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Module 1 – Case
Assessment of Data Sources for the Research Problem
Assignment Overview
You will be working from the statement of intent about your project and the introduction that you originally prepared in DOC650 along with the literature review that you prepared in DOC660. By now, you should have a pretty good idea of the structure of your project, what you hope to accomplish with it, who you will be working with on it, and what you will actually be doing. The purpose of this methodology statement is to describe systematically what you will be doing in your research and how you will be doing it.
In the Case for this module, you will be reviewing numerous readings relating to different kinds of studies and how they are structured, the relationship between research questions and study design, and the constraints on research posed by different kinds of designs. You will then be asked to review your study and your research questions in light of this material, and to select and describe an appropriate study design that you believe will help you answer the research questions you have posed. This will constitute the first section of your project methodology.
As the course progresses, you will be making a series of decisions in which you will increasingly specify the structure of your project. These decisions build on each other in critical ways. However, you are not locked into previous decisions if you subsequently decide you need to change direction. In each subsequent module, as you build up your methodology, you will have an opportunity to go back and revise and/or extend the sections completed in previous modules. Case grades given for the first four modules will be advisory rather than final. Your ultimate grade will be based on the completed methodology at the end of the course.
Case Assignment
Prepare a 5- to 7-page paper in accordance with the
Assignment Expectations
below, describing the basic research design for your project, in accordance with the following outline:
Restate your research question(s), simply and directly.
Describe your basic assumptions about the project, the research site, and the participants, as well as the role that you hope to play.
Describe the goal(s) you hope your project will achieve.
- Describe the general methodology you chose for your study, in terms of the various categories of research described in the module readings:
Relative mix of quantitative and qualitative data
- Exploratory vs. descriptive
Other categories
- Explain why this method is the best for your purposes.
Identify your research partner(s) and the role they will play in the project.
- List any specific deliverables that you will provide to your research partner(s) at the end of the project.
Assignment Expectations
Length: The written component of this assignment should be 5–7 pages long (double-spaced), not counting the cover page and reference page.
- Organization: Subheadings should be used to organize your paper according to the questions.
- Grammar and Spelling: While no points are deducted for minor errors, assignments are expected to adhere to standard guidelines of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence syntax. Points may be deducted if grammar and spelling impact clarity. We encourage you to use tools such as grammarly.com and proofread your paper before submission.
- When you write your paper make sure you do the following:
- Answer the assignment questions directly.
- Stay focused on the precise assignment questions. Do not go off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background materials.
- Use evidence from your readings to justify your conclusions.
Be sure to cite at least five credible resources.
- Make sure to reference your sources of information with both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper, including pages 11–14 on in-text citations. Another resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My Resources” in the TLC Portal.
