How To Write A Masters Thesis by Yvonne Bui
How To Write A Masters Thesis by Yvonne Bui
How To Write A Masters Thesis by Yvonne Bui
Yvonne N. Bui
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Title: How to write a master’s thesis / Yvonne N. Bui, San Francisco State University
Description: Third Edition. | Los Angeles : SAGE, [2019] | Previous edition: 2014. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
BY STUDENT
BY CHAPTER
Chapter 6:
Ho
Iniguez
Chapter 7:
Williams
Kendall
Irey
Kornhauser
Gomes
Nixon
Stephens
Chapter 8:
Henderson
Irey
Iniguez
Kendall
Mireles
Rau
Williams
Chapter 9:
Gomes
Hess
Kendall
Rau
Irey
Appendix E:
Williams
Appendix F:
Williams
Appendix G:
Kendall
Iniguez
PREFACE
The purpose of this book is to teach and model how to write a master’s
thesis. The book is intended for graduate students who will write a thesis
as part of the requirements for a master’s degree as well as for university
faculty who are teaching and advising students pursuing this goal. As a
former faculty member at the University of San Francisco and now at San
Francisco State University, a major part of my role has involved teaching
and advising graduate students pursuing their master’s degrees. This
time has been an enjoyable, fulfilling, and educational experience. Most
of my students are employed professionals working and going to school
full time, caring for families, or assuming other responsibilities that
require their attention. As the culminating experience of their graduate
program, some see the master’s thesis as an opportunity to research
new solutions to problems they have encountered in their course work or
in their professional work. Behind their enthusiasm, however, there is
often fear and uncertainty about how to conduct the research and write
the thesis.
There are 10 chapters in the book, and each one begins with a detailed
outline of the content in the chapter. Chapter 1 provides an overview of
the master’s thesis. Chapters 2 and 3 focus on how to select a research
topic and search the existing research literature in electronic databases
and Internet search engines. Chapter 4 discusses the ethical issues
when conducting research and the process of applying for approval from
the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 introduce
how to write the main components of each of the five chapters in a
traditional master’s thesis: Introduction, Literature Review, Methods,
Results/Findings, and Discussion. Chapter 10 focuses on editing and
formatting citations, references, tables, and so on, using the writing style
from the American Psychological Association (APA). Within each
chapter, I describe and explain what is expected within a specific section
in the thesis, give tips and strategies on how to prepare and write the
section, and provide sample excerpts adapted from students’ completed
master’s theses to illustrate my suggestions. There are also numerous
figures and captured “screenshots” from relevant websites to enhance
the text.
Important changes have been made to this third edition. First, every
chapter has been carefully edited and updated with new citations.
Second, the suggested readings and web links at the end of each
chapter have also been updated to reflect the most current electronic
resources. Third, due to advances in technology, new sections on
conducting Internet searches and screenshots have been added to
Chapter 2. Fourth, more details and updated examples are provided to
illustrate the funnel writing strategy and the three parallel ladders
strategy. Fifth, there is more information about qualitative research and
mixed methods and data analysis in this edition. Finally, sections were
added on how to read and use the book and prepare the master’s thesis
for presentation and publication.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge and express my appreciation for the
individuals who helped make this book a possibility. I would like to thank
the following reviewers for their comments and suggestions on how to
strengthen the book:
Quantitative Research 12
Qualitative Research 14
Style Form 16
Summary 17
Resources 18
Reflection/Discussion Questions 18
Try It Exercises 18
Key Terms 20
Suggested Readings 20
Web Links 21
As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits
and starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a
smooth path.
—Barack Obama
If you are reading this page, congratulations! This signifies that you have
already successfully completed a bachelor’s degree in your field, a major
accomplishment. Now you are ready to embark on the next phase of your
educational journey: completing a master’s degree. Why congratulations
and not condolences? Because whether or not the master’s degree is the
highest professional degree in your field or a gateway to doctoral studies,
completing the degree will open many doors for you, both personally and
professionally; it is up to you to find them and walk through.
If you are preparing to write your master’s thesis, most likely you are at
the end or toward the end of your master’s degree program. Although
master’s degree programs are not typically designed to teach students
how to write a thesis, the course of study and experiences from the
program benefit you greatly as you go through the research and writing
process for the thesis. First, the master’s thesis process provides you
with multiple opportunities to learn the critical core content in your field or
discipline. This content knowledge will help you as you select an
appropriate topic to study—one that is both relevant and significant to
your field—and frame your research interests. Next, most master’s
degree programs require students to take a research methods course.
The thesis experience will help you research the literature, analyze and
synthesize research articles, develop answerable research questions,
and create a rigorous, yet feasible, design for your study. Thus,
throughout the thesis writing process, you will be constantly relying on
the content knowledge and experiences that you gained from the
master’s degree program to demonstrate you have “mastered” the
content and associated research skills in your field or discipline.
Finally, the skills you acquire in writing a thesis will benefit you in any
career you choose. For example, you will learn how to pose a problem,
present data to support an argument, organize your thinking,
communicate through scholarly writing, manage a large project and your
time effectively, and receive constructive feedback. All these skills will
enhance your performance in any chosen career path.
If you are allowed to pick your own chairperson, there are a few things to
keep in mind. First, your chairperson is not the coauthor of the master’s
thesis. In other words, she will not be writing the thesis with you (or for
you). Rather, the role of your chairperson is to guide and direct your
study. This does not include writing, editing, conducting research, or
collecting and analyzing data. The chairperson will assume that you have
all the necessary skills to complete the thesis—she will help facilitate the
process. One factor to consider when selecting a chairperson is her area
of expertise. Having a chairperson who is familiar with the topic of your
thesis is helpful because she can offer suggestions on critical research
literature. The chairperson may also have expertise in a particular
research design that you want to use in the study. Another factor to
consider when selecting a chairperson is fit. Here, you should evaluate
whether or not you could have a positive working relationship with the
faculty member. Keep in mind that you are not trying to make a new
friend, but you do want someone who will offer insight and constructive
feedback on your work. Finally, make sure to consider whether or not the
faculty member is accessible. The role of the chairperson is time-
consuming (especially when it comes to the giving feedback part), so do
not pick a person who is already overwhelmed with her other
responsibilities.
Once you have selected a chairperson, set up an initial meeting to
discuss how you will work together. Each chairperson will vary on how
she will want to work with graduate students, so it is critical for you to
know and follow her expectations. See the Resources section at the end
of this chapter for a list of possible questions to ask at your initial
meeting. These questions will help you and your chairperson get off to a
great start with a mutual understanding of your working relationship.
HOW TO READ AND USE THIS BOOK
The intent of this book is to give you a blueprint of the research process
as well as to provide you with step-by-step guidance on how to write the
actual thesis, one chapter at a time. This is not a New York Times best-
selling novel, so unless you are an insomniac like me, there is really no
need to read the book from front to back cover in one sitting. Rather, it
might be helpful to read the book as you would a reference book—
skimming the entire book and then probing deeper into specific chapters
as you need more detailed information. As noted with the beginning
quote, everyone’s writing process will differ. While the book is written in a
linear fashion for organizational purposes (and because I’m a pretty
linear person), some of you may want to start with writing Chapter 2, and
then go back to write Chapter 1. Others may want to start with writing
Chapter 3 and so on. This is really a matter of personal choice (and that
of your advisor). Clearly the only chapters you cannot start with are
Chapters 4 and 5! The key point is that you start and keep reading and
writing; use the book as a reference guide to keep your progress and
momentum going forward.
Keep in mind that this book is not written as a research methods book
(and should not replace one) that teaches in depth how to conduct
different research designs and data analysis methods. While I cover
these topics briefly, I highly recommend that you supplement this book
with actual research methods books (and courses) that fit your selected
design. There are many excellent research methods texts available, and
there are some suggested throughout this book. Your faculty advisor will
also know which research methods books to recommend.
At the end of each chapter there are also additional resources: common
obstacles and practical solutions, reflection/discussion questions, try it
exercises, key terms, suggested readings, and web links. The resources
are a compilation of helpful advice, suggestions, and activities I have
used with my former masters students. The resources give you a chance
to practice and apply the content that is covered in each chapter and get
feedback to make sure you’re on track. I find that it always helps to think
out loud some of the ideas (with a colleague or your faculty advisor)
before you have to commit them to paper.
To organize Chapter Two, you first start with an introduction about the
general problem and your topic. Then you provide an advance organizer,
which indicates what will be covered in the literature review. For the
purposes of this book, you will cover three areas that are related to your
problem. The advance organizer explicitly states the three areas of
research that are addressed and the order of the discussions. This helps
structure the literature review and manage the research articles that you
find. For example, in the social work example, three areas related to the
problem could be (a) homelessness and its effect on children’s
development, (b) quality of parental interactions between homeless
mothers and their children, and (c) collaboration of school and social
agencies. Where did these areas come from? Do not worry; the three
related areas will emerge as you read the existing literature and develop
the Statement of the Problem and the Background and Need sections in
Chapter One and the literature review in Chapter Two.
After you have introduced the three related areas, you will locate and
synthesize three to four research articles (with empirical data) for each of
the three areas related to the topic. Each section should start with a brief
introduction about the area and end with a summary paragraph to recap
the main points and limitations within the area. At the end of the literature
review, there should also be a summary that ties together all the literature
related to the topic. How to write Chapter Two and the three major
sections are discussed in great detail in Chapter 6.
Chapter Three, Methods
Chapter Three explains the research methods and design that were used
to conduct the study. The critical part of writing Chapter Three is to
describe the actual procedures that were used to conduct the study.
Basically, you are informing the reader of how the study was conducted.
Thus, you need to include detailed descriptions about every aspect of
your study. Chapter Three will include the following components: (a)
Setting (where the study took place), (b) Participants (the individuals who
participated in the study and how they were selected), (c) Instructional or
Intervention Materials (any materials or instructional strategies that were
used to conduct the study), (d) Measurement Instruments (the tools you
used to collect data), (e) Procedures (how you collected the data and/or
implemented the study), and (f) Data Analysis (the statistical, qualitative,
or mixed methods techniques that were used to analyze the data).
Enough detail should be included so that another researcher could
replicate your study (for a quantitative study). How to write Chapter Three
and the major sections are discussed in great detail in Chapter 7.
Chapter Four, Results and Findings
Chapter Four reports the results or findings of the study. The critical part
of writing Chapter Four is to present the results or findings from the data
collection and data analysis process in Chapter Three. Basically, you are
informing the reader of what was discovered. This chapter integrates a
narrative, numerical, or tabular presentation of the outcomes of the study,
depending on whether you have conducted a qualitative, quantitative, or
mixed methods study. In Chapter Four, you report the results or findings
from the data analysis for each variable, participant, and measurement
instrument that was discussed in Chapter Three. For example, if you
conducted a qualitative study, you would provide a narrative description
of the findings in relation to the research questions. If you conducted a
quantitative study, you could include descriptive statistics for each
participant or for the entire group (or both). Descriptive statistics are the
basic level of statistical analysis for a data set from a sample group.
Typically, reported statistics include the mean, median, mode, variance,
and standard deviation. If you conducted an intervention for a large group
or more than one group of participants in the study who received different
treatments, you could apply inferential statistics to indicate any
differences observed in performance before and after the intervention or
between the two groups (if appropriate). Inferential statistics is the higher
level of statistical analysis where inferences are made from a sample to a
population. Inferential statistics may also include hypothesis testing and
set probability levels to test for statistically significant differences between
groups (or treatments). How to write Chapter Four and the major sections
are discussed in great detail in Chapter 8. For the purposes of this book,
quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods are discussed separately in
Chapter 7 (Methods) and Chapter 8 (Results and Findings) since these
are the main areas where the distinction between the three methods is
the greatest.
Chapter Five, Discussion
The last chapter in the thesis, Chapter Five, discusses the results from
Chapter Four and draws conclusions about the study’s results or findings.
The critical part of writing Chapter Five is to discuss the significant results
or findings in relation to the statement of the problem and the research
questions that were identified in Chapter One. The discussion section
includes the researcher’s interpretation of the results or findings. You
may also discuss the relationship of your study’s results or findings to
previous research conducted in the literature. In addition, Chapter Five
includes a section on Limitations. This section discusses the limitations or
weaknesses of the study’s design or findings. Another section in Chapter
Five is the Recommendations for Future Research. In this section, you
make recommendations for future areas of research that should be
conducted related to your study (e.g., follow-up). Additional
recommendations could include those for actions, policies, or
procedures. Finally, the last section of Chapter Five is the Conclusions.
In this section, you identify the critical conclusions about the results (e.g.,
lessons learned) and their implications. How to write Chapter Five and
the major sections are discussed in great detail in Chapter 9.
Quantitative Research
In a quantitative research study, the emphasis is on numerical data
(i.e., numbers) that can be collected using objective measures and
analyzed with statistics (descriptive or inferential). The results from the
data analysis (of the sample group) are then used to generalize findings
across groups of people or to explain a particular phenomenon (Babbie,
2016; Mujis, 2010). Some of the more common quantitative research
designs include experimental (e.g., true experiments, quasi-experiments,
single-subject design) and nonexperimental (e.g., causal-comparative,
correlational, survey) (Creswell & Creswell, 2018; Mills & Gay, 2019).
Qualitative Research
A qualitative research study delves into a particular situation to better
understand a phenomenon within its natural context and the perspectives
of the participants involved (Mills & Gay, 2019). In general, qualitative
researchers attempt to explore, describe, and interpret human behavior
based primarily on nonnumerical data (e.g., words).
Studies that use qualitative approaches collect nonnumerical data to
answer the research question(s). Nonnumerical data are narrative data
(i.e., words). There are many different kinds of qualitative research
designs. Some commonly found approaches in the social and health
sciences literature are narrative research, phenomenology, grounded
theory, ethnography, and case study (Creswell & Poth, 2018). Unlike
quantitative researchers, qualitative researchers do not start their study
with a hypothesis that they set out to find support for or to test. In
qualitative research, inductive reasoning is often used, which is moving
from the specific to the general. A qualitative researcher starts with
specific situations, finds patterns or themes in the data, establishes a
tentative hypothesis, and then develops theories or conclusions. Data are
often collected through extensive and detailed field notes, observations,
interviews, and focus groups with the participants in a natural setting (i.e.,
the researcher does not control or manipulate the environment).
Qualitative studies typically have small sample sizes, which allow the
researcher the time and opportunity to have extensive interactions with
the participants. Once the data are gathered, they are coded, analyzed,
and organized or categorized according to the themes and patterns that
emerge. This provides the researcher with findings in a narrative format.
Some of the strengths of qualitative methods are that the researcher (a)
has investigated a topic in depth; (b) has interpreted the outcomes based
on the participants’, not the researcher’s, perspectives; and (c) has
created a holistic picture of the situation.
STYLE FORM
In addition to selecting a research type and design, you also need to
adhere to a style form. All scholarly writing such as books, journal
articles, reference materials, dissertations, and theses must comply with
a style form. Style form refers to both writing style and editorial style. The
editorial style is a set of rules or guidelines that writers must adhere to
for publishing manuscripts, books, and so on. Some of the critical
elements include how to format headings, citations, references, tables,
figures, and so forth. The style form developed by the American
Psychological Association (referred to as APA style) was selected for
this book and the master’s thesis because it is commonly used in various
social science disciplines such as education, psychology, sociology,
business, economics, nursing, and social work. Specifically, I follow the
sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (VandenBos, 2010). The APA manual is a reference book
that has the rules and guidelines for the APA writing and editorial style.
