A general guideline is to use quotation marks with short pieces of work such as articles, poems, and chapters. Use italics for titles of longer works, such as books, plays, and films.
Use Quotation Marks: Article titles from magazines, newspapers, journals Book Chapters Essays Poems Short Stories Songs Specific episodes of radio programs Specific episodes of TV shows Specific pages within a website Use Italics: Aircraft Album titles Books Dance Performances Films/movie titles Journals Long Musical Compositions Magazines Newspapers Online databases Operas Paintings Pamphlets Plays Radio programs/broadcasts Sculptures Ships Spacecraft Television shows Websites
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Be certain to provide data regarding the reliability of someone else’s survey that you used in your dissertation. For example, Cronbach's (alpha) is a coefficient of internal consistency commonly used as an estimate of the reliability of a test or instrument. If possible, you should provide detail regarding the validity of someone else’s survey. For example, to ensure construct validity evidence would involve the empirical and theoretical support for the interpretation of the construct. This type of validation includes statistical analyses of the internal structure of the test including the relationships between responses to different test items. This could also include relationships between the test and measures of other constructs. For example: “In a study using Smith’s survey instrument, value of the Cronbach’s (alpha) coefficient was found to be a.b, verifying reliability of the instrument (XXX, date, p. yy).”
This section of the proposal is 2-3 paragraphs long. It clearly states the problem or research focus, the population affected, and how the study will contribute to solving the problem. This section of chapter 1 should be comprehensive yet simple, providing context for the research study.
A well-written problem statement begins with the big picture of the issue (macro) and works to the small, narrower and more specific problem (micro). It clearly communicates the significance, magnitude, and importance of the problem and transitions into the Purpose of the Study with a declarative statement such as “It is not known if and to what degree/extent...” or “It is not known how/why and…” Other examples are: It is not known_____ Absent from the literature ______ While the literature indicates ____________, it is not known in _________ (school/district/organization/community) if __________ It is not known how or to what extent ________________ As you are writing this section, make sure your research problem passes the ROC test - Researchable, Original, and Contributory! Tell your committee why this is important, serious, why something must be done! There are four [4] required parts: 1. The general problem is…. 2. The specific problem is…. 3. The methodology is …. 4. The population is… “The proposed qualitative, quantitative, mixed method, case study (select one) research design will….” If qualitative, tell me which –hermeneutic phenomenological, phenomenological, grounded theory, etc.; if quantitative, tell me how you are going to analyze your data--t-test, chi-square, MANOVA, etc. Tell me, “The proposed population will be…in this region….” This is the meat of your paper!! You are going to repeat this statement verbatim several times throughout your paper and your appendices. The purpose statement has seven [7] required parts:
1. Research method is identified as qual, quan, mixed, case. 2. Research method is appropriate to the proposed study. 3. Research design is clearly stated. 4. Research design is appropriate to the research method. 5. Research variables are briefly identified. 6. Specific population group of proposed study is identified. 7. Geographic location of study is identified. The Purpose of the Study section of chapter 1 should be 2-3 paragraphs long, provide a reflection of the problem statement, and identify how the study will be accomplished. This section explains how the proposed study will contribute to the field. The section begins with a declarative statement, "The purpose of this study is....” Included in this statement are also the research design, population, variables (quantitative) or phenomena (qualitative) to be studied, and the geographic location. Further, the section clearly defines the dependent and independent variables, relationship of variables, or comparison of groups for quantitative studies. For qualitative studies, this section describes the nature of the phenomena to be explored. Keep in mind that the purpose of the study is restated in other chapters of the dissertation and should be worded exactly as presented in this section of chapter 1. Creswell (2003) provided some sample templates for developing purpose statements aligned with the different research methods (qualitative/quantitative/mixed method). Creswell, J. W. (2003). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Do not inadvertently insult your participants. The following is from a Capella formal editor:
X “should be aware of the subject versus participant Controversy. In many past studies, humans were universally referred to as subjects (with its implications of subservience). Many believe that the term subject was used to separate that human connection when experimenting with human beings and that one is more likely to disassociate him or herself from someone thought of as a subject rather than a participant. Today, any person that signs a permission slip (or has someone sign on his or her behalf) should be referred to as a participant. However, conversion from using the term subject to participant has been met with some resistance.” Be certain you know the differences: The following is from a U of P formal editor:
