Welcome to WEEK 10!

First, we have some reading! Parts 3 & 4 of Duesbery & Twyman (2019) discuss ethics and discuss reviewing the research already conducted in your field. Both will be included in your quiz next week, but Part 4 will also help you with your current assignment. Additionally, a review of Topic 13 in Patten and Newhart (2017) and other learning activities listed below will also help you with your library searching this week.

You will do your first formal searches of the literature and document that search in the Week 10 Blog Post you’ll also take another look at what your group members and other classmates are doing with replies to the Week 9 Posts.

The Week’s Learning Objectives:

1. Recall the basics of using library databases
2. Compare and contrast ethics and social justice in action research to the ethics of more traditional academic research
3. Acquire new tips and ideas for finding, reviewing, and utilizing other’s research
4. Begin using APA Style citations with more precision

Learning Activities:

1. Read Duesbery & Twyman (2019) Part 3 & 4.
2. Review Patten & Newhart (2017) Topic 13: Locating Literature in Electronic Databases (pp. 44 – 48)
3. Skim the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines on In-Text Citations and References.
4. Try your hand at the APA Style Knowledge Quiz to see what you need to focus on as you continue learning APA Style.

Assignments:

1. Week 9 Reply Replies
2. Week 10 Plog Post
3. Presentations the Quality Clarifications group and the Experimental Experts groups will find their individual assignments in Bb.

Week 9 Reply — Ready to go?

Help your classmates with their assignments this week. Review two classmates’ posts, as always stick to your assigned group as much as possible. Provide them with feedback on their research plan. Here are a few questions you can consider:

• Did everything make sense to you?
• Would you suggest different databases, additional keywords, or some other change in strategy?
• What are your thoughts on your classmate’s topic?
• Are there any parallels with your research plans or another classmate’s plans?

Again, those questions above are just example reply topics. There’s no need to try answering each one, or even more than one. Anything that adds something to the original post and can help that classmate is fine.

Week 10 Blog Post — simple searches:

This week we’ll continue to document our research through the Blog. If you review Topic 13 (PN), you’ll see it suggested documenting your search of the literature.

Last week, we took care of the first step they mention in that topic: “identify the right databases and search terms or combinations of terms in order to find the most relevant literature” (p. 44).

First, we’ll start with a few simple searches. Here’s what you will do and note, in an easy to read manner, in your blog post:

• ONE: Use at least two separate Forsyth databases relevant to your topic.
• TWO: Conduct at least three keyword searches in each database. Each search should return more than 200 results, so think broad. 
• THREE: As Patten & Newhart suggest: “Record [a] what databases were searched, and [b] the exact parameters you used to complete the search, including exact words …. [c] Record the number of results that were returned” (p. 46). Additionally, note whether the search was useful, and if so, why.

What’s a Simple Search? That means, do NOT use boolean search terms to expand your search. Do NOT limit your findings in any way. These searches are intended to provide thousands of potential sources, but not provide viable result lists. Next week, we’ll do Boolean Searches to get results we may be able to reasonably review. This week, just one keyword per search, no Boolean terms or phrases.

Next, provide a little detail about a few useful possibilities:

• FOUR: Provide at least four APA-style citations to potentially useful sources.
• FIVE: Be sure to let us know which search led to which citation. This can help you remember more about the search and, if you decide not to save the source at this point, it can make it easier to find the source later.
• SIX: Review at least one source to better understand it, then provide an annotation of ONLY ONE PARAGRAPH on that source. There’s a new resource under Course Info to help you with annotations.

As always, use spacing, font, and a picture to make your post a little easier and more attractive to the rest of us for easy reading. Use the Week 10 Blog Post category, tag the post with keywords you used in your research, and add a unique title for your blog post (Bonus points for a Truly Unique title).

Tip: The post title shouldn’t include the week, your name, or this assignment.

Keep in mind, these sources may or may not be articles you end up referring to in your final proposal. They should be sources whose titles and abstracts suggest they could be helpful.

If your first three searches do not help you find four sources that are even potentially relevant, feel free to conduct more searches. Just be sure to document all the searches you do. The documentation should help you out tremendously as you continue your research.

There is an Example Post available from a previous student. It shows the basics for this post, but the APA citations were bad.

Week 10 Deadline: Monday, April 4 at 2pm Central

Current Texts:

Duesbery, L., & Twyman, T. (2019). 100 Questions (and Answers) About Action Research. SAGE Publications, Inc.

Patten, M. L., & Newhart, M. (2017). Understanding Research Methods (10th Edition). Taylor & Francis.