As new issues arise, the manuals are revised or updated on the APA
website (http://www.apastyle.org), so make sure that you are following
the most current edition. The APA style is widely accepted in the
behavioral and social sciences, but the particular style form varies by
discipline or academic departments. Other common references include
the Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition, 2017) from the University of
Chicago Press and the Modern Language Association (MLA) (8th edition,
2016), which is widely used in the humanities. Check with your
chairperson for the one that applies to your thesis.
The thesis must be written in a format that complies with a style form, so
it is always helpful to be familiar with the style form as you begin to write.
However, the style form is not a research method. Rather, it is a tool to
use in communicating your thesis. In this book, Chapter 10 is devoted to
helping you comply with the APA style. The placement of the chapter late
in the book does not diminish its importance. If you have used the APA
style for previous papers or are familiar with the style form, this chapter
will be a review for you. If you have not used the APA style before, I
recommend referring to Chapter 10 as you proceed through the data
collection and writing process for each chapter.
Summary
Congratulations on getting through the first chapter of the book
(only nine more to go)! You should now have a sense of the
overall thesis and feel energized, empowered, and ready to
embark on this educational adventure. Thank you for allowing me
to be your tour guide. In the next chapter, I discuss how to select
a research topic and questions. I wish you all the best of luck and
will lead you to the finish line (and pull you through if I have to)!
Here is a summary of the most critical points from Chapter 1:
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
Before you delve into the thesis, it is a good idea to take some
time to make the “mental shift” from the type of conceptualizing
and writing that was required in your undergraduate years and the
type of conceptualizing and writing that is required for the
master’s thesis. In addition, now is a good time to think broadly
about the issues and problems in your discipline and whether they
would be amenable to quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods
research. The following reflection/discussion questions will help
guide this process.
1. What are the similarities and differences between
quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research?
2. Brainstorm and discuss critical research problems in your
specific field or discipline. What would be the best
approach(es) to address these research problems? Provide
the pros and cons of selecting each type of research
approach.
Try It Exercises
The following exercises (Activities One and Two) will help you
identify potential faculty to serve as your chairperson and
committee members as well as prepare for that first critical
meeting with your chairperson. Activity Three is designed for you
to research the professional and personal benefits of receiving a
master’s degree in your field or discipline. This knowledge will
help keep you motivated as you progress through the thesis
knowing that when it is all done, you can reap the rewards!
1. Activity One: For this activity, focus on the faculty within and
outside of your master’s degree program.
Key Terms
advance organizer 10
APA style 16
chairperson 6
deductive reasoning 13
dependent variable 13
dissertation 5
editorial style 16
empirically based 3
hypothesis 13
independent variable 13
inductive reasoning 14
Master of Arts (MA) 2
Master of Science (MS) 2
master’s degree 2
measurement instruments 13
numerical data 12
qualitative research 14
quantitative research 12
terminal degree 2
Suggested Readings
Creamer, E. G. (2017). An introduction to fully integrated mixed
methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Web Links
APA Style
http://www.apastyle.org/
https://www.mla.org/
https://style.mla.org/
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/
research_and_citation/
chicago_manual_17th_edition/
cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/
chicago_manual_of_style_17th_edition.html
The Chicago Manual of Style Online
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
Personal Significance 24
Search Engines 27
Electronic Databases 30
Ethical Considerations 30
Feasibility 32
Accessibility 33
Time and Resources 34
Answerable Questions 35
Defining Terms 36
Reserving Time 41
Chunking Method 42
Summary 43
Resources 44
Reflection/Discussion Questions 44
Try It Exercises 45
Key Terms 46
Suggested Readings 46
Web Links 46
Writing is making sense of life. You work your whole life and
perhaps you’ve made sense of one small area.
—Nadine Gordimer
Now that I have covered the basic overview of the master’s thesis, it is
time to start the work! As in most writing projects, the first step is to select
a topic. This is often a difficult task because there are many interesting
unanswered research questions to study. Obviously, the topic that you
choose for your thesis should be important to your field or discipline.
However, keep in mind that your study should address a research
problem and questions that you want answered because they are
important to you and you have been unable to find meaningful and
validated answers. Your research problem and question could address
original research (a new question) or be a replication of a previous study.
For example, if I am earning my master’s degree in college counseling,
then I may want to study some aspect of college counseling that is
important to the process of counseling, the issues and challenges related
to counseling, or the people involved in counseling. I also have to focus
on a research question, or a few, that my study will attempt to answer.
For the college counseling process, perhaps I want to find out the
differences in participation and satisfaction during group or individual
advising sessions. For the issues or challenges related to college
counseling, my research question could examine the differences in
retention and graduation rates for first-generation students or students of
color. Finally, for the people involved in counseling, I could research the
differences in college experiences for immigrant or refugee students.
Framing research questions is an important part of planning your thesis.
Later in this chapter, I discuss research questions in depth.
Personal Significance
The first place to look for a research topic is within. The research problem
that you select should be first and foremost meaningful to you. There was
a reason why you chose to enter your particular field or discipline, and
hopefully you have an affinity or passion for what you are studying. This
is where all the course work and experiences in your master’s degree
program should come in handy. Through your course work, you reviewed
research and are familiar with several studies. Some of these studies
may have caused you to think about additional research problems.
Perhaps there was a topic, theory, or problem from a course, reading,
something an instructor said, or fieldwork experience that intrigued you.
Keep in mind that your research study and thesis may take 1 to 2 years
to complete, so the topic should be meaningful and something you are
passionate about since you will be devoting a lot of time and energy to it.
Selecting a topic based on personal interests will also keep you
motivated to continue and persevere, especially when you feel like
quitting (which will be often).
If you are not sure about the problematic issues in your field, a good idea
is to talk to your colleagues, instructors, administrators, and your
chairperson. They will have a plethora of ideas, and it is always helpful to
bounce your ideas off another person, especially someone who is familiar
with the issues in the field. The research problem could be something
that has a direct relationship and implication to what you do or see in
your professional setting. However, keep in mind that the goal is to focus
on one problem, not all the problems in your field (or obtain world peace).
Search engines
Through the Internet, there are many available search engines to help
you with your research of the literature. A search engine is a computer
system where information is stored and organized for easy retrieval. The
most common search engines search for information on the World Wide
Web through the Internet. However, when searching the Internet, you
want to make sure that your research is guided rather than general.
Advanced search is setting specific parameters (e.g., date, author, and
subject) around your search to narrow the pool of resources and results.
This helps you avoid reading thousands of article abstracts. One place to
start your research is Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com) (see
Figure 2.1 for Google Scholar search screen). The Google Scholar
search engine will locate thousands of research articles in many
discipline areas in less than a few seconds. Note that this is different than
researching a topic in the regular Google search engine (which would be
like trying to find a penny dropped in a well). For example, pretend I want
to conduct a study on cyberbullying. When I typed “cyberbullying” into
Google Scholar and clicked on the magnifying glass icon (or hit enter) to
search, I retrieved over 37,300 articles! To narrow my search, I can use
the Advanced Scholar Search (see Figure 2.2 for Advanced Scholar
Search screen). In the Google Scholar screen, you need to bring the
cursor to the top left side and click on the menu bars for the Advanced
Scholar Search box to appear. In the Advanced Scholar Search, you can
find articles about a topic using specific search terms and where they
appear, and by author, publication, or date. When I used the Advanced
Scholar Search and asked for articles where “cyberbullying” is “in the
title,” I retrieved 4,640 articles (see Figure 2.3 for Advanced Scholar
Search screen using title of the article). I further narrowed my search by
putting a 5-year limit on the dates and retrieved 2,670 articles. Finally, I
added “social media” in the “exact phrase” box and guess what—I only
have to read 62 articles (see Figure 2.4 for Advanced Scholar Search
screen using exact phrase and date limits). That is quite a big difference
from the 37,300 that I started with! Narrowing your search fields and
conducting an advanced search will help you sort through the information
and cull out the research that is important, but not specific enough to your
research problem. Your chairperson is a good resource if you need help
shaping your search terms to conduct the advanced search. A 15-minute
meeting with your chairperson could save you hours and hours of being
lost in cyberspace.
Description
Electronic databases
Searching through electronic databases is another method to find a
potential research topic. An electronic database is an electronic
collection of information (e.g., books, journal articles, reference materials)
where an individual can research and retrieve resources.
Ethical Considerations
Finally, another important factor to consider when selecting a research
topic is ethics. For example, it would be unethical to ask a group of
volunteers to deliver electric shocks to another person (against their
conscience) if directed by an authority figure, right? This study was
actually conducted at Yale University by Stanley Milgram in 1961. Thus,
before proceeding in selecting your topic, you should ask yourself these
questions: Will my study on this topic and the methods used to answer
the research question(s) jeopardize the participants’ (a) physical well-
being, (b) emotional well-being, (c) academic well-being, (d) economic or
financial well-being, (e) spiritual well-being, (f) social well-being, or (g)
privacy? If you can respond with a definitive “No” to these questions, then
most likely your study will pass muster on ethical considerations. If you
are unsure whether or not your study will violate an ethical consideration,
do not worry; every institution of higher education requires that graduate
students submit their master’s thesis study proposals through the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval prior to conducting the
study. The IRB is a group that has been formally designated by the
institution to review and monitor research applications involving human
subjects. I discuss ethical considerations, the IRB process, and how to
write an IRB proposal in more detail in Chapter 4.
HOW TO NARROW AND REFOCUS YOUR
TOPIC
Once you have selected a potential research topic, you will probably
need to narrow it down. Often, students select topics that have met the
four criteria above—personally significant, critical issue in the field,
contributes to the existing research, and meets ethical standards—only to
discover that the topic is still too broad and outside the scope of their
immediate surroundings. This can be somewhat frustrating, but
fortunately there are ways to make your research study more concrete
and manageable. Sometimes students will select significant problems to
study, but because they did not narrow and refocus the study prior to
starting, they eventually feel overwhelmed, helpless, unmotivated, and
finally quit altogether. To avoid these pitfalls, schedule an appointment
with your chairperson early in the process to discuss ways to narrow your
study but still keep the essence of what interests you. Investing this time
at the beginning will save you time and frustration later and could make
the difference between completing or not completing the thesis within the
allocated time. As I often reminded my students, “The ‘best’ master’s
thesis is the one that is completed!” In addition to getting advice from
your chairperson, you also have to draw on your own personal research
skills and knowledge about research methods and designs. Throughout
this process, it will help to access research methods textbooks and
academic journals in your field to use as references. In this section, I
discuss three factors to consider when focusing and narrowing the scope
of your study: (a) feasibility, (b) accessibility, and (c) time and resources.
Feasibility
Often, students will be so excited when they find a topic of personal and
professional interest that they may choose a problem that is not feasible
to study. Feasibility refers to how realistic it will be to access data or
participants and the time needed to complete the study. For example, the
topic of study may be the stress levels of high school students on
applying for college admissions in a school district, and I want to
measure students’ perceptions using a survey and some follow-up
interviews. However, because the problem is so broad, it would require a
team of experienced researchers with sizable resources to make this a
feasible study to complete.
One method to increase feasibility is to limit the sample group. The
sample group is the group of participants in a study. They are the group
that the researcher collects data from or about. How to reduce or shape
your sample group will depend heavily on your research question(s), but
this is one of the best ways to make your study more feasible and
manageable. For example, in the study above, rather than measure the
perceptions of all high school students in the school district, I could study
the perceptions of high school students at one high school within the
school district. However, if it is like the public high school I went to, the
sample group would be 2,400 students! That is still too large for one
person to manage. One method to further reduce the sample size would
be to randomly select a certain number (50) of students from each of the
grade levels. This would still give me a “representative” sample of the
entire school, but I would only have to manage 200 surveys rather than
2,400. Another method to reduce my sample size would be to measure
the perceptions of students from one grade level, such as the juniors.
This shows only one slice of the high school, but perhaps this is the
group most affected by the college admissions process. Again, this could
be 600 students, so taking a random sample from one grade level would
also be another possibility to narrow the study. By limiting my sample
size, I have made the study more feasible, which increases my chances
of successfully collecting the data (and completing my thesis).
Accessibility
Another related factor to consider when narrowing your study is
accessibility. Accessibility refers to the ability to gain access or entry to
the research site and participants. This is related to feasibility because
without access to the research site or participants, it will be impossible to
conduct and complete the study. Keep in mind that some places of
business, schools, detention centers, hospitals, and clinics do not allow
individuals outside of the organization to conduct research at their sites. If
they do allow outside researchers, the application and approval process
may take weeks or months to complete, so you need to plan accordingly.
Thus, before you finalize your research plan, it is best to get a letter of
permission to access participants from the administrator at the research
site (some IRB applications require this for the proposal). This will ensure
that you can at least get through the front door.
For example, your school district has required all teachers to receive in-
service training on research-based practices to improve students’
statewide reading test scores. Since you are in a master’s degree
program for education, your principal has asked you to conduct your
thesis on this topic. She wants you to lead 20 hours of professional
development sessions at the school site with 15 kindergarten through
5th-grade teachers, collect data on the teachers’ implementation of the
research-based practices, and report on the students’ outcomes. The in-
services would start in January after the winter break, the state
assessments start in April, and you would have to develop and provide all
the training materials. To be fair, the principal has given you a $300
budget and two 50-minute periods of release time per week from your
3rd-grade class. Should you do it? You have access to willing
participants, some release time, a small budget, and the support of the
principal, so it should be feasible, right? WRONG! Clearly, this study is
above and beyond what you have available regarding time and
resources. First, the allocated time is much too short. Three months is
not enough time to research and locate materials, conduct 20 hours of in-
service trainings, conduct observations for 15 teachers, and collect
student data—all this on top of your normal teaching responsibilities.
Second, there are no curriculum resources available, so this means your
$300 budget would be quickly spent or you would have to develop your
own materials (in your spare time) for the trainings. Thus, even though it
may have seemed like a good study to conduct because of the
accessibility, this is an unrealistic study because of the demand on your
time and resources. Some suggestions I would make to narrow the focus
of the study would be to start much earlier in the school year, reduce the
training from 20 to 10 hours per week, limit the responsibilities so that
you would only provide training and observation to one grade-level team,
and ask the principal to increase the budget for materials and release
time. By making the parameters more realistic (both in length of the study
and time to devote to the study) and having resources available, you
have increased the feasibility and quality of the study.
Answerable Questions
The most important consideration when developing a research question
is whether or not you can answer the question (i.e., the question is
researchable). That may seem a bit strange—after all, aren’t all questions
answerable? Not necessarily. An answerable research question is one
where the researcher is able to collect data or information (using a
measurement instrument) to answer the question related to the problem.