X “needs to justify that each assumption was probably true, otherwise the study could be irrelevant. To assume, for example, that participants answered honestly, X can explain how the identities of participants were concealed and confidentiality was preserved. X “should review the scope, limitation, and delimitation sections. The scope is what the study covered and is closely connected to the specific problem framed. The limitations are the constraints that were beyond X’s control but could have affected the study outcome. X needs to explain how these constraints were dealt with. The delimitations were the conditions set by X including the sample size and the geographic area selected. X needs to explain how she controlled her own bias.” I will add, assumptions are the elements of a study that are often taken for granted. This section should list what is assumed to be true about the information gathered in the study. State the assumptions being accepted for the study as methodological, theoretical, or topic-specific. For each assumption listed, you must also provide an explanation. Provide a rationale for each assumption, incorporating multiple perspectives, when appropriate. A common committee criticism I see is the incorrect formatting of lists:
X “should check APA 6th formatting regarding seriation (formation of lists). Within a paragraph, items are listed using: (a), (b), (c), and so on. For example: The teachers identified three challenges: (a) teaching hungry children, (b) making do with outdated books, and (c) organizational bureaucracy. (See: APA style manual, pp.63-64, 3.04 Seriation). In a vertical list, numbers and periods are used. “Indent the numbers or bullets of all vertical lists one-half inch from the left margin (p. 15 of Capella’s Dissertation Format Guidelines). “For in-paragraph lists that are direct quotes in which the original author has used parenthetical numbers, replace the parenthetical numbers with bracketed letters. For example, if the original quote uses (1), (2), and (3), replace these with [a], [b], and [c]. See APA 6.08.” One of the most common committee criticisms I see is the use of vague references to time: currently, soon, still, lately, now, today, etc. This is a comment from a formal editor at Capella:
X “should remove vague references to time such as: recent, current, currently, now, today, etc. People’s perceptions of these words vary. Sometimes removing these adjectives makes the statement stronger. If a time reference is needed then some specific time frame should be stated.” Think about this: With any luck, your dissertation will still be used as research in 10 years. Imagine a doctoral candidate in 2023 trying to figure out what “lately” means. Exchange these vague references for a year or a century, for example: Instead of writing, “Lately, the industry has increased the production of widgets.” [substitute] “In the 21st century, the industry increased the production of widgets.” [or] “Since 2007, the industry has been increasing the production of widgets.” Remember, if your source is Jones (2005), you cannot say, “In 2013, the industry….” (Jones, 2005). You must always remember that you are confined by the date[s] of your references. The best you can do with Jones (2005), for example, would be to say, “In 2005, the industry started to increase the….” (Jones, 2005). • Odd page breaks and blank pages. Do not leave a blank page or a half-filled page of text in the middle of a chapter; don’t leave a short table/figure without text on the page.
• A dangling line. There must be at least two lines of a paragraph at the bottom or top of a page; in paragraph formatting, this is called widow/orphan control (click on Format > Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks > Pagination). • A dangling heading. Use a page break to keep a heading from dangling at the bottom of a page. A heading must be followed by at least two lines of text before the page break. Also make sure table titles and figure captions appear on the same page as the table or figure. • Inconsistency of spacing above headings. Make sure the space above headings is uniform; if you wish, add an extra space above headings to set off new topics on the page. • Inconsistency of spacing above and below figures and tables. An extra space above and below a table or figure will set it off from paragraphs or other tables/figures on the same page; make the spacing around tables/figures uniform from chapter to chapter. • Tables and figures in the margins. There must be no text or graphics in the margin areas of the page. For in-paragraph lists that are direct quotes in which the original author has used parenthetical numbers, replace the parenthetical numbers with bracketed letters. For example, if the original quote uses (1), (2), and (3), replace these with [a], [b], and [c]. See APA 6.08.
In your dissertation or thesis, when lead authors share a surname (for example, there are two different authors named Jones), include that author’s initials, ahead of the surname, in those text citations. See the example in APA 6.14.
According to the 6th edition of the APA : "Within a paragraph, when the name of the author is part of the narrative...you need not include the year in subsequent nonparenthetical references to a study as long as the study cannot be confused with other studies cited in the article. Do include the year in all parenthetical citations" (pg. 174).
Owl of Purdue states: “In other words, every time you bring up the author in a new paragraph, you should use the year, but you don’t have to within a paragraph, as long as it’s clear from your wording that you are discussing the same author. If you were giving a direct quotation that needed a parenthetical reference for the page number, then you’d include the year as well.” Remember, if you list the author in parenthesis, you must include the year. (APA 4.22-4.23).Provide the explanation of an abbreviation the first time a term appears. Thereafter, provide only the abbreviation in text and citations. However, do not include abbreviations in the References list.
Tables [in document and in Table of Content]: Capitalize the first word, all proper nouns, all major words, and words of four or more letters in titles .
Figures [in document and in Table of Content]: Capitalize only the first word and any proper nouns in figure captions (see APA 5.23 and Figure 5.8). |
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May 2014
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