response.

The Capstone Project – Research Paper Track – 

· Introduction

· Overview

· Problem Statement

· 4-5 paragraphs

· No plagiarism

· APA citing

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You must have an APA formatted title page with every application.

Capstone Research Project

Chapter 1 –Introduction/Overview (week 3)

The Importance of Introductions/Overview:

Setting the stage for a study, the introduction establishes the issue or concern leading to the research by conveying information about a research problem . Unfortunately, too many authors of research studies do not clearly identify the research problem, leaving the reader to decide for himself or herself the importance of the issue that motivates a study.

Further the research problem is often confused with the research questions—those questions that the investigator would like answered in order to understand or explain the problem.

The introduction needs to create reader interest in the topic, establish the problem that leads to the study, place the study within a larger context of the scholarly literature, and reach out to a specific audience.

You will write an introductory overview providing the reader with sufficient facts about the subject of study. If the study is about an organizational or community issue, then you will describe the dynamics, including how long the problem has been occurring. You should provide enough specific and credible scholarly data from your search of the literature so that the reader can fully understand the circumstances and dynamics with which you are working.

Chapter 2 – Problem Statement (week 3)

The Importance of the Problem Statement:

When researchers begin their studies, they start with one or more paragraphs to convey the specific research problems or issues. They also present in the first sentence information to create reader interest in the sentences that follow the first sentence, authors identify a distinct research problem that needs to be addressed.

In applied social science research, problems arrive from issues, difficulties, and current practices. The research problem is the issue that exists in the literature, in theory, or in practice that leads to a need for the study. The research problem in a study begins to become clear when the researcher asks, “What is the need for this study?” or “What problem influenced the need to undertake the study?”

You will write a precise explanation of the specific problem to be solved. While symptoms often lead to the discovery of more deeply rooted problems and they are important to identify, it is imperative that you differentiate between the symptoms and the problem or you will be offering the wrong solutions, which may be fatal in the real world.

For example, while it is common to say that "the problem is that morale is low" this is only symptomatic of a much larger problem such as a failure of leadership. Another example is saying that "the problem is gang violence in my community and it is on the rise." This too is symptomatic of a larger problem such as a scarcity of resources or a sense of hopelessness. Therefore, be sure to not only discuss the symptom(s) which help the reader understand the larger framework of the problem, but to also clearly identify the problem that is to be solved.

Chapter 3 – Purpose/Significance (week 4)

The Purpose Statement:

Whereas introductions focus on the problem leading to the study, the Purpose Statement establishes the direction for the research. In fact, the purpose statement is the most important statement in an entire research study. It orients the reader to the central intent of the study, and from it, all other aspects of the research follow. In other words, the Purpose Statement indicates why you want to do the study and what you intend to accomplish and is the central, controlling idea in a study.

Clearly state what the purpose of the study is and explain the study's significance. The significance is addressed by discussing how the study adds to the theoretical body of knowledge in your field or expertise.

Explain how your research makes an original contribution to the body of knowledge. You will address the significance of the study and its importance to your organization or community.

It is especially critical that this chapter be well developed. Without a clearly defined purpose and strong theoretical grounding, your Capstone project is fundamentally flawed from the outset.

Chapter 4 – Research Question(s) (week 4)

Identify at least one, but no more than two, research questions. The research questions will guide and shape the rest of your paper. Specifically connect the research questions to the Problem Statement (in Chapter 2) by elaborating on how you think the two are related.

Begin the research questions with the words “what” or “how” to convey an open and emerging design. Focus on a single phenomenon or concept. Use open-ended questions without reference to the literature or theory unless otherwise indicated.

Chapter 5 – Methods (week 5)

In this section, describe the methods you used in order to solve the problem. If you used interviews, surveys, or observations, then describe those procedures in this section and include a description of how you conducted them.

Include detailed measures you used to protect any participants who might participate in surveys and/or interviews.

If you did not conduct interviews, surveys, or observations, explain what you would do in the future if they were needed to complete your study.

Also, include a thorough description of your literature search techniques (website links you are using, libraries, accessed, etc.).

Chapter 6 – Literature Review (week 6)

Use the literature to help you explain the phenomena under study. In this section, provide a summary of the literature and discuss how it works in light of the problem you are trying to resolve. This chapter, however, should not merely string together what other researchers have found. Rather, you should discuss and analyze the body of knowledge with the ultimate goal of determining what is known and is not known about the topic. The literature review thus describes and analyzes previous research on the topic

This should be an exhaustive study of the most pertinent literature on the subject. It will strengthen the paper by providing some historical context for the evolution of the theory if this applies. It will also strengthen your paper if articles can be found that run contrary to the major theories being presented. It is important for the student to remain completely objective when writing this paper to ensure that the student is not working to believe something to be true that otherwise is not. For example, some take the position that individuals can “lead” themselves, yet a fundamental definition of leadership is that it involves followers and without followers you do not have leadership.

Therefore, the proposition that people can lead themselves appears to be false. If, however, your position is that you do believe that a person can indeed lead "self," then it is incumbent upon you to find literature in the refereed journal resources that would support this contention. If you are not able to find literature that supports, your argument then you must clearly indicate this as part of your findings.

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Chapter 7 – Findings and Conclusions (week 7)

Describe your findings in this section. What did you learn from your exhaustive study of the problem? What would be your anticipated results of your findings if you had used surveys, interviews, or other tools? What did the literature suggest is the most appropriate way to solve your social impact problem? What are the implications for future research? What conclusions are you able to draw from your research?

Chapter 8 – Recommendations (week 7)

Describe your recommendations as though you were making a presentation to a meeting of senior managers, a city council, a community planning board, a board of directors, or government officials. What have you learned from your study of the problem that provides the basis for making recommendations to solve the social impact problem?

Appendices (optional and if used include in week 7)

Include in this section copies of interview forms or survey instruments used as part of your study. Do not include full reports that you have cited or an abundance of reference materials. Label each item separately according to APA guidelines and rules.

Acknowledgments (optional and if included, include in week 7)

In this section, acknowledge any individual, group, or organization without whose help your paper could not have been written. While it is always nice to acknowledge the support of family members who provide tacit and emotional support for us to complete our education, this section is to acknowledge people who provided actual support and without whose help your paper could not have been written (e.g., librarians, special advisors, consultants, organizations, etc.). Therefore, do not include family members unless they provided substantial input into the creation of this paper.

List of Cited References (ongoing between weeks 3-7)

In this area, include only a list of all of the cited references you used. Be sure to list all of your refereed journals, books, monographs, reports, etc., as well as any websites you used to gather material.

Annotated Bibliography (ongoing between weeks 3-6)

Provide a list of references along with the annotations (see instructions in Doc Sharing if you need a reminder) you used during this course. You will begin including your annotated bibliographies (5 at a time) starting in week three. You will add five different annotated bibliographies each week for at least a total of 20 different sources.

Bibliography (optional and included in week 7)

Provide a list of any source material you reviewed but did not use in this section. Include the links of websites that you visited but did not use. This will become a helpful resource for you should you decide to revisit this social impact issue after graduation. It is also a very helpful tool for other researchers interested in the same social impact subject.

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