There has to be some measurement instrument and method that can be
used (e.g., survey, observation, test, interview) to collect data or
information from the participants in the study. In other words, if you
cannot measure the research problem in some way, then you cannot
answer the research question. For example, for my research problem of
“neighborhood violence and young children’s cognitive development,” the
research question is about the effects that violence within a
neighborhood has on young children’s cognitive development. Thus, one
possible research question is, “What are the effects that neighborhood
violence has on young children’s academic performance?” This is a
possible research question because I can collect data to measure the
effect or outcome of the problem on my participants. However, the
research question is not very clear because there are several ambiguous
terms. These ambiguous or subjective terms must be defined before I
can determine what exactly is being studied. For example, what
constitutes neighborhood violence? Who are considered young children?
What is meant by academic performance and which indicators will be
used? When considering whether or not a term is ambiguous, ask
yourself if you and a complete stranger would have a different definition
of the term or if the term would be unfamiliar to a person outside of your
field; if so, it is best to define the term.
Defining Terms
There are three ways you can define terms related to your research
question and study: by dictionary, by example, or operationally (Fraenkel
& Wallen, 2015). A dictionary definition is a definition that is offered in a
dictionary to define ambiguous terms related to the study or research
question. This may not always be applicable to your study, especially
when it is a compound word or if the terms represent a concept or idea
such as neighborhood violence. For example, when I look up
neighborhood in the dictionary, the closest definition is “the people living
near one another” (“Neighborhood,” n.d.). Then, when I look up violence,
the closest definition is “exertion of physical force so as to injure or
abuse.” When I put the two together, my definition of neighborhood
violence would be “exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse by
people living near one another.” This is close to what I am thinking of but
does not really capture what I want to research because it is vague
regarding the parameters of the neighborhood and type of violence.
Look at these questions from my example study and decide which type of
nonresearchable question they are:
In summary, it is critical that the research questions for your study are
answerable and any ambiguous terms are clearly defined. This is a
necessary first step because the research questions will guide the rest of
your study and the methodology (e.g., research design, setting,
participants, measurement instruments, data collection, data analysis)
that you use to answer the questions.
September–October
October–November
November–December
December–January
January–February
February–March
March–April
April–May
May
Graduation celebrations
June
TIME MANAGEMENT
Realizing all the tasks that need to be done for the entire thesis can be a
bit daunting. However, if you manage your time well, meet regularly with
your chairperson, and try to stick as closely as possible to your timeline, it
is very possible to complete the study in a reasonable amount of time
and do a high-quality job. Because the thesis is different from traditional
course assignments where there are hard-and-fast deadlines, it is easy to
let the months go by without any real progress. Unfortunately, the thesis
is not like those term papers that you wrote in college the night before
(and got an A!). You will need to make consistent progress on the
research and data collection aspects as well as the writing process.
There are two strategies that will help you be successful in this process.
Reserving Time
The first strategy is to reserve time for the thesis. In this day and age, we
are all busy, all the time. There never seems to be enough time to finish
everything that needs to be done—who can possibly eat healthy food,
exercise, and get enough sleep? Like other big projects (e.g., cleaning
the garage), the thesis will fall to the bottom of the to-do pile unless you
allocate and reserve time to work on it on a consistent basis. The
reserved time can be 1 day a week, 1 hour every morning, or even 20
minutes every evening. You can pick whatever works best for you and
your schedule; however, once you have made that reservation with
yourself and the computer, you must treat it as sacred time. This means
there are no excuses for not keeping the “appointment” or putting it off
and saying, “I’ll do double time tomorrow or next week.” Let’s face it, if
you could not find 20 free minutes today, why would you be able to have
40 free minutes tomorrow? Of course, there will be emergencies and
surprises that come up now and then, but it is really critical that you
devote a consistent and regularly scheduled amount of time to work on
the thesis and be self-disciplined. This means turning off the cell phone,
e-mail, television, or anything that will disrupt you. You should also find a
place to work where you will be most productive whether it is in a home
office, library, or café. Meeting with a writing partner on a regular basis
might also keep you from canceling thesis appointments, although make
sure it does not become a social event! You can also set up reminders on
your smart phone and computer calendars. Rather than just writing it on
a to-do list (which can easily be forgotten), you can set the phone
reminder with your alarm for a specific time, date, and location. In this
way, you can at least be thinking about your thesis at regular intervals
during the week. In Google Calendar, the reminders carry over the next
day until you mark it as done. Kind of like having your own guilty
conscience following you around!
Chunking Method
Another strategy that will help you be successful in the process is the
chunking method. The chunking method refers to breaking up large
tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks such as writing one section
of a chapter rather than the entire chapter. If the task is to write an entire
chapter or transcribe all the interviews, this will seem very intimidating,
and the natural response is to do anything (e.g., clean out your desk,
reorganize your closet) to avoid the required task. Believe me, I am the
master of procrastination and have a very clean desk. However, if you set
a goal to work on only one small chunk of the larger task (e.g., one
section of the chapter, one transcription), this will feel less daunting, and
you will be more likely to start the task. Writing the thesis is similar to
sticking to an exercise plan (something I had to do after an ankle injury).
When I set my goal to ride the exercise bike for 40 minutes every other
day, it was almost impossible to find 40 minutes of “free time,” and I just
kept putting it off until the next day. Since my riding time was supposed to
be every other day, this meant I never rode the bike. Meanwhile, the bike
was a constant reminder of my “failure” and was being used as a very
expensive clothes hanger. However, when I set the goal to ride the bike
15 to 20 minutes at the beginning of my day, I was able to stick to this
schedule more regularly, and sometimes I even stayed on the bike for
another 20 minutes! Once I got into the habit of getting on the bike, it
became part of my daily routine. I can now proudly say that I ride the bike
for 30 minutes almost every day and even look forward to it (that is a bit
of an exaggeration). The point is, one of the hardest parts of writing the
thesis will be to motivate yourself to sit down and just turn on the
computer. However, once you start and begin to build momentum and
form a routine, you will find that not only will it be easier to continue, but
you also might actually enjoy yourself in the process. Building in small
rewards after each completed chunk is another way to reinforce your
productive behavior (eating a bag of chips as I did after the bike ride is
not recommended). The next time that you are feeling overwhelmed and
ready to quit, take some deep breaths and remember this quote by the
ancient Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu: Do the difficult things
while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A
journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step
(https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/lao_tzu_398196).
Summary
Selecting your research topic/problem is perhaps the most
important (and difficult) phase of the thesis process, so I hope this
chapter has given you ideas on where to start and how to narrow
the focus. In the next chapter, I discuss in detail how to research
the existing literature related to your research topic/problem. Here
is a summary of the most critical points from Chapter 2:
The topic that you choose for your thesis should be related to
your field or discipline and address a research problem and
questions.
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
As you begin to think about possible research topics, it is
important to frame them in the context of research questions.
Having answerable research questions related to problems in
your field or discipline will help narrow the focus of your study
(and ensure that you have a feasible study). The following
reflection/discussion questions will help guide the process of
developing answerable research questions and defining the
appropriate terms.
Try It Exercises
Try It Exercises
The following exercises (Activities One and Two) will help you
identify a potential topic for the thesis and ways to narrow the
topic so that it is feasible to study. Activity Three is designed for
you to create a timeline with the help of your chairperson. This
timeline and personal writing schedule will help you stay on track
and finish the thesis in a timely manner (remember the rewards
from Chapter 1!).
Now that you have that out of your system, follow the
steps below to choose a topic for your master’s thesis.
Remember that you’re saving the dream topic for your
doctoral dissertation.
Key Terms
accessibility 33
advanced search 27
dictionary definition 36
electronic database 30
example definition 36
feasibility 32
research question 35
resources 34
sample group 32
search engine 27
time 34
timeline 38
Suggested Readings
Bell, J., & Waters, S. (2014). Doing your research project: A guide
for first-time researchers (6th ed). New York, NY: Open University
Press.
Web Links
Academia
https://www.academia.edu/
Figshare
https://figshare.com/
Mendeley
https://www.mendeley.com/
MIT Libraries: Selecting a Research Topic
MIT Libraries: Selecting a Research Topic
https://libguides.mit.edu/select-topic
ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/
The search engine has the option to search by articles or case law. A
caption below reads, stand on the shoulders of giants.
Back to Figure
The advanced search box seen here shows the following fields:
Find articles
Return articles authored by. The example seen below reads: e.g., “P.
J. Hayes” or McCarthy.
Return articles published in. The example seen below reads: e.g., “J
Biol Chem” or Nature.
Return articles dated between. This has two boxes with a hyphen in
between. The example seen below reads: e.g., 1996.
between. The example seen below reads: e.g., 1996.
Back to Figure
The advanced search box seen here shows the following fields:
Find articles
Return articles authored by. The example seen below reads: e.g., “P.
J. Hayes” or McCarthy.
Return articles published in. The example seen below reads: e.g., “J
Biol Chem” or Nature.
Return articles dated between. This has two boxes with a hyphen in
between. The example seen below reads: e.g., 1996.
Back to Figure
The advanced search box seen here shows the following fields:
Find articles
With all words: cyberbullying is seen in this field.
Return articles authored by. The example seen below reads: e.g., “P.
J. Hayes” or McCarthy.
Return articles published in. The example seen below reads: e.g., “J
Biol Chem” or Nature.
Return articles dated between. This has two boxes with a hyphen in
between. The example seen below reads: e.g., 1996. The years
2013 and 2018 are seen in the two boxes in this field.
3 USING THE LITERATURE TO RESEARCH
YOUR PROBLEM
Primary Sources 50
Secondary Sources 51
Selecting Keywords 52
Conducting Searches in Electronic Databases 54
Basic Search 57
Search modes 57
Limiters 60
Expanders 61
Advanced Search 63
Using Subject Terms (Thesaurus) 63
Staying Organized 68
Summary 70
Resources 71
Reflection/Discussion Questions 71
Try It Exercises 72
Key Terms 73
Suggested Readings 73
Web Links 74
Now that you have finished selecting and refining your research problem,
it is time to determine how important your research problem is to others
and what is already known about the problem. The way to do this is to
search the literature to identify prior research about the problem. One of
the questions that might occur to you is, “Why do I need to know about
what others think of the problem when I already know what I want to do
with my study? Isn’t that just going backward?” Keep in mind the goal for
your master’s thesis is to do research that yields answers to problems
that have not been fully answered. If you can find an answer to your
research problem in the literature, then it is not necessary to do all the
work that is involved. Through the literature review, you will read what is
known about your research problem and also learn who else shares your
interest. Later, you may find it helpful to correspond with them as you
progress in your research.
Although the literature review can be a time-consuming and arduous
process, it is also one of the most important aspects of completing the
master’s thesis. Once you become familiar with the tools and strategies
available to you in conducting literature reviews, you will be
knowledgeable and up-to-date with historical and current studies, learn
new ideas, and have a better feeling about how your study fits into the
existing research (Fraenkel, Wallen, & Hyun, 2015). How to actually write
the literature review will be covered in Chapter 6 of this book.
Finally, conducting a literature review allows you to see how your study
fits into the existing literature. Remember that one of the goals of your
research will be to move the field forward and add to the current
knowledge base. This means either adding to, extending, or building on
previous research (McMillan, 2015). By reviewing the literature, you will
be able to determine whether your study will fill a gap or need in the
literature or will extend what is known about a specific topic. A great
place to see how your study fits into the existing literature is to read the
Recommendations for Future Research section in the studies. This
section usually offers suggestions for how future studies can extend the
current research and indicates the unanswered questions related to the
topic. The citation reference section at the end of each article is also a
treasure trove to find additional research that is relevant to your topic;
you can follow an author’s “arc” or line of research studies.
Primary Sources
Primary sources are the actual or the original results of studies reported
by researchers (i.e., firsthand information). These research articles are
usually very detailed and include all the information about the study:
research questions, sample, methodology and research design, data
analysis and results, discussion, and conclusion. Primary sources are
typically published in professional journals in the form of articles or
monographs but can also be papers presented at conferences. Basically,
to identify a primary source, ask yourself whether the information comes
directly from the person(s) who developed and conducted the research,
similar to someone writing an autobiography.
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources describe or summarize the work of others (i.e.,
secondhand information). These sources are typically not as descriptive
or comprehensive as primary sources. Secondary sources are typically
published in research journals in the form of meta-analyses, literature
syntheses, research reviews, or textbooks. You can also find secondary
sources in reference materials. Reference materials are collections of
information such as encyclopedias, handbooks, indexes, and
dictionaries. Listed below are sample reference materials found in
academic libraries. Make sure to check what reference materials are
available through your library (this varies depending on which reference
package the library buys).
Multidisciplinary:
Oxford Reference
SAGE Knowledge
Communications:
Communication Yearbook 40
Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide
Education:
Philosophy:
Sociology:
SELECTING KEYWORDS
A comprehensive review of secondary sources will also help you find
primary sources through the use of keywords. Keywords are typically
two to three words or short phrases that are fundamental to the research
topic, problem, or questions and are used to refine the search process.
Selecting appropriate keywords early in the search process will save you
a lot of time and frustration later on. A good strategy is to use the words
or phrases that are commonly used in the current literature related to the
specific topic (Creswell & Poth, 2018).
For example, my research topic involves immigration and human
trafficking, so I start my search in the reference The Oxford Handbook of
American Immigration and Ethnicity (Bayor, 2016). Some of the listed
keywords in The Oxford Handbook of American Immigration and Ethnicity
are immigration, ethnicity, race, panethnicity, assimilation,
transnationalism, and nativism. However, not all these would be good
keywords for my research study because they are not all centrally related
to the topic. Some keywords related to my topic are “human smuggling
and human trafficking,” which I type in the search box (see Figure 3.1 for
a quick search for articles).
With this quick search, I retrieve 113 articles and 2 books. If I want to
further refine my search for the specific group I am interested in, I can
add “refugee minors” as keywords in the search (see Figure 3.2 for
refined search). Now I retrieve 17 articles that will give me a general
context and gist of my research topic and some background information
that I will need to write Chapter One, Introduction of the thesis. These
articles will be more closely related to my research topic, and at the end
of each article, I have a list of citations for primary sources that I can use
for my literature review.
Description
Business:
ABI/Inform Collection
Communication:
GenderWatch
Sociological Abstracts
Education:
Education Database
PsycINFO
Ethnic Studies:
HAPI Online
Humanities Full Text
International Index to Black Periodicals Full Text
History:
Historical Abstracts
JSTOR
Law/Political Science:
CQ Researcher
Nexis Uni
Westlaw
Cochrane Library
Human Nutrition
PubMed
Web of Science
Psychology:
JSTOR
PsycARTICLES
PsycEXTRA
PsycINFO
Sociology:
JSTOR
Social Explorer
Sociological Abstracts
Urban Studies Abstracts
Although each database’s search formats are slightly different, they all
share common search tools and features that make it easy to navigate
and switch from one database to another. In some cases, your
institution’s library may subscribe to a discovery service (e.g.,
OneSearch, EBSCOhost, ProQuest). A discovery service searches within
the institution’s entire library collection (e.g., books, journal articles, full-
text) from a single find field. This makes library searches very fast and
text) from a single find field. This makes library searches very fast and
easy, because it is similar to using a search engine on the Internet (e.g.,
Google Scholar). To show you how to conduct a basic and advanced
search on an electronic database, I use Academic Search Complete as
an example since it is multidisciplinary and has a similar interface with
other databases.
