This week's Forum requires you to answer the question completely and correctly to receive full credit.
Find two peer-reviewed articles that provide examples of quantitative studies relevant to your research topic. Qualitative studies are inappropriate for this week's Forum Discussion. The quantitative studies do not have to be a perfect match to your topic or use data from the General Social Survey.
These articles will form your literature review for your final project, although an abbreviated version in comparison to what you would use in a "real-life" research project. In these instances, it would be expected of you to exhaust as much of the existing literature as you could as you build context for your own research.
All quantitative research papers will have the following sections: Introduction, Literature Review, Data, Methods, Findings, Discussion, and Conclusion.
When you read these two research articles, pay close attention to sections marked with "Data," "Methods," and "Discussion." Also read their conclusions to see how authors link their findings to the existing body of literature to highlight the significance of their own studies.
In your initial forum posting, explain their findings based on the statistical data they present. Answer the following questions for each article:
1. What data did they use? This can usually be found in "Data" section.
2. What test of significance did the researchers use? This can usually be found in the "Discussion" section or reviewed in the "Methods" section.
3. What were their findings? These will be reviewed with detail in the "Finding" and/or "Discussion" sections.
4. What was their research question and how did their findings support/not support their hypotheses?
NOTE- I am looking for NUMBERS here. Talk to me about the statistical procedures (like, Chi-square, regression, etc.) NOT the topic of the study.
Do not present research studies that were already discussed by a classmate(s) for this week's forum discussion. In your own words (i.e., no direct quotes!), briefly describe the context or purpose of the study (no more than 3 sentences) and then in more detail, discuss the findings. Your focus should be on the statistical processes being used. Make sure to address the validity of each of the studies presented in your articles.
Forum Instructions:
Each week, learners will post one initial post per week. This post must demonstrate comprehension of the course materials, the ability to apply that knowledge in the real world. Learners will engage with the instructor and peers throughout the learning week.
To motivate engaged discussion, posts are expected to be on time with regular interaction throughout the week. All posts should demonstrate college level writing skills. To promote vibrant discussion as we would in a face to face classroom, formatted citations and references are not required.
Quotes should not be used at all, or used sparingly. If you quote a source quotation marks should be used and an APA formatted citation and reference provided.
This post must be a minimum of 250 words in length.
Forum post source citation is not required for forum posting in our class. This is because we are engaging in conversation that happens to be in writing form, not composing essays or research papers.
You will, however, need to paraphrase (restate in your own words) any words of published authors in parts of your posts that are based on their work.
Copying of published material, which is plagiarism, is prohibited and any instances of it, including forum posts, will result in a zero score without an option for re-submission to recoup lost points and a report sent to the Registrar's Office per University policy.
Discussion forum posts will be graded on verbal expression, critical thinking, making an effort to not just participate in but contribute to the dialog with initial and reply posts of a substantive nature commensurate with graduate level studies. Posts must have correct grammatical construction, spelling, and punctuation with no texting or other casual style language.