As an advanced PhD student, your task for this assignment is to select a final topic based on the information you prepared in the Identification of Research Topics assignment and create a literature review. The purpose of a literature review is to provide a comprehensive summary and analysis of existing research on a specific topic.
To begin, you should choose one of the three topics you identified in the Identification of Research Topics assignment. This topic should be something that is of interest to you and aligns with your research goals. Once you have selected your topic, you will need to locate three additional articles that will complement and support your chosen topic.
The GCU library is an excellent resource for finding scholarly articles. You can use various databases, such as JSTOR, ProQuest, or PubMed, to search for relevant articles on your topic. It is important to select articles that are recent and have been peer-reviewed, as this ensures the credibility and quality of the information.
Once you have gathered your articles, you will need to write a 1,500-2,000-word paper that incorporates the research process. The research process typically consists of the following steps: identifying the research question, conducting a literature review, designing a research study, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. For this assignment, your focus will be on the literature review portion.
In your literature review, you should aim to provide a comprehensive summary and analysis of the existing research on your topic. This includes identifying the main theories, concepts, and findings from previous studies. Your literature review should also highlight any gaps or limitations in the current research, which will help justify the need for your own study.
To structure your literature review, you can use either a thematic or chronological approach. A thematic approach involves organizing the literature based on common themes or concepts. This allows you to compare and contrast different studies and identify patterns or trends. On the other hand, a chronological approach involves organizing the literature based on the order in which the studies were conducted. This can be useful when you want to trace the development of research on a specific topic over time.
When writing your literature review, it is important to critically evaluate the articles you have selected. This includes assessing the methodology, sample size, data analysis, and overall quality of each study. You should also consider the credibility and bias of the authors to ensure that the information presented is reliable and unbiased.
In addition to summarizing and analyzing the existing research, your literature review should also provide a synthesis of the findings. This means that you need to connect the dots between different studies and present an overall picture of the current state of knowledge on your topic. You can do this by identifying common themes, inconsistencies, or gaps in the literature.
Finally, you should conclude your literature review by discussing the implications of the existing research for your own study. This might include identifying potential research questions, suggesting modifications to existing theories or models, or highlighting new directions for future research.
In summary, this assignment requires you to select a final topic based on your previous research, locate three additional articles that complement your chosen topic, and create a literature review. Remember to use the research process and critically evaluate the articles you have selected. Your literature review should provide a comprehensive summary and analysis of the existing research, identify gaps or limitations, and synthesize the findings to present the current state of knowledge on your topic.