Basic Search
Electronic databases such as Academic Search Complete are large and
hold thousands of records; the key to success is being able to narrow the
search so that you find the resources most relevant to your research
problem. With that in mind, it is critical for you to start with at least five to
10 keywords that are related to your research question or problem (other
keywords will be generated during your search). For example, for my
research topic above, some of the keywords could include refugees,
refugee camps, unaccompanied minors, immigrants, immigration, human
trafficking, human smuggling, and so on. These are the keywords that
you would type into the “find field” box and then click the “search” button
(see Figure 3.3 for the basic search screen). The basic search option
also allows you to limit or expand your search. I will briefly explain each
of these features.
Search modes
Description
Description
Description
The search mode, “Find all of my search terms” is similar to using the
AND Boolean, and the “Find any of my search terms” is like using the OR
Boolean between the terms.
Limiters
full-text: only retrieves records that have a link to the full-text copy of
the article or document (be careful with this limit because you may
miss important references that are not available through one
database)
image quick view or image quick view type: contains results with
specific types of image quick view (e.g., chart, color photograph,
graph map)
Expanders
Description
Advanced Search
Although a basic search is a good starting point, conducting an advanced
search offers several features for a more refined and precise search. This
is really helpful when you want to focus and narrow in on your specific
research topic. For example, in the advanced search, you can set the
following additional limits:
cover story: contains only articles that were featured as a cover story
PDF full text: contains only articles that are available in full text
The advanced search also gives you the option to refine the search with
the “select a field” from a drop-down menu. Some of the options are by
“all text, author, title, subject terms” and so forth. By selecting the “subject
terms” option, this will make my search more accurate than an “all text”
search because the subject terms are assigned by the database and are
included in its thesaurus (see below for a detailed explanation).
You can also get a full citation in the style that you need (e.g., APA, MLA)
and export it to a citation management software. Citation management
software is a tool that allows you to collect citations from various sources,
organizes them, and then compiles them into a list of cited works or
bibliography. Instead of going back at the end of your thesis to track
down all the sources, the citation management software will help you
manage this bibliographical information while you are researching and
writing. This is such a gift to students and will save you hours and hours
of trying to put together a reference lists (by hand!) like we old-timers had
to do when we wrote our master’s thesis. There are many different
software programs available (e.g. CITAVI, Easybib, EndNote, Mendeley,
ReadCube, RefWorks, Reference Manager, Zotero) and you can select
the style guide that is needed (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago). I list a website
at the end of this chapter to help you decide which would be the most
appropriate for your use, but four popular ones used by graduate
students are EndNote, Mendeley, RefWorks, and Zotero. Check with
your institution’s library because they often have a license to citation
management software, which would allow you to use the service for free.
Description
STAYING ORGANIZED
One of the most important strategies during the literature search process
is to stay organized. After all, you may end up with 40 or 50 articles,
books, and documents by the time you are done searching. This means
keeping track of your search records, saving, printing, or e-mailing
relevant records, and also creating an organizational system. Some of
you may want to have a physical organizational system while others will
subscribe to a citation management software program. It really is a
personal preference—as long you have a system to keep you organized!
If you file alphabetically by the author’s last name, this will be an easy
way to retrieve the articles (as long as you can remember who wrote
which article). You can also file the articles by date of publication if you
are interested in a chronological or historical analysis. Finally, you can
group the articles by themes and/or conceptual categories based on
specific common attributes (e.g., topic, sample, intervention, methods). I
prefer this method because it helps me conceptually organize the body of
literature and will help facilitate the writing process later on. Remember
that if the article or information comes from an electronic source (i.e.,
website), you need to record the website address and in some cases the
date that you retrieved the information from the Internet (keep a log).
After you have selected your method for physical organization, it is time
to organize the information within the articles. Rarely will you find an
to organize the information within the articles. Rarely will you find an
article that is completely relevant to your research problem or study.
More often, you will use specific parts from different articles to support
your ideas. Pulling together the studies in a literature review is very much
like putting together a complex puzzle (with some missing pieces). Thus,
how you organize the information within the studies is very important.
You need to have a system that is not only efficient in terms of recording
critical information but also easy to access for retrieval purposes. One
method that I find helpful is using different color highlighters (old school, I
know) as I read to code different types of information (e.g., yellow =
problems, green = possible solutions, orange = background information,
pink = definitions). There are also computer software and applications
that have this capability if you are more comfortable reading documents
and editing on a computer screen.
To help you find the relationships and connections between the studies,
you can also create a literature review matrix. A literature review matrix
is an organizational tool such as a table, chart, or flow chart to display the
relationship or common attributes among multiple studies. The purpose is
to show the relationships between the studies, so use the format that is
best for you. For example, for a study dealing with “reading instruction,” I
may want to group all the studies related to reading instruction for
bilingual learners together. Then, another group would be the studies of
reading instruction for students with learning disabilities. Next, a third
group would be studies of reading instruction for students who are
bilingual learners and have learning difficulties, and so on. By grouping
the studies together into subgroups, this will allow you to see if you have
overlaps or gaps in your pool of studies (which may require you to
conduct another search). I realize that this may seem like a lot of hard
work (and it is), but believe me, it will save you time later. This process
will also make it easier for you to organize your thoughts about the
research problem, conceptualize your research questions and study, and
write the literature review in the thesis. There are websites with samples
of a literature review matrix in the Resources section.
Summary
Researching the literature related to your research problem is a
giant step in the thesis process. As you immerse yourself in the
literature, you will be inundated with resources, so be very critical
and selective, keeping only those directly related to your research
problem. In the next chapter, I discuss the ethics of conducting
research and how to prepare a research study application for
review by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Here is a summary
of the most critical points from Chapter 3:
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
As you begin to find research articles, it is important to consider
how and why you are conducting the literature review and the
types of sources that you will rely on. For example, the research
literature can help identify existing gaps and weaknesses around
a specific topic. In other cases, the research literature can be
used to rationalize or justify using different components in an
intervention. The following reflection/discussion questions will help
you determine how you want to approach the literature review and
the advantages and disadvantages of different types of sources.
Try It Exercises
The intent of the following exercises is to help you get started with
your literature search. In Activity One, you will identify potential
databases and websites where you can find research or
information related to your field or discipline area. In Activity Two,
you will use keywords and an advanced search to find empirically
based research articles. In Activity Three, you will write a short
abstract based on one of the research articles.
1. Activity One: For this activity, focus on the resources specific
to your field or discipline area.
Key Terms
abstracting 69
descriptors 63
expanders feature 61
full-text 54
interlibrary loan 66
keywords 52
limiters feature 60
literature synthesis 67
meta-analysis 67
multidisciplinary database 54
non-refereed 68
primary sources 50
refereed 68
reference materials 51
relevancy ranked 64
secondary sources 51
thesaurus 63
Suggested Readings
Kolata, G. (2017, March). A scholarly sting operation shines a
light on “predatory” journals. New York Times online.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/22/science/open-access-
journals.html?
action=click&contentCollection=Science&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Margi
Web Links
Duquesne University: Matrix Method for Literature Review
http://guides.library.duq.edu/matrix
EBSCO Free Databases
https://www.ebsco.com/who-we-serve/academic-
libraries/subjects/free-databases
Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com/
How to Choose a Citation Manager
http://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/c.php?g=297307&p=1984557
Ingenta Connect
https://www.ingentaconnect.com
https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/assignments/literaturereview/org
A left panel labeled search results, is seen below, to the left. The option
to narrow the choices is seen below.
An option to sign in labeled San Francisco State University, is seen just
above.
The large panel on the right of this box displays search results. The box
on top reads, you are looking at 1 – 10 of 133 articles for:
The first result seen on the 133 articles tab, that is open, reads:
The first result seen on the 133 articles tab, that is open, reads:
Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking
Edward R. Kleemans
A left panel labeled search results, is seen to the left. An option to sign in
labeled San Francisco State University, is seen on the left.
The option to narrow the choices is seen below.
The search has been refined based on the terms human smuggling and
refugee minors.
The large panel on the right of this box displays search results. The box
on top reads, you are looking at 1 – 10 of 17 articles for:
The two tables seen below read: 133 articles and 2 books.
The first two result seen on the 133 articles tab, that is open, reads:
Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking
Edward R. Kleemans
Print publication date: Aug 2011. Subject: Criminology and Criminal
Justice,
The banner seen on the top part of this website has many options.
Sign in.
Folder.
Preferences.
Languages.
Ask a librarian.
Help.
The top right corner of the site just below this banner reads, San
Francisco State University.
An EBSCO host icon is seen on the left of the search window seen in the
middle of this page. The text above the window reads: Searching:
Academic Search complete; Choose databases.
The blank search window has text that reads: enter any words to find
books, journals and more.
books, journals and more.
The options below this window read: Search options: basic search,
advanced search and search history.
Back to Figure
An EBSCO host icon is seen on the left of the search window seen in the
middle of this page. The text above the window reads: Searching:
Academic Search complete; Choose databases.
The search window has text that reads: refugees AND unaccompanied
minors.
The options below this window read: Search options: basic search,
advanced search and search history.
The left panel below has an option to refine results. The text below reads,
current search:
Boolean/Phrase:
The panel on the right shows the search results and the text reads:
An icon labeled Academic journal is seen to the left of text above, just
below the search result numbered 1.
An icon for PlumX Metrics is seen below as well a box that reads, check
for full text.
Back to Figure
An EBSCO host icon is seen on the left of the search window seen on
An EBSCO host icon is seen on the left of the search window seen on
top of this page. The text above the window reads: Searching: Academic
Search complete; Choose databases.
The search window has text that reads: family-based immigration NOT
immigration policy.
The options below this window read: Search options: basic search,
advanced search and search history.
The left panel below has an option to refine results. The text below reads,
current search:
Boolean/Phrase:
family-based immigration NOT immigration policy.
The panel on the right shows the search results and the text reads:
An icon labeled News, is seen to the left of text above, just below this
search result.
Back to Figure
An EBSCO host icon is seen on the left of the search window seen on
top of this page. The text above the window reads: Searching: Academic
Search complete; Choose databases.
The search window has text that reads: human smuggling OR human
trafficking.
The options below this window read: Search options: basic search,
advanced search and search history.
The left panel below has an option to refine results. The text below reads,
current search:
Boolean/Phrase:
Boolean/Phrase:
human smuggling OR human trafficking.
The panel on the right shows the search results and the text reads:
A PDF icon below reads, PDF Full text (913kb) and an icon for PlumX
Metrics is seen below this result.
Back to Figure
Full text.
Scholarly (Peer reviewed) journals.
References available.
The date range chosen is from January 2013 to January 2018.
The publication type chosen from the drop-down menu reads, periodical.
All the other options seen on this window are unchecked.
Back to Figure
An EBSCO host icon is seen on top of the search window seen on this
page. The text above the window reads: Searching: Academic Search
complete; Choose databases.
The search window has the following text in it: Enter any words to find
The search window has the following text in it: Enter any words to find
books, journals and more.
The options below this window read: Search options: basic search,
advanced search and search history.
The search panel seen below has the following options checked:
Boolean/Phrase.
Back to Figure
An EBSCO host icon is seen on top of the search window seen on this
page. The text above the window reads: Searching: Academic Search
complete; Choose databases.
The search window is blank.
The options below this window read: Search options: basic search,
advanced search and search history.
The search results seen below have an option above the results seen
that reads: select term, then add to search using:
A box with the option OR chosen, is seen next to this text. An Add button
is seen beside this window.
The list of results seen below each has an unchecked box in front of it
with an instruction the list that reads, click term to display details.
Unaccompanied refugee children.
Unaccompanied refugee children.
An EBSCO host icon is seen on top of the search window seen on this
page. There are a set of windows to the right with text above that reads,
searching: Academic search complete; choose databases.
Row 1:
Row 2:
Row 3:
The options below read: basic search; advanced search and search
The options below read: basic search; advanced search and search
history.
Two panels are seen below these options.
The panel on the left reads, details record with a small document icon on
the left and a PDF Full Text (180KB) with a small PDF icon on the left.
A tab labeled find similar results using Smart text searching, at the end.
Google Drive.
Add to folder.
Print.
E-mail.
Save.
Cite.
Export.
Create Note.
Permalink.
Permalink.
Share.
4 CONDUCTING ETHICAL RESEARCH
Ethical Behavior 83
Summary 86
Resources 87
Reflection/Discussion Question 88
Try It Exercises 88
Key Terms 89
Suggested Readings 89
Web Links 90
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, thalidomide, an unapproved drug, was
sold and prescribed to pregnant women to abate symptoms of nausea
and sleeplessness. Due to the unknown side effects of thalidomide,
10,000 babies were born with severe birth defects (stunted limbs or no
limbs at all) (Kim & Scialli, 2011). As a result of this tragedy, in 1962,
Congress passed the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments, which
changed how drugs are tested, manufactured, and sold in the United
States. The act increased the regulatory powers of the FDA so that drug
manufacturers had to prove that their drugs were safe and effective
before marketing and selling them to the public and also required that
subjects from medical studies give their informed consent (Greene &
Podolsky, 2012).
Finally, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was another example of how abuse
of experimentation with human subjects led to policy changes for
research. In 1932, the U.S. Public Health Service and the Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama began a study to monitor the effects of untreated
syphilis on 600 low-income and mostly illiterate African American males.
The study continued for 40 years, even after a cure for syphilis (penicillin)
was made available in 1947. The men in the study were not offered the
penicillin by the researchers, and many of them unnecessarily died of
syphilis during the study (Kim, 2012).
Ultimately, the abuses in research from the Tuskegee Syphilis Study led
Congress to pass the National Research Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-
348). The National Research Act created the National Commission for
the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral
Research, the first national public group whose responsibility it was to
identify a set of basic ethical principles and guidelines for conducting
biomedical and behavioral research involving human subjects. The
commission fulfilled this responsibility by preparing and releasing the
Belmont Report in 1979. The Belmont Report is a summary of the basic
ethical principles and guidelines for conducting research with human
subjects (see the Resources section for a web link to the full report). In
the Belmont Report, the commission identified three fundamental ethical
principles for conducting research with human subjects: (a) respect for
persons, (b) beneficence, and (c) justice. These principles have
implications for how researchers conduct ethical research today
(USDHHS, 1979). I discuss each one briefly as it pertains to your thesis
study.
The first principle in the Belmont Report, respect for persons, includes
“two ethical convictions: first that individuals should be treated as
autonomous agents, and second, that persons with diminished autonomy
are entitled to protection” (USDHHS, 1979, Part B, para. 2). The first
ethical conviction requires that participants (or their guardians if they are
minors) must be provided with adequate information to give their
informed consent. Participants must be fully aware of the purpose and
procedures of the study, and the researcher cannot omit information
about the study or give false information (i.e., deception).
Here are some basic information points that should be disclosed to your
participants:
Beneficence.
The second principle in the Belmont Report, beneficence, refers to two
general rules: “(1) do not harm; and (2) maximize possible benefits, and
minimize possible harms” (USDHHS, 1979, Part B, para. 7). The best
time to examine the proposed research relative to potential risk to
participants is when you are framing your research questions. By
examining the potential risks early, you save time and also increase your
feasibility to conduct the study. Here are some questions to ensure you
are not proposing a study that may be harmful to participants:
Have I designed the study in such a way that the risks have been
minimized and the benefits maximized as much as possible?
