I’ve provided 2 attachments, the instructions (which are also included below) and my topic for the Policy Research paper along with some sources, questions, objectives, etc.
Instructions
Each
Research Paper: Final Assignment must:
· Have a length of
2750–3250 words (Note: the word count does not include words used in figures,
tables, diagrams, or the bibliography)
· Be formatted
according to current APA standards including:
o
A
properly formatted APA Title Page including paper name, institution, class name
and paper date.
o
A
Proper Title Page Header (Running Head: First 40 Characters of the paper title)
and the page number (on the FIRST page).
o
The
name of the paper and page number on each additional page (no Running Head).
o
Section
Headers (i.e. First Level Headers) which are bold and centered
o
Indented
paragraphs for each paragraph.
o
No contractions or use of
personal pronouns such as “You, me, your” (except in the Conclusions page)
o
Proper
APA formatted in-text citations and Bibliography
· Include figures,
tables, or diagrams, where appropriate (Note: the words in the figures, tables,
or diagrams are not part of the word count)
· Include an in-text
citation whenever the source to which you refer is changed
· Attribute quotes to
the source obtained, but quotes may not make up a significant portion of the
body of the text
· Include at
least 5 sources for citation, 2 of
which must be peer-reviewed journals.
· Use an in-text
citation to support any opinion that is not otherwise known as a ‘fact’
by your audience or by the general public.
o
For
example, if you state: “…all IT Systems should be reviewed yearly as a best
practice…” you need to support that with a citation. Such as ‘According to
(source), “all IT systems should be reviewed yearly…”
o
As
a graduate student, you are not yet considered an expert in your field but are
striving to become one by your degree.
o
If
your statement is a known fact such as “Computers are designed for processing
electronic information” or “IT Security is important” then you do not need to
cite as your audience will likely agree that this is a fact.
o
When
in doubt, cite! J
Each
Research Paper: Final Assignment must
include these 4 sections in this
order as the ‘first level sections’:
1.
Research Objectives:
What specifically
do you want to learn about or prove as you do this research?
a.
List
the research topics that you included as at least 3–4 bullets in the Research
Paper: Topic Proposal and Outline Assignment at the top of this section.
This list is to appear as the first section in your Research Paper: Final
Assignment.
b.
After
placing your bulleted list on the Research Paper: Final Assignment, you
must now explain those bullet points as separate paragraphs placed directly
after the complete list rather than inline with your list.
c.
For
each bullet in the list above, devote a paragraph or two to the research topic
to provide detailed information about that topic Including your research
sources. (Note: your Research
Paper: Final Assignment must be very focused to allow in-depth research in
so few words) and remember to include biblical integration as you are able.
d.
The
research topics are stated as bullets in this first section to help sharpen your
focus and hopefully ensure that focus is maintained as the Research Paper:
Final Assignment develops. But are only to serve as a guide for your
paragraphs.
2. Literature Search Results:
What do other
academic sources say about this subject?
a.
This
section will show the depth of your research.
b.
All entries in your
bibliography must be cited at least once in this section.
c.
When
detailing your literature search results, each declarative idea/concept (not
each sentence) must be cited. You are stating other authors’ ideas and concepts
and must provide the source from which they come.
d.
Remember
to link the results to Christian concepts via biblical integration.
e.
Often
this is the largest section of the Research Paper: Final Assignment. The
time to state your own ideas will come in the following section.
3. Conclusions:
What have you
learned from your research?
1.
The
purpose of this section is not
simply to reiterate the previous sections, but for some thoughtful reflection.
Now is the time to state your own conclusions. Don’t forget to provide
biblical integration on the topics when you state your conclusions.
2.
In
this section, each of the specific research questions you selected in the Research
Paper: Topic Proposal and Outline Assignment must be restated and
directly answered, even if the conclusion for an objective is uncertain. Doing
so will help ensure that you have addressed all your original research
questions. This, however, does not mean you are limited in this section to only
answering your initial research questions. More often than not, your research
will open new lines of thought that should be discussed.
3.
Most
poor grades are earned because this section does not include your conclusions,
but only repeats data from the previous sections.
4. Bibliography:
1.
Your
bibliography section must show at least 5 sources you cited from with a
minimum of two (2) peer-reviewed journals as sources.
2.
Both
the in-text citations and the accompanying bibliographic information must be in
current APA format.
3.
You
must cite professionally edited, peer-reviewed
sources. You are permitted to use webpages ONLY as secondary sources that
support the aforementioned peer reviewed sources.
4.
Do
not cite the course texts, encyclopedias (online or otherwise), news sites, or articles
from user-edited sources such as Wikipedia (however, this type of resource can
be used for initial uncited research which will often lead you to acceptable
sources).
5.
You
must use resources with a specific technical focus on your topic.
Using the “Tell Them…” Method
One
of the most tried and true standards for good quality papers is to use the
“Tell Them” model for crafting information. The model is broken out like this:
1.
Tell
Them what you are going to tell them. (introduction)
2.
Tell
Them about it (body of the paper)
3.
Tell
Them what you told them. (conclusions)
To
put this into perspective of a research paper, in the introduction you will
“Tell Them What you are going to tell them”. This gives the reader an idea of
what to expect and helps setup a good structure for your paper. Obviously,
don’t use the words “I am going to tell you” but make it clear what the purpose
of the paper is.
In
the body of the Research Paper: Final Assignment, you will “Tell them
about it.” Okay, you have explained at the beginning the topics you want to use
and a broad overview of the information. Now you need to answer each piece of
what you need to tell them. If you made it clear that you are going to talk
about 4 specific things in the “Tell Them what you are going to tell them”
section, then you should make sure to address all 4 items in detal.
Finally,
in the conclusion of the Research Paper: Final Assignment, “Tell Them
What You Told Them.” This means that you can re-iterate what you talked about
(don’t repeat it word for word but summarize the ‘big ideas’). Use this section
to tie in each things you said you would talk about into a unified ending to
your paper.
Why
do this? It is scientifically proven that if information is repeated at least
three times, the audience is most likely to remember it more quickly than if it
was stated one time or less. If you give your readers a solid structure, follow
it and drive it home, your audience will likely stay more engaged with your
subject.
Be
sure to review the Research Paper: Final Grading Rubric before beginning
this Research Paper: Final Assignment.