Reference no: EM133741934 , Length: word count:2700

The number of Soldiers who served in OIF/OEF and have suffered from PTSD.

The topic you chose for your research is good; however, you need to clearly state your research question and hypothesis. Remember that a research paper does not merely seek to quantify "the number of soldiers who served in OIF/OEF and have suffered from PTSD." Instead, it needs to investigate additional factors.

To write a research paper, you will need to follow the steps of conducting research, which include stating your research question, formulating your research hypothesis, and conducting a literature review. You also need to determine what the independent variables are and what the dependent variables are. This information should have been acquired in your previous undergraduate courses. I recommend that you review this information and refer to an example discussed in Week 3: "What is the relationship between burnout and job satisfaction among nurses?" In this research question, there are two variables and the relationship between them that the researchers want to explore. Similarly, you can determine your research question and hypothesis.

Please find the attached sample of a student's research paper. This is an undergraduate-level paper; your paper will require much more information from literature, but this paper can help you better visualize the sections (or parts) and the outline of a research paper. I recommend that you open the Week 7 assignment titled "Literature Review" to review the requirements of the final/major paper. This will provide you with an overview of what you will need to accomplish in the upcoming weeks.

Please search for and read research articles that focus on your chosen topic to prepare thoroughly for the literature review section of your paper (assignments for Weeks 5-7).

Your major project (due week 7) will be a literature review on a topic related to your psychology program. You will develop this paper in stages during Weeks 5, 6, and 7.

According to the APA manual (p. 10),

"Literature reviews, including research syntheses and meta-analyses, are critical evaluations of material that has already been published. In meta-analyses, authors use quantitative procedures to statistically combine the results of studies. By organizing, integrating, and evaluating previously published material, authors of literature reviews consider the progress of research toward clarifying a problem. In a sense, literature reviews are tutorials, in that authors

define and clarify the problem;

summarize previous investigations to inform the reader of the state of research;
identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature; and
suggest the next step or steps in solving the problem.
The components of literature reviews can be arranged in various ways (e.g., by grouping research based on similarity in the concepts or theories of interest, methodological similarities among the studies reviewed, or the historical development of the field)."

For this assignment, you will create an annotated bibliography and an outline, two documents that will help you create your research paper due in week 7.

The annotated bibliography should be formatted using the example provided. For this week you are only required to have 5 peer-reviewed articles in your annotated bibliography, but you will need a total of 10 articles for your first draft in Week 6 and your final paper in Week 7.
The outline should include your paper topic and the anticipated sections for your paper (no more than 3 main sections). Under each area include detailed information, including the purpose of that section in relation to the paper. This outline is not complete or final but should provide enough detailed information so that you may receive helpful feedback for this paper.
Be sure to use APA format, including a cover page and reference section. Include in-text citations to show what sources you will use for each section.

Submit your assignment by clicking on the assignment title. This assignment is due by Friday

To design the Week 6-7 literature review paper, you will use the Week 5 information (annotated bibliography and outline) and five additional peer-reviewed primary research articles (a total of 10 articles required) to create a literature review. The literature review document must be 4-6 pages long in Week 6 (do not count the title page or reference list). Use the APA template provided in Week 1 to better understand how the literature review is formatted. For Week 7, you will add and/or remove content to meet the Week 7 assignment goal of a five-page paper.

For this assignment, your goal is to present what you have learned about your topic across all of the articles you gathered and read. If your thoughts have evolved since you turned into your outline, it is OK to deviate from what you submitted in your outline last week! You are encouraged to:

Use headings within your literature review to guide the reader through your thoughts as you summarize the key points you want to make.
Be scholarly, but don't use over-complicated language. Be direct. Do not use colloquial expressions, and do not use the first person (e.g., "I," "me," "my").

Do not simply write a paper that brings the reader through a summary of what you read article-by-article (like mini-article critiques). Instead, each paragraph should be about a different point you want to make about your topic and what the combined literature demonstrates about that point. Expect to use multiple citations in each paragraph.

Take a look at the introduction for the article you critiqued in Week 3 if you are unsure how to write your literature review. Notice how their literature review is focused on topics and synthesis of others' research and theory. Model your structure, tone, and "flow of thoughts" after theirs. Also, note how the authors have used citations and where they are placed.

Create a References page that only uses references (not annotations). Be sure that your page lists your references in the proper order and that formatting and punctuation are correct.