Have I explored all potential risks?
Justice.
The third principle in the Belmont Report, justice, refers to fairness and
equity in the selection of participants and the distribution of benefits. To
meet this third principle, make sure you are selecting subjects because
they are the group most directly related to your research questions and
not because they are in a vulnerable position in society (e.g., low income,
children). Also consider whether there are fair and equitable benefits for
the participants in your study as well as the larger population that they
represent.
The IRB protocol review process begins with the initial completed
application. This is to determine which category the protocol fits into:
exempt, expedited, or full committee. If the protocol is determined to be
exempt, no further review is needed and you can begin your research
immediately (it’s like winning the lottery!). The exempt process can take 1
to 2 weeks to receive the approval. If the protocol fits under the expedited
category, then the protocol is reviewed by an IRB committee member to
approve it or ask for additional revisions. If it is approved, you have 1
year to conduct the research (before you have to renew the protocol).
The expedited process can take 2 to 4 weeks to receive the approval. If
your protocol is categorized as full committee (i.e., nonexempt), then the
protocol is sent to the IRB members to review and discuss at their
committee meeting. The committee can fully approve or approve your
protocol with contingencies that need to be met. They can also defer the
protocol if substantive changes are needed. This process could take 4 to
8 weeks (depending on how often the IRB committee meets), so you
need to plan for this possibility in your research timeline. See Figure 4.1
for a pictorial flow chart of a sample IRB review process. To prevent
further delays, make sure that you have answered all the questions on
the IRB protocol, use nontechnical language, and of course use proper
grammar without spelling errors. Nothing irks the IRB committee more
than grammatical and spelling errors!
Keep in mind that the IRB committee reviews applications from faculty,
staff, and students from the entire university, so there will be times when
they have a high volume of applications, especially at the beginning and
end of the semester (this may cause longer process times). Thus, it is
recommended that you start the IRB process well in advance of your
anticipated research start date. The IRB approval must be granted before
any recruitment procedures are enacted, contact with potential
participants is made, or data are collected. Getting IRB approval before
starting any component of your study is extremely important because the
IRB does not retroactively approve applications, and if you start your
study without IRB approval, you may not be able to use any of the data
that were collected or complete your study, not to mention the ethical
issues involved. Once you receive approval from the IRB committee, you
typically have 12 months to complete your data collection involving
human subjects. However, there are processes to renew the IRB
application for additional time or to modify it for any changes to the study.
Description
ETHICAL BEHAVIOR
Completing the IRB approval process and adhering to the requirements
when conducting your study is only one element of ethical behavior as a
researcher. When conducting and reporting research, it is critical that you
demonstrate ethical behavior and integrity at all times. Now is the time to
learn as much as you can about ethics in research and internalize the
information so it is a natural part of your professional behavior. This
includes being honest in your interactions with participants as well as
complying with ethical standards in your field for data collection, analysis,
and reporting. As a beginning researcher, you will find that unanticipated
situations will occur. When this happens, the appropriate solutions will be
evident, but there may be less appropriate solutions in the form of
shortcuts. These will be equally apparent and need to be avoided. Your
master’s thesis will be a public document that will be read by many
researchers as they search the literature for similar problems. I do not go
into all the situations that might occur, but following are some examples.
During data collection, do not interfere with, influence, or modify the
participants’ responses to measurement instruments. This is critical when
the participants do not answer in the way that you anticipate or want,
which happens in the best of research studies. During data analysis, do
not inflate, delete, or manipulate the data to obtain desirable results. This
too is important. Remember it is not uncommon for your hypotheses to
be unsupported by the results. You conduct the research to find that out.
Keep in mind that in research the researcher is also taking risks, and the
results may not always be what are expected or desired. Discovering that
an intervention does not work for a particular sample is still making a
contribution to the literature.
You are not expected to know everything about the topic that you are
researching, but you are expected to credit the individuals whose work
you review and integrate into your study. Based on the definition above,
there are several ways to prevent plagiarism: (a) do your own work, (b)
use quotes and give credit to the original source or idea, and (c)
paraphrase and give credit to the original source or idea. Quoting
sources and paraphrasing are two very important skills that will help you
be successful in writing the thesis. When you are quoting someone, you
copy verbatim from the original source and use quotation marks to
indicate that the text belongs to the original source. At the end of the
quote, include a footnote or an in-text citation of the original source (often
with a page number). Be careful not to overuse quotations in your thesis;
quotes should be used sparingly and really only when you cannot
paraphrase without losing the significance of the other person’s words.
Paraphrasing is rewriting the original text into your own words (with
appropriate citations) while trying to maintain the idea or essence of the
original work.
You would still need to include a footnote or an in-text citation of the
original source to give credit to the original author. This is where students
often get into trouble when they have paraphrased someone’s work but
forgot to give the appropriate credit. Another problem that students run
into is changing only a few words from the original text. Paraphrasing is
not using the thesaurus to find synonyms! Remember that paraphrasing
involves using someone else’s idea and then interpreting and rewriting it
into your own words. Your paraphrased material should not look like the
original source; it should be in your own words and have your own voice.
Sometimes students are unsure if they should give credit to another
source. If you are integrating someone else’s ideas into your thesis, then
that person deserves the credit for having that original idea in the first
place. When in doubt, it is always better to be extra careful and give
credit to the original author(s). It keeps you honest, and it makes the
other person feel good to be cited by another researcher! Consider the
following advice about how to paraphrase from the Purdue Online Writing
Lab (copied and pasted verbatim from this website:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/quoting_paraphrasi
1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later
how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card,
write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your
paraphrase.
4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version
accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you
have borrowed exactly from the source.
6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you
can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your
paper.
Summary
Understanding the ethical standards and principles related to
conducting research with human subjects is a critical part of your
formation as a researcher. As you plan and design your study,
make sure that you take into consideration the main ethical
principles and standards from the Nuremberg Code and the
Belmont Report. This will ensure that you prepare an ethical and
successful research study application for the Institutional Review
Board (IRB). In the next chapter, I discuss how to write Chapter
One, Introduction, for your thesis. Here is a summary of the most
critical points from Chapter 4:
The Final Rule legislation will replace the Common Rule, and
it was implemented July 21, 2019.
The major role of the IRB is to ensure that all research with
human subjects conducted by persons affiliated with the
institution (including administrators, faculty, staff, and
students) is done ethically and in compliance with federal
regulations.
Reflection/Discussion Question
As you begin to design your study, it is important to consider the
effects or consequences of your study on others, especially the
participants. In doing so, reflect on the tragedies and unethical
treatment of past research studies. The following
reflection/discussion question will help identify the main standards
and ethical principles that must be applied while conducting
research with human participants. Remember the wise words of
the great philosopher George Santayana who once said, “Those
who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
1. What are the main standards and ethical principles from the
Nuremberg Code and the Belmont Report? Give specific
examples of how they relate or could be applied to your field
or discipline area.
Try It Exercises
The following exercises are designed to help you successfully
complete the Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol for review
at your institution. Doing this early in the process is critical, as you
cannot begin data collection without IRB exemption or approval.
In Activity One, you will research the IRB process at your specific
institution. In Activity Two, you will develop the IRB protocol for
your study (if applicable).
1. Activity One: For this activity, focus on the IRB website or
campus office at your institution.
Search the IRB website or visit the IRB office and list the
name of the chairperson or contact person.
Search the IRB website or visit the IRB office and obtain
a manual or guide to complete the protocol review
process. Find out the process to apply for an exempt
protocol.
Find out if you have to complete an online IRB
certification training.
Key Terms
Belmont Report 77
beneficence 78
Common Rule 79
cost-benefit analysis 79
deception 77
Final Rule 80
justice 79
Nuremberg Code 76
paraphrasing 85
plagiarize 84
Research Subject Bill of Rights 83
respect for persons 77
Web Links
American Educational Research Association (AERA) Code of
Ethics
http://www.aera.net/About-AERA/AERA-Rules-
Policies/Professional-Ethics
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/01/22/2018-
00997/federal-policy-for-the-protection-of-human-subjects-delay-
of-the-revisions-to-the-federal-policy-for
Plagiarism.org
http://www.plagiarism.org/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/
https://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/ucla/default.htm
https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/belmont-
report/index.html
The Common Rule
https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-
policy/regulations/common-rule/index.html
The Nuremberg Code
https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/international/ethical-codes-and-
research-standards/index.html
A dotted line arrow from this box points to a box labeled, exempt. This
box is in a medium toned box. A dotted line arrow from this box labeled
yes, points to a box that reds, exemption notice sent: research can begin.
This box is in a dark tone.
Another dotted line arrow from the exempt box, labeled no, points to a
box labeled expedited, which is in a medium tone. A dotted line arrow
from this box labeled no, points to a box that reads, full committee, which
is in a medium tone.
A dotted line arrow labeled yes from the expedited box, points to a box
that reads, review cycle by office designee. This box is in a light tone. A
dotted line arrow from this box points to a box that reads, review/approval
by IRB chair, in a light tone.
A dotted line arrow labeled yes from the expedited box, points to a box
that reads, review cycle by office designee + chair. This box is also in a
light tone. A dotted line arrow from this box points to a box that reads,
review at IRB committee meeting, in a light tone.
A dotted line arrow from the review/approval by IRB chair box, points to a
box in a dark tone that reads, approval letter sent: research can begin.
A dotted line arrow from the review at IRB committee meeting box, points
to a box in a dark tone that reads, approval letter sent: research can
begin.
A dotted line arrow from the above box points to a dark toned box that
reads, approval letter sent: research can begin.
5 HOW TO WRITE CHAPTER ONE,
INTRODUCTION
Writing Style 92
Chapter One Sections 93
Introduction 94
Statement of the Problem 99
Research Questions 108
Definitions 110
Limitations 111
Ethical Considerations 111
Summary 112
Resources 113
Key Terms 115
Suggested Readings 115
Web Links 116
The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right
the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it
better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.
—Robert Cormier
The rest of this book focuses on the writing process and formatting style
for the master’s thesis. You will write five separate chapters titled
Introduction, Literature Review (i.e., Review of the Literature), Methods,
Results or Findings, and Discussion (check if your institution has different
chapter titles). Don’t worry; I guide you through each chapter, offering
writing tips, examples, and strategies that will help facilitate the process. I
purposely use the term process because for all the chapters in the thesis,
you will need to write multiple drafts, edit, revise, and ultimately write
more drafts. For each chapter of the thesis, I describe the sections and
subsections that need to be included. After reading the description, I
recommend that you read the examples in the appendixes from actual
students’ master’s theses so that you can get a sense of the breadth,
depth, and style of the writing. In this chapter, I first discuss the writing
style for the thesis and then address each of the required sections for
Chapter One.
WRITING STYLE
The writing style in a master’s thesis is very different from that used in
creative writing or narrative writing. The writing style is technical, formal,
serious, and impersonal. This can be a very difficult transition for
students who are used to writing poetry, reflections, or stories. For
example, the tense should be in third person at all times (e.g., refer to
yourself as “the researcher”), and you should not use an informal tone or
colloquialisms (i.e., slang). In fact, the thesis should be free of personal
biases, judgments, and opinions. As I often tell my students, “There is no
room for you or I in a master’s thesis.” Thus any personal positions that
you take throughout the thesis must be supported by the research
literature.
Introduction
The Introduction section in Chapter One describes the general problem
you will be addressing in your research study. Your goal is to present an
overview of the study in a manner that allows the reader to understand
the context of your research regarding the issues it addresses, the
importance of the research to be done, and the specific research problem
to be studied. Readers will expect the introduction to provide them with
the context to understand the subsequent sections of the chapter
describing the research. There should be at least four paragraphs in the
Introduction section, and each paragraph has a different purpose. For
this section, I have found it helpful to use a funnel writing strategy. In an
actual funnel, the opening at the top is wide and then it slowly narrows to
a small opening. A funnel writing strategy is analogous to a funnel
where your first paragraph in the Introduction is broad and every
subsequent paragraph narrows the topic toward the specific research
problem (see Figure 5.2 for the funnel writing strategy for the Introduction
section in Chapter One).
Description
One of the problems that students face in writing this paragraph is that
they are so immersed in their immediate research problem that they
cannot see beyond it. Thus, take three steps back from your specific
research problem and ask, “What are the broad societal issues that have
trickled down to cause or influence my specific problem?” For example, if
you are focusing on broad issues in education, you might discuss federal
mandates, common core standards, bullying, academic achievement
data on large-scale assessments, demographic changes, the
overrepresentation of students of color receiving special education
services, teacher evaluation, and so on. If you are focusing on broad
issues related to juvenile delinquency, you might discuss gang
membership, crime rates, substance abuse, budget cuts in after-school
programs, death penalty for juveniles, and so forth. If you are focusing on
broad issues related to counseling, you might discuss mental illness,
scarcity of mental health services, drug and alcohol abuse, family
relationships, child and spousal abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder, and
so on. If you are focusing on broad issues related to business and
management, you might discuss the global economy, outsourcing,
corporate social responsibility, debt crisis, and so forth.
Description
For the rest of the paragraph, I would describe and define cyberbullying
and discuss more recent national and international trends over time.
Description
Finally, the last paragraph in this section focuses directly on the research
problem. If you started with the broad problem and slowly narrowed the
focus, this last paragraph should be a natural flow from the first three
paragraphs. Avoid writing, “My research problem is about . . . ,” which is
the book report method you used in the 4th grade. Often this paragraph
will start with words that cue the reader for some type of “disruption” term
such as “however, unfortunately, alas, sadly, regrettably,” and so on. For
the rest of the paragraph, you will discuss how the specific problem
affects the group or subgroups of individuals you have targeted. Then
you want to expand on the consequences of the problem for this specific
group. This is also where you would operationally define key terms that
you will be using as part of your study. Remember to support your claims
with citations from the research, especially from empirical research
studies and reference materials. Here is an example of a topic sentence
for the last paragraph:
For the rest of the paragraph, I would describe the existing research data
on the impact of cyberbullying on female targets’ levels of self-esteem
(and related manifestations). Using statistical data strengthens my claim
that this is a real problem that requires attention. This last paragraph is a
great lead-in to the next section of the chapter, which focuses on the
three areas related to your specific research problem. See Appendix E
for a sample Introduction section for Chapter One.
The first step to identify the three areas is to read the research literature
you collected for your research problem. This is where abstracting and a
literature matrix really come in handy. Next identify three to four common
themes or patterns that emerge from the literature. Then try to organize
and group your literature resources along those themes (it helps to make
actual piles or folders). Give each group a name that represents the
essence of the theme (you can tweak this later if necessary). If you have
too many groups, you may need to subsume smaller groups within a
broader one. You may also need to create a “maybe” file for resources
that are interesting but not closely related to your research problem. If
that are interesting but not closely related to your research problem. If
you have too few groups, you may need to break one of the groups into
two smaller ones or find more resources. Finally, select the three areas
that are most relevant to your research problem. The areas may be a part
of your research problem or a parallel area that is influenced by or affects
your research problem. Keep in mind that the areas should not be too
narrow because you will need to locate at least three empirical research
articles related to each area for your literature review in Chapter Two.
