SOCW 6301 Week 4 Discussion

SOCW 6301 Week 4 Discussion

Discussion: Research Questions and Literature Reviews

In this week’s video, you meet Eboni Logan, a teenager who reveals that she is pregnant. Eboni explains to her social worker that no one at her school talks about methods of birth control, as their only focus is on abstinence. Imagine that you are a social worker in Eboni’s school and you begin to notice an increase in teen pregnancy. This causes you to wonder about the effectiveness of abstinence-only education. This curiosity propels you to investigate further, but you are not sure what you should do first—develop a research question or conduct a literature review.

For this Discussion, review the literature on abstinence education. View the Sessions episode on the Eboni Logan case.

By Day 3

Post your explanation about what should come first—the development of a research question or a thorough literature review. Justify your answer by adding your thoughts about which process you believe to be more realistic and/or appropriate, and why. Finally, describe potential consequences of deciding on a research question without conducting a review of the literature. Please use the resources to support your answer.

Assignment: Introduction to Research Proposals

Just because you thought of an interesting research question and have a desire to conduct research does not mean that your research will automatically be supported by faculty or funded by an organization. In order to gain stakeholder approval, you must submit a research proposal. Much like an outline of a paper or a treatment of a movie script, the research proposal contains several parts that begin with a research question and end with a literature review. For this Assignment, you compile a research proposal that includes a research problem, research question, and a literature review.

For this Assignment, choose between the case studies entitled “Social Work Research: Couple Counseling” and “Social Work Research: Using Multiple Assessments.” Consider how you might select among the issues presented to formulate a research proposal.

Be sure to consult the outline in Chapter 14 the Yegidis et al. text for content suggestions for the sections of a research proposal. As you review existing research studies, notice how the authors identify a problem, focus the research question, and summarize relevant literature. These can provide you with a model for your research proposal.

Submit a 5- to 6-page research proposal stating both a research problem and a broad research question (may be either qualitative or quantitative). Use 6–10 of the most relevant literature resources to support the need for the study, define concepts, and define variables relevant to the question. Include a literature review explaining what previous research has found in relation to your problem and question. The literature review should also include a description of methods used by previous researchers. Finally, be sure to explain how your proposed study addresses a gap in existing knowledge.

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

SAMPLE ANSWER

Research Questions and Literature Reviews

A literature review is a “critical summary of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers.”1 It includes all academic disciplines, such as history, anthropology, sociology, and political science. A literature review surveys and analyzes the body of work and research that has been done on a particular topic. A literature review is distinct from a research question, which is a focused question that you will answer in your paper. A literature review synthesizes the work that has been done on your topic and provides background and context for your research question. In other words, while a research question investigates a particular aspect of your topic, a literature review asks “What do we know about this topic?” You will often be asked to write a literature review for class assignments or as part of your thesis or dissertation research. In these cases, your instructor or advisor will provide you with specific guidelines for writing your literature review. But what if you are asked to write a literature review and don’t have any guidelines? Or what if you need to write one for yourself? In this blog post, we will explore how to write a literature review, including tips on how to generate research questions and synthesize the work that has been done. 

What is a research question?

A research question is a question that you pose to yourself or to a group of people in order to gather information about a topic. The purpose of asking a research question is to gain new knowledge or understanding about something.

In order to come up with a good research question, you need to first do some preliminary reading on your topic. This will help you to narrow down the focus of your research and determine what aspects of the topic you want to learn more about. Once you have a general idea of what you want to study, you can start brainstorming potential research questions.

It is important to note that a research question should be specific and focused. It should not be too broad or too general. Additionally, a good research question should be answerable. This means that it should be possible for you to find information that will help you answer the question. If a question is too vague or open-ended, it will be difficult to generate useful data.

Once you have developed a few potential research questions, it can be helpful to run them by a professor or other expert on the subject matter. They may be able to point out any flaws in your questions or offer suggestions for how they could be improved.

