Description
101 Paper Requirements
Construct an essay, in which you summarize the findings from three studies on a given topic. Ideally, the paper should be reviewing the three articles that were utilized for your article reviews. The paper then should follow an essay format. I believe you can construct a good paper in five to six paragraphs, at approximately 3 to 4 pages. However, there are not any specific page number requirements.
Consider the following outline for your paper.
Paragraph 1 – Introduce the general topic and the relevance, or overall importance, of your main topic. Here you may want to include general facts and details that establish the basic foundation for your main topic, which may be found in the introduction sections of each of the articles you reviewed. You may also wish to include definitions of relevant terms, and any symptoms or diagnostic criteria, if applicable. Close the introductory paragraph with a statement about the three main ideas you wish to discuss from your articles.
Paragraph 2 – Provide a summary of the first article focusing on what specific aspect of the topic was studied. What was the research question of the study? Describe the method used in the study. If it was an experiment, what did they compare between groups? If it was a correlational study, what were the factors being compared, and what was the final relationship between those variables? If it was a case study, what were the specific characteristics they were examining within the participant? For all studies, be sure to indicate the results of the study. What were their findings? Most of the information in these paragraphs should come from the Method, Results, and Discussion section of the articles. When you are writing this summary review, be sure to put things in your own words. Do not plagiarize the authors. Additionally, do not include several quotes. Even after paraphrasing, you need to provide a source citation at the end of the sentence, or imbedded within the sentence.
For example, Phillips (2011) examined the factors that influence student success on her exams.
OR
Research has examined various factors that influence student success on exams (Phillips, 2011).
The way in which I format the source citations is where the APA format guidelines come in. Be sure to review the handbook available from the library if you are not familiar with the process of formatting and integrating citations into a paper. APA formatting will also be relevant to your works cited page.
Paragraph 3 – Begin with a transition statement linking the preceding paragraph to the next paragraph. Provide a summary reviewing the second article following the same guidelines outlined above.
Paragraph 4 – Begin with a transition statement linking the preceding paragraph to the next paragraph. Provide a summary reviewing the third article following the same guidelines outlined above.
Paragraph 5 – Describe any similarities, or stark contrasts, between the articles. What are the general principles gained from collective research? Describe the consistent findings between the articles, or why they may have reached different conclusions. Paragraph 6 – Provide a conclusion paragraph in which you explain the value or contribution, these studies have made to the understanding of your general topic. You may also wish to integrate your personal learning from these studies. What did you gain? How did these studies enhance your understanding of the topic? What were your takeaways?
Works Cited Page – Please construct works cited page outlining the appropriate source information for each of the articles you review, and any other sources you may have utilized for your paper. These sources should be cited in accordance with APA formatting guidelines. Again, refer to the library handbook for appropriate formatting guidelines. The reference section of your textbook also provides all references in APA format, so that is a good resource as well.
Please note that this paper will not integrate all of the APA sections, as you have seen in your research articles. You are not conducting a study, and therefore, do not have a method, results, or discussion to provide. Your paper is a mini literature review, similar to the Introductions from the studies you reviewed. However, please note that those Introductions were much more comprehensive on the topic, and integrated information from several sources. You are only required to integrate information from the three research studies you reviewed, but you can utilize more sources if you choose.
Textbook: Psychology 4th edition by Ciccarelli White (MyPsychLab)