In this section, I use the same three areas that were identified in the
Statement of the Problem section. In other words, each area in the
Background and Need will match one of the areas discussed in the
Statement of the Problem section. One model for doing this is the three
parallel ladders strategy. The three parallel ladders strategy is an
organizational writing strategy used to write Chapters One and Two of
the thesis. It may also help you determine the purpose and methods for
your study. For this strategy, imagine three parallel ladders lying side by
side. The first ladder represents the Statement of the Problem. The
second ladder represents the Background and Need. The third ladder
represents the literature review in Chapter Two. The three rungs in each
ladder represent the same three areas related to the research problem
(see Figure 5.6 for the three parallel ladders strategy for Chapters One
and Two).
Since you have already identified the three areas related to the research
problem, it will be much easier to write this section. The Background and
Need has five subsections: (a) introduction, (b) area one, (c) area two, (d)
area three, and (e) summary. The introduction serves as the background
part of the section. Here you want to provide a brief discussion on the
background of your research problem. This could include a historical
perspective, how the problem developed over time, important information
about the problem, or more detail about the contextual issues that were
discussed in the Introduction.
Description
As you are discussing the solutions reported in the literature, point out
the gaps that still remain in the literature related to this area. This is the
“need” part of the section. Identifying the gaps is very critical because it
serves as a rationale to conduct your study and shows how your study
will contribute to the existing research. If there were no gaps left in the
literature, there would not be a need for your study! For example, a gap
could be that the research-based practices were not conducted with your
specific sample group. Another gap could be if your study proposes to
adapt, enhance, or combine existing practices for your specific sample
group. Another gap could be that your study is researching the problem
from a different perspective or research methodology (e.g., qualitative,
mixed methods). Make sure to support your writing by paraphrasing
information from the research literature and cite the sources using the
appropriate editorial format.
Description
Figure 5.7 Parallel ladders for the Statement of the
Problem and the Background and Need sections.
See Figure 5.8 for an example of parallel ladders for the Statement of the
Problem and Background and Need. Notice how in this example the
three solutions are linked to the three problems in each area.
At the end of the entire Background and Need section, write a brief
summary that highlights the existing research that has been conducted
and the gaps that still exist. Since I have given the reader a broad
introduction, described my research problem in detail, and provided the
background and need for my study, I am ready to connect these sections
to the Purpose of the Study. By this time, my reader will be convinced
that I have identified a significant problem that needs to be addressed,
and I am aware of the most relevant research to influence the problem.
This will serve as a smooth lead-in to the Purpose of the Study.
Description
The first part of the Purpose of the Study is the purpose statement. Here,
state the purpose of your study in one sentence! Include in the statement
the what, why, who, and where related to your study. Here is a template
you can use: “The purpose of this study was to (what you did) (why you
did this/issue) (who was your sample group) (where was the setting).”
The second part of the Purpose of the Study is the rationale. This briefly
explains the need for focusing on this particular problem or issue.
Providing a rationale is critical because it provides justification and
validation for why it is important or necessary to conduct the study. In
qualitative studies, the rationale may also be used to foreshadow the
design of your study (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018). Here you can
summarize some of the main points from the Introduction and the
Statement of the Problem. Include sentences about the problems (broad
and specific) and the consequences for not addressing the problems. For
example,
The third part of the Purpose of the Study is the description. This briefly
explains the methods that you used to conduct the study. Include your
sample group, description of your study or intervention (if you have one),
and how you collected the data. For example,
The last part of the Purpose of the Study is the expected outcome or goal
of the study. This briefly explains the benefits or impact that will result
from your study. You can have several expected outcomes. For example,
Once you have established the purpose of the study, you need to write
research questions that are aligned with the purpose and the methods of
the study.
the study.
Research Questions
The research question(s) is the question related to the problem that you
are attempting to answer with your study. The key is to frame your
research questions so that you are addressing the most critical elements
of your study. This does not mean that you need to develop an
exhaustive list of research questions. Instead, select those questions that
are most important to you and can be studied within the available time
and resources for doing a thesis. Remember that the more research
questions you have, the more data you will have to collect and analyze
(which require more time and resources). The research questions are
aligned with the methods of the study and vice versa, so you should
consider your research methods as you develop the research questions.
Make sure the research questions are written so that once you collect the
data, you will be able to answer them. This might involve including the
measured variables in the question. A good strategy is to convert the
purpose statement into a question. For example, if I want to know the
impact of the We Care program, I would convert the purpose statement
into a question and ask,
or
Here is an example for a qualitative study (notice how the questions are
more open-ended than for the quantitative studies above):
or
These questions are more rhetorical (or not answerable) and do not tell
the reader or the researcher anything about the design of the study. In
addition, a yes-no research question does not allow much room for
discussion and interpretation. An open-ended question (with parameters)
not only allows you to answer the research question but also discuss the
implications of the findings.
Definitions
The next section in Chapter One is Definitions. This section is where you
will define terms or phrases that need a more detailed explanation than
the ones that were provided earlier in the chapter. Remember to use
consistent terms to convey the same meaning as presented in the
definitions. Thus, if you have labeled a concept or variable with a specific
term, use this term consistently throughout the entire text. Once you
formally define the term in this section, the reader will know exactly what
you are referring to.
Perhaps the most difficult part of writing this section is determining which
terms to define. There are three rules that I use in selecting terms to
define. The first rule is to define all terms that a person outside of the field
would not be familiar with (i.e., technical jargon). For example, learning
disability is a very critical term in education today but might not be
understood in other fields. Whenever possible, I would also use the legal,
standard, or recognized definition from the literature and provide the
appropriate citations. A second rule is to define all terms that have been
“coined” by their users. This refers to familiar terms that may have new
definitions because of changing cultural context. These terms would need
to be operationally defined because the standard dictionary definition is
not accurate for how the term is understood by the users. For example,
the standard definition of cyberbullying or bystander might be different
from how they are used in this area of research. Thus, I would have to
define these two terms in this section. Finally, the third rule is to define all
terms that may be ambiguous to the reader because the definition of the
word is dependent on the context or the participant’s interpretation. For
example, transition has multiple meanings depending on the context. In
counseling, life transition refers to moving from one life stage to another
such as from work to retirement. In education, transition refers to moving
between elementary, middle, high school, and postsecondary settings. In
business, a business transition could refer to a change in ownership or
management. Criminologists study how life-course transitions (e.g.,
marriage, employment, entering the military) are correlated with
desistance from crime (Warr, 1998). By defining the term (with a citation
from the literature), this clarifies the concept for the reader and ensures
that everyone is on the same page. After you have defined all the terms,
list them with bullets and arrange them in alphabetical order so that it will
be easy for the reader to find specific terms.
Limitations
The next section is Limitations. This section is where you will discuss all
the limitations in the study. Limitations can be inherent to the research
design, data analysis, time and resources, or a condition that was set by
the researcher. Keep in mind that all studies have limitations, and it is not
a personal reflection on you as a researcher. Thus, the best way to deal
with limitations is to be upfront about them and explain how they affected
the results or findings of the study; trying to hide or cover the limitations
of a study will only further weaken the study. For example, lack of a
control group is a common limitation in students’ theses because of the
limited access to participants. Another common limitation is small sample
size (in a quantitative study).
A limitation is a flaw or weakness in the study that affects the internal
validity and external validity of the results. Internal validity (within the
study) refers to whether the changes in the dependent variable were due
to the independent variable or some other variable. If there is no control
group in an experimental study, this will reduce the internal validity
because it is uncertain whether the changes in the dependent variable
were due to the treatment or some other factors. External validity
(outside the study) refers to whether the results of the study are
applicable or can be generalized to other settings and groups (Mills &
Gay, 2019). Having a small sample size would reduce a study’s external
validity because of the limited generalizability to other groups. However,
depending on the research design, this would not necessarily be a
limitation in a qualitative study. I discuss these in more detail in Chapter
9.
Ethical Considerations
The last section in Chapter One is Ethical Considerations. This section is
where you will describe the procedures that you followed to ensure that
the research was conducted in an ethical manner. This includes following
the Institutional Review Board process for informed consent, obtaining
permission from other agencies to access participants, and minimizing
the potential risks to your participants. You may need to include a blank
copy of the cover letter or informed consent form in the appendix of your
thesis, so make sure you keep a copy.
Summary
Chapter One is perhaps the most important chapter in the thesis
because it provides a rationale for your study and establishes a
structure for the rest of the chapters in the thesis. It is also
typically the most difficult chapter to write, so try not to become
frustrated if it takes a long time or if you have to write multiple
drafts. Once you have described the research problem (and
related areas), background literature, purpose of the study, and
research questions, this will give you a structure for how to write
Chapter Two, Literature Review, and plan for Chapter Three,
Methods. In the next chapter, I discuss how to write Chapter Two,
Literature Review, for your thesis. Here is a summary of the most
critical points from Chapter 5:
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
Before you write Chapter One, it will save you much time and
frustration if you discuss “the big picture” with your chairperson.
Often, students get so focused on their own study that they lose
sight of the broad context in which the study is situated (the
rationale for why you are doing the study in the first place). The
following reflection/discussion questions will help to identify the
broader issues in your field or discipline related to your research
topic and also how to narrow your research topic into the three
related areas.
Try It Exercises
The following exercises are designed to help you write Chapter
One. In Activity One, you will begin to write the Introduction using
the funnel method. In Activity Two, you will begin to identify the
three problems in the Statement of the Problem. In Activity Three,
you will begin to develop the Purpose of the Study and the
Research Questions.
Key Terms
Suggested Readings
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual
of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington,
DC: Author.
Badley, G. (2009). Academic writing as shaping and re-shaping.
Teaching in Higher Education, 14(2), 209–219.
Wallace, M., & Wray, A. (2016). Critical reading and writing for
postgraduates (2nd ed.). London, UK: Sage.
Web Links
APA Formatting and Style Guide: The OWL at Purdue
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
APA Style
http://www.apastyle.org/
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/graduate-writing-center/
Modern Language Association (MLA)
http://www.mla.org/
The Chicago Manual of Style Online
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html
http://www.bartleby.com/141/
https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/introductions/
The Writing Center (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/
Introduction.
Statement of the problem.
Limitations.
Ethical questions.
Back to Figure
The top of the funnel has three parts that read paragraph 1, broad
problem on top and paragraph 2, narrow problem in the middle and
paragraph 3, further narrow problem, at the bottom.
The circular part of the base of the funnel reads, paragraph 4, specific
research problem.
Back to Figure
The conical part of the funnel looks like a glass with three circles in it.
These circles read:
The tip at the bottom has an arrow that points to text below that reads,
your specific research problem.
Back to Figure
The figure has a ladder with three rungs that read psychological
concerns, physical health and somatic concerns and suicide ideation and
behavior, from top to bottom.
The text above the ladder reads, statement of the problem, research
problem, with the following text below:
Female adolescent targets of cyberbullying experience higher levels of
psychological and physical health concerns and suicide ideation
compared to their unaffected peers. These negative impacts have been
psychological and physical health concerns and suicide ideation
compared to their unaffected peers. These negative impacts have been
correlated with lower levels of self-esteem, which can impact students’
overall academic and behavioral performance.
The other three rungs also have text below each heading, on each rung.
This text reads:
Psychological Concerns
Back to Figure
Each of the three ladders has three rungs that read area 1, area 2 and
area 3, from the first to the third rung. The text above the first ladder
reads, statement of the problem. The text above the second reads,
background and need. The text above the third ladder reads, literature
review (chapter two).
Back to Figure
The Statement of the problem ladder and the background and need
ladder both have three rungs each. The statement of the problem’s
rungs, are labeled area 1, area 2 and area 3, from the first to the third
rung and the background and need ladder’s rungs, are labeled solution 1,
solution 2 and solution 3, from the first to the third rung respectively.
An arrow from the area 1 rung on the statement of the problem ladder,
points to the solution 1 rung on the background and need ladder.
points to the solution 1 rung on the background and need ladder.
An arrow from the area 2 rung on the statement of the problem ladder,
points to the solution 2 rung on the background and need ladder.
An arrow from the area 3 rung on the statement of the problem ladder,
points to the solution 3 rung on the background and need ladder.
Back to Figure
The figure has two parallel ladders with three rungs on each. These
ladders are labeled statement of the problem (problems) and background
and need (solutions), respectively. The statement of the problem rungs
are titled psychological concerns, physical health and somatic concerns
and suicide ideation and behavior, from top to bottom. An arrow from the
first rung of the statement of the problem ladder points to the first rung on
the background and need (solutions) ladder.
The first rung on the statement of the problem (problems) ladder reads:
Psychological concerns:
An arrow from the text above points to the following text on the first rung
of the background and need (solutions) ladder:
Empathy training is critical in intervening with the psychological impacts
of cyberbullying because of the lack of available nonverbal cues.
Increasing adolescents’ cognitive and affective empathy towards others
may help to reduce their participation in cyberbullying and negative
bystander behavior.
An arrow from the text above points to the following text on the first rung
An arrow from the text above points to the following text on the first rung
of the background and need (solutions) ladder:
A strong social support network may be a protective factor in reducing
the negative physical health impacts associated with cyberbullying. An
effective mentoring program is a strategy that has been used to increase
positive peer attachments among adolescents and decrease their
participation in cyberbullying.
The third rung on the statement of the problem (problems) ladder reads:
Suicide Ideation and Behavior
An arrow from the text above points to the following text on the first rung
of the background and need (solutions) ladder:
Introduction 122
Advance Organizer 123
Research Synthesis 124
Section Summary 130
Chapter Summary 131
Summary 132
Resources 133
Reflection/Discussion Questions 134
Try It Exercises 134
Key Terms 135
Suggested Readings 135
Web Links 135
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
—Confucius
Bravo on getting through Chapter One of the thesis! This chapter focuses
on how to write Chapter Two, Literature Review (also referred to as the
Review of the Literature). The literature review is an important
component of a thesis. While it does not describe your research or the
methodology that you employed, it provides the reader a context for
understanding why and how you conducted your study. Additionally, it
communicates your knowledge of related research and of the conditions
surrounding the justification for your research.
For some researchers, this chapter is difficult to write. There are several
reasons for this. First, it may be difficult to determine what literature to
report and what to exclude. A common misconception is that the
literature review is a comprehensive or chronological summary of every
research article that has been written about the topic. If this were the
case, you would never finish reading all the articles or have time to write
about them! This can be a serious problem because you will have read
an extensive amount of material and may feel that it is all important. Yet
judgments will need to be made on what is most relevant to convey the
significance of how the prior research relates to your research problem
and study. Most likely for every five articles you read, maybe one or two
will actually be relevant to your study (if you’re lucky!).
Consider the different ways that an article could be relevant to your study
(Creswell, 2015, p. 92):
Topic relevance: Does the literature focus on the same topic as your
proposed study?
Individual and site relevance: Does the literature examine the same
individuals or sites that you want to study?
Problem and question relevance: Does the literature examine the
same research problem that you propose to study? Does it address
the same research question you plan to address?