What is a literature review?

A literature review is a detailed survey of the research that has been published on a particular topic. It is used to identify trends, debates, and gaps in the research so that you can plan your own study. A literature review can be either a stand-alone document or part of a larger research project.

How to formulate a research question

Formulating a research question is an important first step in any research project. The process of formulating a research question can be divided into four main steps:

1. Define the problem or issue you want to address.
2. Identify the gap in the existing research on this problem or issue.
3. Develop a research question that will fill this gap in the existing research.
4. Make sure your research question is specific, manageable, and answerable.

The first step in formulating a research question is to define the problem or issue you want to address. You can do this by brainstorming potential topics of interest, reading about related topics in the literature, or talking to others about possible ideas. Once you have identified a general area of interest, you need to narrow it down to a specific problem or issue that you can investigate.

The second step is to identify the gap in the existing research on this problem or issue. To do this, you need to review the existing literature on your topic of interest and identify what has already been researched and what still needs to be investigated. This will help you develop a focused research question that addresses a specific problem or issue within your area of interest.

The third step is to develop a research question that will fill this gap in the existing research. Your research question should be specific enough to allow you to investigate it within the confines of your chosen topic, but broad enough that it still has room for

Types of literature reviews

There are several different types of literature reviews that can be conducted, each with their own unique purposes and requirements. The most common types of literature reviews include:

1. Overview: This type of literature review provides an overview of the research on a particular topic or issue. It is typically conducted at the beginning of a research project in order to help define the scope and focus of the project.

2. Systematic Review: This type of literature review is a comprehensive, systematic search and evaluation of all available research on a given topic. Systematic reviews are often used to inform evidence-based decision making.

3. Meta-Analysis: A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple studies in order to provide a more robust estimate of the effects of a particular intervention or exposure.

4. Literature Review: This type of review synthesizes the existing research on a topic in order to identify gaps in knowledge or areas where further research is needed. Literature reviews are often used to generate hypotheses for new research projects.

Why are literature reviews important?

A literature review is an overview of the field of inquiry on a particular topic. It is a critical summary and evaluation of the current state of knowledge on that topic. A literature review is typically required in research proposals and final reports in order to situate the proposed research within the existing body of knowledge on the topic. A literature review can also be included as a section within a larger research paper.

A literature review has several purposes:

1) To provide an overview and synthesis of the existing body of knowledge on a topic.
2) To identify gaps in the existing research and highlight future directions for further inquiry.
3) To critically evaluate the existing body of knowledge, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
4) To situate the proposed research project within the existing body of knowledge.

Thus, literature reviews are important not only for researchers but also for students and other readers who want to gain an understanding of a particular topic.

How to write a literature review

A literature review is a comprehensive overview of all the knowledge available on a specific topic. It gathers all the existing research and summarizes it in a cohesive manner. A literature review can be a standalone document or it can be part of a larger research project.

There are several steps you can take to write a literature review:

1) Choose your topic. Make sure you select a topic that is narrow enough to be covered comprehensively, but not so narrow that there is little or no research available.
2) Search for relevant literature. Use library resources, search engines, and other academic databases to find sources that are relevant to your topic.
3) Read and take notes on what you find. As you read, make sure to take note of key points and concepts that you may want to include in your literature review.
4) Summarize and synthesize the literature. Once you have gathered all of your sources, it is time to start writing. Begin by summarizing each source in turn, then synthesize the information by identifying common themes and trends.
5) Write your literature review. Organize your material in a logical way and make sure to include an introduction and conclusion. Your finished product should provide a critical overview of the current state of knowledge on your topic.

Conclusion

Before you can write a literature review, you must first select a research topic. Once you have done that, it is important to formulate good research questions. These will help guide your literature search and ensure that you are only looking at relevant sources. After you have found and read the relevant literature, you can start writing your own literature review. This should summarize and critically evaluate the existing body of work on your chosen topic.