Reference no: EM133511380

Synthesis of Literature Assignment Instructions

Overview

Utilize the articles addressed in the literature matrix to write a synthesis of the research. You will only have 10 - 15 articles, but you should be able to draw some conclusions and form opinions about how the research could be used to make a practice change. It is important that students are able to not only analyze individual research studies, but to then see how the evidence on a topic "fits together". This is beyond a simple literature review; it is looking at research as a whole and drawing conclusions.

Review the articles you've gathered and address the following:

What are the overall strengths and weaknesses of the research studies?
Where there any obvious gaps in the research (something that wasn't addressed that really needed addressing)?
Which studies had similar conclusions? How did these studies differ in terms of strength of design, level of evidence (using Melnyk classification system), number of subjects, usefulness for practice, and other pertinent aspects of research?
Were there studies that had very different or contradictory results? Why do you think this is the case?
What is your overall conclusion about what the research is concluding and using the evidence for a practice change?
Anything else you found pertinent or noteworthy about the research studies you reviewed.

Keep in mind that this is a synthesis, so you don't want to discuss research using a "shotgun" approach where you talk about research A, then research B, then research C, etc. This doesn't demonstrate an understanding of the research as a whole. An example of an approach for synthesis might be research A & B reached similar conclusions while research C reached a different conclusion with a smaller sample size. You would then add your own conclusions/opinion, based on the whole of what the studies are telling you.

Instructions

This is a formal paper and should be written in narrative format, utilizing APA format per LU graduate level paper guidelines.
Please include a title page, abstract, and reference page.
Use headings to separate sections of your paper.
Clearly cite information from the research studies themselves and other sources used in evaluating them. Note that you may have several citations in one paragraph as you discuss different research studies.
A minimum of 5 pages is required, not including title, abstract, and reference pages.