Thus, you will need to retrieve articles from research journals (preferably
refereed or peer-reviewed journals). Depending on your field, the
research literature changes very quickly, so you want to get the most
recently published articles. I would not recommend using an article that is
more than 5 years old unless it was a seminal article. A seminal article
is one that was significant to the topic (e.g., classic) or created a change
in the field. If you are having difficulty finding recent research articles, try
the following quick search strategies in relevant search engines or
electronic databases: (a) Set a limit on the dates, (b) set a limit to
scholarly journals, (c) search the table of contents in high-quality journals
in your field, (d) search the reference lists of relevant articles, and (e)
search for authors who have written extensively on your research
problem. Finally, make an appointment with the reference librarian and
ask your chairperson for some recommendations to get you started.
Description
After you have selected the first round of articles, now it is time to go
back and read them more thoroughly to find the relationships between
the research literature and your study. A good strategy to use at this
stage is mapping. There are many different types of maps (e.g., concept,
mind, subject tree, content), so you can pick one that best suits your
needs. There are also different types of software programs and
applications that you can use to “draw” your thoughts into maps (see
examples in Resources section). You can organize your research into
maps around a core issue, theme, author, and so on with supporting
elements (Machi & McEvoy, 2016). The advantage of using a mapping
strategy is that it helps you visually organize the research literature and
see meaningful connections. Ask yourself, “What is the relationship
among the studies to the core issue and to each other?” Having a visual
diagram also allows you to analyze the research to find gaps in your
literature search. Sometimes the most relevant studies are those that
diverge from the pattern or the findings are inconsistent with the others.
Ideally you should have at least one map for each of your three areas of
the literature review. This will prepare you to write the body of the
literature review.
CHAPTER TWO SECTIONS
Once you have reviewed and organized the research articles, you can
use your note cards and maps to write the literature review. Chapter Two
starts on a new page in the thesis. Chapter Two has three main sections:
(a) introduction, (b) body of the review with research syntheses, and (c)
summary. I discuss what needs to be included and how to write each
section. Keep in mind that there are different ways to organize a literature
review, so it is a good idea to check with your chairperson for program
guidelines. One way is to discuss the overall theme from a group of
studies and make references to specific studies to support your claims
and arguments (Creswell & Creswell, 2018; Machi & McEvoy, 2016).
Some people choose to write the literature review in response to a
“precisely stated question” (Fink, 2014, p. 3). If you are using this type of
organizational format, be sure that you frame your research around a
specific question rather than a broad, nonspecific one. For example,
“What is the impact of cyberbullying?” is too broad. A more specific
question would be, “What is the psychological impact of cyberbullying on
female adolescent targets?” There are suggested readings at the end of
the chapter if you would like to explore these other ways to organize and
approach the literature review. In the example below I organized each
area of the literature review around one core issue with a descriptive
synthesis of each article. In each synthesis I describe how the research
study relates to my current study. When using this type of organizational
format, it is also important to connect the articles back to each other.
Introduction
The introduction in Chapter Two has two purposes. The first purpose is to
remind the reader about your research problem, and the second purpose
is to inform the reader of the three research areas that will be addressed
in the chapter. The first paragraph in the introduction is the opening. In
this paragraph, revisit the broad problem and research problem from
Chapter One. Remember, you want to refer to these problems in general
terms. Do not write, “My research problem is . . . .” Instead, briefly
describe the broad problem (e.g., national) and then funnel to the
research problem that your study is addressing. Your statement of the
research problem should be concise and clearly identify the key issues
from your study. This paragraph may seem a bit redundant because it is.
As you continue writing, you will notice that there will be a respectable
level of redundancy throughout the thesis, especially at the beginning of
each chapter.
each chapter.
However, the redundancy is purposeful rather than random. In this
context, purposeful redundancy refers to intentionally reiterating main
points about the research problem and study throughout the thesis. This
serves two purposes. First, purposeful redundancy allows each chapter
to stand alone. This means that a reader can begin reading the thesis at
any chapter and understand the gist of the research problem and your
study. Second, purposeful redundancy links the chapters together so that
there is a seamless connection between them. This gives the writing
fluidity and unity, and the reader is not left trying to fill in gaps. Think of it
as a silk thread that tells the narrative of your study throughout the thesis.
However, you want to avoid simply repeating verbatim what has already
been written unless it is serving a strategic purpose. In other words, you
do not want the reader to have a déjà vu, I’ve-read-this-before moment.
Advance Organizer
Here is an example template that you can use to write your advance
Here is an example template that you can use to write your advance
organizer:
Once you have the advance organizer, follow this outline and organize
the text for the body of the review around each of the sections.
Research Synthesis
2. Purpose: Briefly state the purpose of the study and reference the
authors in the text with the year of publication (the full citation
belongs in the references section; see Chapter 10 for APA style).
This information is typically found in the first section of the article
right before the Methods section. If you are lucky, the authors will
explicitly state their purpose; other times, you will have to infer the
purpose of the study from the given information. For example,
Section Summary
After you have synthesized the three articles in each area, provide a
summary paragraph for the section. The purpose of this paragraph is to
not only summarize and connect the main points and limitations from the
summary paragraph for the section. The purpose of this paragraph is to
not only summarize and connect the main points and limitations from the
three studies but also to show how they relate back to your study. For
example,
Summary
Chapter Two is a critical chapter in the thesis because it provides
an overview of the research literature related to your problem and
study. In doing so, you show the reader that you are
knowledgeable about the existing research and that your study
fills a much-needed gap. In synthesizing the empirical research
articles, you have provided both a summary of the studies as well
as a critique (which provides a rationale for your study). In the
next chapter, I discuss how to write Chapter Three, Methods, for
your thesis. Here is a summary of the most critical points from
Chapter 6:
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
Before you write Chapter Two, it is important to identify the
common thread that will be carried over from Chapter One so that
the thesis appears to be seamless. Chapter Two also requires
you to extract your prior knowledge of research methods as you
synthesize the articles. The following reflection/discussion
questions will help guide you through these two processes.
Try It Exercises
The following exercises are designed to help you write Chapter
Two. In Activity One, you will identify the empirically based articles
that are related to your three areas. In Activity Two, you will write
the introduction and advance organizer paragraphs for Chapter
the introduction and advance organizer paragraphs for Chapter
Two. In Activity Three, you will synthesize one of the research
articles for Chapter Two.
List the three areas from Chapter One that are related to
your research problem or study.
Key Terms
mapping 121
skimming 121
Suggested Readings
Booth, A., Sutton, A., & Papaioannou, D. (2016). Systematic
approaches to a successful literature review (2nd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
Web Links
https://libguides.csuchico.edu/c.php?g=414315&p=2822745
https://laverne.libguides.com/c.php?g=34942&p=222060
Mapping Software
Coggle
https://coggle.it
Mind42
https://mind42.com
MindMeister
https://www.mindmeister.com
MindMup
https://www.mindmup.com
Mindomo
https://www.mindomo.com
SimpleMind
https://simplemind.eu
http://vue.tufts.edu
XMind
https://www.xmind.net
Area 1.
Area 2.
Area 3.
Area 1:
Area 1:
Article 1a.
Article 1b.
Article 1c.
Area 2:
Article 2a.
Article 2b.
Article 2c.
Area 3:
Article 3a.
Article 3b.
Article 3c.
Back to Figure
The ten squares read:
Introduction.
Purpose.
Setting/sample.
Intervention/issue.
Procedures.
Procedures.
Variables/measurement instruments.
Data analysis.
Results.
Conclusions/implications.
Limitations/weaknesses.
7 HOW TO WRITE CHAPTER THREE,
METHODS
Introduction 141
Setting 144
Participants 145
Measurement Instruments 149
Procedure 155
Data Analysis 158
Summary 161
Resources 162
Reflection/Discussion Questions 163
Try It Exercises 164
Key Terms 164
Suggested Readings 165
Web Links 165
There are many different types of research designs that can be used.
They are divided into three broad categories: quantitative, qualitative, and
mixed methods. Within each category, there are also specific research
designs (also referred to as types or approaches). For example,
quantitative research designs include descriptive, survey, correlational,
and experimental designs (including quasi-experimental and single-
subject). Qualitative research designs include narrative, case study,
ethnography, grounded theory, and phenomenology. Mixed methods
research designs include three core designs: convergent, explanatory
sequential, and exploratory sequential (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018).
Mixed methods research designs have received a lot of attention within
the past decade. While there are several opinions of what constitutes
mixed methods research, there are some common core characteristics
(Creswell & Creswell, 2018):
Description
To guide you in writing Chapter Three, I first discuss how to write each
section in general. Then I provide examples of written work adapted from
former students’ completed master’s theses or other studies. I include
examples from quantitative (including single subject design), qualitative,
and mixed methods studies when a distinction among the approaches is
helpful. You will notice that the examples are written in the past tense to
indicate that the studies have already been completed. Most likely, you
will write the Chapter Three proposal in future tense (to indicate what you
plan to do) and then come back after the research has been completed to
rewrite the chapter in the past tense. However, I recommend consulting
with your chairperson to make sure that this is the advised approach.
Introduction
Chapter Three opens with an introduction that has several elements. The
first part of the introduction is a brief reminder of the general research
problem. This is where purposeful redundancy (see Chapter 6) is a good
writing technique. Use purposeful redundancy to connect Chapter Three
seamlessly to the previous chapter but also to enable it to stand alone. In
the second part of the introduction, remind the reader of the research
question(s) from Chapter One. By revisiting the research questions here,
you are providing a justification and bridge to the specific research design
that was used to answer the questions. Finally, the third part of the
introduction is an overview of the research design and a brief explanation
of the research methods that were used in the study.
Providing the reader with an overview of the research design is critical
because it sets the tone (and layout of the sections) for the rest of the
chapter. For example, if you used a quasi-experimental research design,
the reader will expect to see large groups of participants, independent
and dependent variables, and hypothesis testing. If you used a qualitative
case study design, the reader will expect to see a small group of
participants, description of observation forms or interview questions, and
coding of narrative data. If you used a mixed methods research design,
the reader will expect to see both elements of quantitative and qualitative
research methods.
Setting
The second section in Chapter Three is the Setting (this is the first
section that requires a level heading). In this section, describe the
research site(s) where the research was conducted. Similar to the setting
in a story, the setting in the thesis is where the study took place (i.e., data
were collected). The setting could be in a number of locations such as a
school, hospital, church, prison, office, home, or even on a bus. In writing
about the setting, first provide a description of the broad setting (e.g.,
school, hospital, juvenile detention center, community center).
Remember to include any background or historical information about the
setting so that the reader can situate your research site in the broader
context. In addition to the broad setting, include a description of the
specific area(s) where the data were collected (e.g., classroom, a
person’s home, office). Include any demographic data related to the
setting as appropriate.
Here is an example of a research setting adapted from a former student’s
master’s thesis:
Participants
The third section is the Participants. There are two parts to this section.
The first part describes the sampling plan that was used in the study.
Sampling refers to the process of selecting participants for a study (Mills
& Gay, 2019). In this part, explain how the participants were selected
from the broader population.
The sampling plan will vary depending on the research question and
design of the study. For example, if you are using a quantitative research
design, select a large, representative sample group from the specified
population. Again, depending on the research question and design, you
may need to have a random sample. In a random sample, every
individual in the population has an equal and independent chance of
being selected (i.e., drawing names from a hat).
The dependent variable in the study was the students’ with LFA
and the typical peers’ initiations and responses towards each
other. Initiations and responses were chosen as a means to
examine social interaction between participants. Initiations were
defined as any appropriate motor or vocal behavior
demonstrated by the students to gain attention or a response
from another student, including verbalizing to another student,
looking at another student’s face, touching the other student
(e.g., tapping shoulder, touching hand), presenting the book to
another student, and pointing to a picture in the book while
looking at the student. Responses were defined as any
appropriate motor or vocal behavior demonstrated by the
students that was preceded by an initiation and occurred within
10 seconds of the initiation including looking at the other
student’s face, verbalizing to the other student, smiling at the
other student, touching the other student, and giving a motor
response such as nodding head or touching a picture in the
book. (Adapted from Simpson and Bui, 2016)
In the Materials section, describe the materials that were used as part of
the intervention. Sometimes these materials are from a commercial
program and sometimes they are developed by the researcher.
Remember to describe the materials in enough detail so that the reader
could replicate or adapt the intervention. A good idea is to include a
sample of the materials in the appendix of the thesis, so be sure to keep
records and clean copies of everything that you used (see Chapter 10 for
APA style).
Here is an example of a description of materials:
Here is an example of a description of materials:
Measurement Instruments
The sixth section is a description of the Measurement Instruments, tools
that the researcher used to collect data. Examples of measurement
instruments include: questionnaire/scale, behavioral checklist, interview,
focus group, observation protocol, public documents or records, tests,
survey, interest inventory, and so on. In this section, there should be a
title and brief description of each measurement instrument and how the
instrument was scored or interpreted. You can decide the order of
presentation of the measurement instruments, although I typically discuss
the instruments in the order they appear within the research questions.
The presentation of the measurement instrument in Chapter Three
represents a ladder, and each rung represents one measurement
instrument (see Figure 7.2 for a depiction of the ladder for Chapter
Three). Keep in mind that you will keep the same order for Chapters Four
and Five. To represent this visually, I use the three parallel ladders
strategy to represent the order of the measurement instruments across
the three chapters (see Figure 7.3 for a depiction of the three parallel
ladders strategy for Chapters Three, Four, and Five). The actual
measurement instruments will be included in the appendix of the thesis,
so be sure to keep clean copies of all the instruments that you use (see
Chapter 10 for APA style).
Procedure
The seventh section is the Procedure. In this section, describe the data
collection and procedures used to conduct the study. In other words,
explain how the data were collected and the procedures that were
followed throughout the study. This includes procedures for administering
measurement instruments, details of implementation for any intervention
(e.g., length of treatment, time of day), and difference of conditions in
treatment groups (if there were multiple groups). As mentioned, there are
many different ways to collect data depending on the research design
and research questions. However, detailed descriptions in this section
are extremely important for both credibility and replicability purposes.
For a qualitative study, data collection could involve conducting
observations, interviews, focus groups, or researching documents,
artifacts, and audiovisual materials (Creswell, 2013). In writing this
section, you need to explain exactly how these data collection activities
were conducted. For example, if you conducted observations, describe
the conditions in which you conducted the observations (e.g., time, place,
frequency), your role as the observer (e.g., participant or nonparticipant
observer), and how field notes were recorded.
Data Analysis
The eighth section is the Data Analysis. In this section, describe the
procedures that were used to analyze the data from the study. The
methods used to analyze the data depend on the research design,
research questions, measurement instruments, and the type of data that
were collected. Just as there are numerous ways to collect data, there
are also many different ways to analyze data. One suggestion that I give
students is to analyze the data so that they can answer the research
questions! For example, if one of the research questions asks whether
the participants changed their behavior before and after the study, then
one of the procedures for data analysis needs to be a comparison of the
pre- and post-data. If the research question asks about the participants’
understanding of a situation, then the data analysis should involve
descriptions from interviews or observations.
In qualitative studies where the data are mostly narrative, data analysis
typically involves a categorizing strategy through coding (Maxwell, 2013).
Coding allows you to label and group the data into meaningful chunks.
“Coding categories are a means of sorting the descriptive data you have
collected . . . so that the material bearing on a given topic can be
physically separated from other data” (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003, p. 161).
This is necessary to interpret the data and draw out the major themes. A
simple analogy would be sorting a pile of clothing to launder by color
(lights or darks) or by temperature (hot or cold water). Throughout the
data analysis process, qualitative researchers also write memos to
themselves, keep reflective journals, and audio record their thoughts on
an ongoing basis. I discuss this in more detail in Chapter 8.
