The formal paper project is 10 plus pages long in American Medical Assn. (AMA) or American Psychological Assn. (APA) style. If your discipline publishes in APA, I will allow this after seeing an example in your highest tier journal. The first page is your Coverpage followed by an Abstract. The abstract is 322 words long and covers all aspects of the study. The abstract is written AFTER the paper is completed in week 10 and then becomes page 2 of the paper after the Coverpage. I will include sample papers to guide you. The goal is to use all of the resources available to you while you construct a research paper on a Topic of your choice. Once refined, the topic becomes your dependent variable…your paper will address the influence of one or more independent variables on the topic…your paper is the answer to the the question “How does the independent variable(s) influence the dependent variable under examination”, or dep var = indep var I find that most students like to select and study a topic (disease, injury, medication, therapy, etc) that is close to them or their immediate family, friends, etc. As you mature in your major, the topic you choose is further influenced or biased by your ‘new worldview’ that is created by training and clinical experience. The topic is initially fleshed out in the Introduction, where you explain the topic, why you think it is important, basic details and prevalence, epidemiology, distribution in your population you wish to study, etc. The Introduction should be about a page to 1.5 pages long and in sufficient detail that allows me to understand what it is you are studying, and the significance, why you think it is important to share this knowledge with the world. A helpful way to build your paper is to start with the FINAL EXAM, which is now open… look at the Final exam (on the home page) and answer the Final exam questions (referenced to the suggested reading/text and slides/notes) and build your paper around your responses to the questions on the Final. This helps gets the Final completed and submitted on time, and it is more useful than just giving an examination at the end of the course. The Final exam is due to me week 12. I grade the Final with an eye on how you answered the questions based upon the context of your research paper. Once you select and Introduce a topic, we need to narrow the independent variables. We will spend 1 week just on this endeavor, which then allows you to create a problem statement. The problem statement is located at the conclusion of the introduction, and precedes the Review of the Literature. The Review of the Literature will use your references, and they should specifically address the indep var’s influence on the topic. References and citations that do not provide a rationale about why something does (or does not) address the dep var take up space and do not strengthen your argument ….avoid them. All references (10 minimum) must be derived from a peer-reviewed journal or textbook… absolutely no websites, WikiPedia or magazines/popular media. The Review of the Literature should be about about 1.5 pages long and in sufficient detail about each citation, so that I can understand the impact of that paper on the dep var. Do not use an annotated bibliography style in your paper….present your arguments about each citation in a narrative format. I will provide quantitative and qualitative student papers for you to use as rough models. The next part of the paper after the Review of the Literature is the Methods section. Be sure to look at the Armstrong Institutional Review Board for the protection of human subjects; we must always have institutional review board (IRB) approval before we begin the study, as well as health information portability and privacy or HIPPA protections…mention this in your paper. Here I recommend you adopt and use the methods section of one of your citations (paraphrase in your own words, do not cut and paste), and then consult the scale of measure…the power of the paper and the proper use of the statistical procedure is determined by the scale of measure (attached for your convenience on the Home Page). You must address these in your paper, and include issues of validity, reliability, and any risks of error or bias that could prove injurious to a patient or study participant. This is usually one to 1.5 pages in length. Conclusions and recommendations for future research. Should be 1 page in length and discuss your experience finding data, your perspective of the topic after studying it for 15 weeks, and any new discoveries of new therapy, medications, surgical techniques, or lessons learned in the process.
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