Reference no: EM132785224

Assignment: The discussion assignment provides a forum for discussing relevant topics for this week based on the course competencies covered. For this assignment, make sure you post your initial response to the Discussion Area by the due date assigned. Provide a detailed response to the topic questions in the Discussion Area. For this assignment, post your responses directly in the Discussion Area; do not attach any documents.

To support your work, make sure you use your course and text readings. When asked, also use outside sources. As in all assignments, cite the sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.

Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or indicating a relationship between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion. Complete your participation for this assignment by the end of the week.

Identifying the Variables and Issues

For this assignment, provide a description of the problem statement and research question or hypothesis for your project.

On the basis of your project:

• Identify the variables that you plan to test.

• Specify one specific independent variable and one dependent variable, if your project is a hypothesis-testing project. Identify the hypothesis and variables that the program has been built around if you are evaluating a program or a policy.

For example, if you evaluate your local Big Brothers Big Sisters program, you could say that the program is built upon the hypothesis that positive role model mentoring has a positive impact on children from broken homes. The independent variable will be the presence of a Big Brother or Big Sister mentor, and the dependent variable will be the effect that the program has had on the child.