Here is an example of data analysis adapted from a former student’s
master’s thesis:
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
Before you conduct your study, it is important to identify the
measurement instruments for data collection. Then, to write
Chapter Three, you need to be able to “report” how the data were
collected for replicability purposes. The following
reflection/discussion questions will help guide you through these
two processes.
Try It Exercises
The following exercises are designed to help you write Chapter
Three. In Activity One, you will outline the major sections of
Chapter Three and begin to flesh out the components. In Activity
Two, you will develop or find a measurement instrument that you
could use for data collection.
Key Terms
convenience sample 145
generalizability 146
replicability 139
sampling 145
validity 153
Suggested Readings
Babbie, E. (2016). The practice of social research (14th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Web Links
Basic Business Research Methods
https://managementhelp.org/businessresearch/index.htm
http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide
http://methods.sagepub.com/
Web Center for Social Research Methods
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net
Introduction.
Setting.
Participants.
Participants.
Intervention.
Materials.
Measurement instruments.
Procedure.
Data analysis.
Back to Figure
The table below shows the titled and text on each of the rungs of the
three parallel ladders seen in this image:
An arrow from each of the rungs on the first ladder, points to the
respective rung on the second ladder.
An arrow from each of the rungs on the second ladder, points to the
respective rung on the third ladder.
8 HOW TO WRITE CHAPTER FOUR,
RESULTS AND FINDINGS
Quantitative Data 169
Descriptive Statistics 171
Measures of Variability 173
Inferential Statistics 178
Tests of Significance 178
Independent-Samples t Test 178
Paired-Samples t Test 181
Qualitative Data 183
Validity of Findings 189
Mixed Methods Data 190
Summary 190
Resources 191
Reflection/Discussion Questions 192
Try It Exercises 192
Key Terms 194
Suggested Readings 194
Web Links 194
If you have completed Chapter Three and are ready to write Chapter
Four, this means that you have finished collecting all your research data
—bravo! You are more than halfway finished with the thesis, so keep the
momentum going (and the coffee brewing). This chapter will focus on
how to write Chapter Four, Results and Findings, of the thesis. In
Chapter Four, you will report the study’s results (for quantitative studies)
or findings (for qualitative studies) or a combination of both (for mixed
methods); in doing so, you will apply what you have learned from your
data collection and analysis. In essence, this is the meat of your thesis.
After all the blood, sweat, tears, eye strain, and hair pulling, what did you
find out?
Chapter Four, Results, is an essential component of the master’s thesis
because you will report the outcomes of the study. This means reporting
the results of the data analysis for each variable, data collection method,
or measurement instrument that was used in the study (always keeping
in mind the research questions). Therefore, you should have already
in mind the research questions). Therefore, you should have already
consulted with your chairperson for the data analysis methodology. On
occasion, you may need to make adjustments to the analysis or do
additional analysis due to participants dropping out, and so on, before
reporting the results. Depending on the research design and questions,
the presentation of the results can be in narrative, numerical,
tabular/graphic format, or a mixture of them all. For example, if you
collected quantitative (i.e., numerical) data, the results will be reported in
statistical or tabular/graphic format. These results are reported in a
straightforward manner, the writing style is technical, and they can be
monotonous. If you collected qualitative (i.e., nonnumerical) data, the
findings will be reported in narrative and sometimes tabular and/or
graphic format. You will provide thick descriptions of the data to paint a
narrative “picture” for the reader. Chapter Four needs to be written with
sufficient detail for replicability purposes in case someone wants to verify
the results. In addition, how you report and organize the results here will
determine how you interpret and discuss them in Chapter Five.
To guide you in writing Chapter Four, I discuss how to report results for
quantitative and qualitative data separately. The rationale for discussing
them separately is that the data analysis and reporting procedures are
very distinct. However, for mixed methods studies, your data analysis
and reporting may actually be integrated together. I also provide
examples from different types of studies adapted from former students’
completed master’s theses. You will notice that the examples are written
in the past tense to indicate that the data have already been collected
and analyzed.
QUANTITATIVE DATA
If you collected quantitative data, I recommend that you organize Chapter
Four by reporting the results from each research question or
measurement instrument into separate sections. For example, if you had
three research questions that used three measurement instruments, such
as a test, survey, and an observation checklist, you would report the
results in three separate sections with a subheading for each. You also
want to report the results in the same order that the research question or
measurement instruments appeared in Chapter Three. Remember to use
the three parallel ladders strategy from Chapter 7 (see Figure 8.1 for a
depiction of the parallel ladders strategy for Chapters Three and Four).
This will make it easier for you to write and less confusing for the reader.
Description
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics refers to “a set of concepts and methods used in
organizing, summarizing, tabulating, depicting, and describing collections
of data” (Shavelson, 1996, p. 8). As the definition implies, researchers
use this type of statistical analysis to describe the data set that was
collected from the sample. Think of descriptive statistics as describing a
picture of the quantitative results in a way that is comprehensible and
meaningful for the reader.
To help clarify and apply these concepts, I use a basketball example (I’m
sure football would work, too). I select my favorite team, the Golden State
Warriors, and my all-time favorite point guard, Stephen Curry (when it is
your turn, you can pick your own team and player). From the 2009–2010
season through the 2017–2018 season (and hopefully for 10 more
years), Curry was the starting point guard for the Warriors. Knowing his
total career points gives an overall picture of him as a Hall of Fame point
guard, but they do not show the pattern or trends of his nine seasons with
the Warriors. It also doesn’t show his wizardry as a three-point shooter.
Using Curry’s basketball statistics (rounded to the nearest whole number)
on the chart as a sample group, I apply some basic descriptive statistical
measures, explain how to calculate them, and discuss what these
measures tell us about the data set.
2009– 80 18 5
2010
2010– 74 19 5
2011
2011– 26 (injury) 15 5
2012
2012– 78 23 8
2013
2013– 78 24 8
2014
2014– 80 24 8
2015
2016– 79 25 10
2017
2017– 51 (injury) 26 10
2018
The first measure of central tendency I address is the mode. The mode
is the most common or most frequently occurring score in the distribution.
To obtain the mode, simply go through the column and see which
number appeared most frequently. For example, if I look at the total
points per game from 2009 to 2018, 24 is the mode because it appeared
two times, whereas all the other numbers appeared only once. Keep in
mind that you can have more than one mode (bimodal), and the mode is
not always the largest value.
5 5 5 8 8 8 10 10 11
Since there is an odd number of scores, I can simply find the number in
the middle, which is 8. This means that 50% of the numbers of 3-point
shots are above and below 8. If there was an even number of scores, I
would use the “magic finger trick,” where I point two fingers at the outer
ends and go in toward the center. Then I would find the value that is
halfway by adding the two middle numbers and dividing by two.
This tells me that throughout his career with the Golden State Warriors,
Stephen Curry had a mean of 69.4 games played per season. Now that
you know how to calculate measures of central tendency to confirm what
a spectacular basketball player guard Curry is, how would you apply
them to data from your master’s thesis? Basically, when you have a set
of scores, you should report a measure of central tendency as part of
your results to inform the reader about the average score. The scores
can be for any variable (e.g., height, weight, achievement level, self-
esteem, heart rates) and from a variety of sources such as tests, surveys,
observation checklists, and so on. Typically, for the master’s thesis, I
recommend that students report the mean score because it is the most
commonly used and takes into account every score in the data set.
However, the mode and the median can also be appropriate (depending
on the type of data that were collected) if the distribution is positively or
negatively skewed.
Measures of variability
Group A: 5 8 7 10 5
Group B: 8 1 5 14 7
The mean score for each group is 7. Based on this information, I could
assume that the two groups of students did similarly well on the math test
since they have the same mean score. Now, put the scores in order of
magnitude:
Group A: 5 5 7 8 10
Group B: 1 5 7 8 14
If the maximum test score is 15, notice how the scores in Group A are
closer together while the scores in Group B are more spread apart. There
is not a huge difference in performance between the students in Group A,
and they cluster closer to the mean; however, for Group B, there was one
student who received a score of 1 and one student who received almost
a perfect test score. These scores are farther from the mean. With this
information, I can see that the two groups are not very similar even
though they have the same mean. Thus, knowing only the measure of
though they have the same mean. Thus, knowing only the measure of
central tendency (e.g., mean) is only part of the picture and can be
misleading.
If you are describing a set of scores, you also need to report the measure
of variability. A measure of variability indicates how close or spread
apart (i.e., dispersed) the scores are in a distribution. In other words, how
much do the scores differ from themselves and/or the mean of the
distribution? If they differ quite a bit (scores are scattered), then there is a
lot of variability. If they are pretty similar (scores are clustered), then
there is less variability. There are many different kinds of measures of
variability, but for the purpose of the thesis, I discuss only the range and
standard deviation since they are the most relevant.
The range is one measure of variability that you are probably already
familiar with. The range is the difference between the largest and
smallest scores in a distribution. You can calculate the range by
subtracting the smallest score from the largest score. For Group A, the
range is 10 – 5 = 5. What is the range for Group B? That’s right. The
range for Group B is 14 – 1 = 13. In comparing the two groups, Group B
has a larger range, and the scores are more spread apart than Group A’s
scores. However, the range is of limited use because it only looks at two
scores, the largest and smallest scores, and does not take into
consideration the other scores in the distribution.
Description
The second measurement tool for social skill levels was the
student self-rating questionnaire. Similar to the teacher ranking
survey, the student self-rating questionnaire also assessed how
well students could perform social skill tasks. However, the
student self-rating questionnaire relied on the 14 students to
rate their own ability to perform the tasks. The range of scores
for the student self-rating questionnaire was 50 (minimum 64,
maximum 114). The mean total score of the student self-rating
questionnaire was 88.50 with a standard deviation of 13.24.
(Henderson, 2007)
Inferential Statistics
Inferential statistics refers to “a set of methods to draw inferences
about a large group of people from data available on only a
representative subset of the group” (Shavelson, 1996, p. 8). In other
words, researchers use sample group data to make assumptions or
conclusions about the general population. This is very useful because
most of the time researchers do not have access or the resources to
collect data from the population. For example, consider how statistics are
reported on presidential elections—how do they know that 46% will vote
for Candidate A, 44% will vote for Candidate B, and 10% are undecided?
Obviously, pollsters cannot ask every single person whom he will vote for
in the next election. Instead, they ask a representative sample, apply
statistical tests, and then make inferences about the rest of the country
(remember, there is always a margin of error). Keep in mind that the
sample must be representative (best done through random sampling);
otherwise, the conclusions may be skewed toward one segment of the
population or another. Basically, it is more realistic and efficient to collect
data from a representative sample of the population to make inferences
about the population rather than include the entire population in the
study.
Tests of significance
Independent-samples t test
In a basic experimental study where one independent variable (cause) is
manipulated to see its effect on one dependent variable (effect), the
independent-samples t test is used to determine whether the difference
in mean scores on the dependent variable between two independent
groups is a real difference or one that is due to chance. In other words, is
the mean score difference for the dependent variable due to the
independent variable (treatment) or the result of some other chance
factor such as sampling error? To use the independent-samples t test,
the participants and their scores from the two groups must be completely
independent and separate from each other.
She can either reject or retain the H0; typically, researchers want to reject
the H0 to “support” their new intervention. However, retaining the H0 may
be as valuable to the research literature as rejecting it (you may have
discovered what treatment is not effective!). Remember that as the
researcher, you are committed to reporting the findings objectively and
accurately whether or not the data support your hypothesis.
There are several variations of how you can report the results of an
independent-samples t test in APA format. Be sure to include the two
mean scores with standard deviations, t value with degrees of freedom,
and the probability value. You also have to report an effect size (usually
in the form of Cohen’s d), which represents the magnitude of the mean
difference. If you have a small effect size, the two group’s mean scores
are not that different. If you have a large effect size, then the mean
scores are very different from each other. Here is one example:
Paired-samples t test
To report this in APA format, be sure to include the two mean scores with
standard deviations, t value with degrees of freedom, the probability
value, and an effect size. Here is one example:
QUALITATIVE DATA
There is often a misconception among graduate students that interpreting
and reporting data from qualitative studies is easier or faster than
quantitative studies since there are no scary statistics involved. However,
this is typically not the case. At the end of a qualitative study, a
researcher may be faced with piles of data in the form of field notes from
observations, transcripts from interviews, documents, memos, audio or
video files, and so on. Therefore, there needs to be a way to organize
and analyze the raw data to answer the research questions and provide a
deeper understanding of the phenomenon being studied that is
meaningful to the reader. This process often includes countless hours to
read, organize, and prepare field notes, transcribe data, code data,
categorize data, and identify supporting data. As mentioned, there are
many different types of qualitative research designs and ways to analyze
and report the narrative data. For more detailed information on qualitative
data analysis and reporting, I strongly recommend taking a course in
qualitative research or examining textbooks on this topic. However, from
my experience advising graduate students, the three most commonly
used data collection methods are interviews, focus groups, and
observations. Therefore, I focus my discussion on how to report these
types of narrative data according to (a) major themes and patterns and
(b) research questions. I also discuss how to enhance the validity of the
findings.
In our example, the researcher decides to analyze her data by hand. She
rereads all the transcribed data and codes the data by labeling different
topics that seemed important. She puts a code for “interaction” every time
there was a communicative interaction between the manager and the
employee and noted it in her codebook with a number and definition.
Next, she analyzed all the interaction codes to see how they were related
across participants and meeting times. She categorized or grouped the
similar interaction codes into larger meaningful chunks with a new label.
For example, perhaps there was a clear distinction in managers who
used verbal versus nonverbal interactions or collaborative versus
coercive interactions. These larger chunks indicate a potential theme or
pattern in the findings. Thus, by coding and recoding the data, the
research identified the major themes or patterns that emerged from the
data. An average of five to six major themes is reasonable. However, be
sure the major themes and patterns are related to the research questions
and purpose of the study. Remember that it is critical to leave your
desires, judgments, and expectations of what you want the data to look
like outside of the analysis and reporting process. Although it is inevitable
that some personal bias will slip through, you want to minimize this as
much as possible.
After the major themes or patterns are identified, each one represents a
separate heading and section in the results chapter. Then for each
theme, it is critical to paint a picture of the findings for the reader by
providing a rich and thick description. A thick description is an
explanation that includes both the behavior and the context in which the
behavior was displayed. The concept of thick description was originally
derived from the writings of British philosopher Gilbert Ryle and
anthropologist Clifford Geertz (Ponterotto & Grieger, 2007). Then
sociologist Norman Denzin expanded the definition of thick description in
his work:
Research Questions
Another way to organize the narrative findings is around the research
questions. Here, the researcher is also reporting the major themes and
patterns that emerge from the data. However, in this type of
organizational format, the data collection methods (e.g., interview
questions, observational strategies) should help you gain an
understanding to answer the research question(s) (Maxwell, 2013). For
example, a researcher wants to explore the leadership styles of school
administrators at high-performing schools. The research questions are,
In this study, the four interview questions are designed to help answer
the research questions; Interview Questions 1 and 2 help answer the first
research question, and Interview Questions 3 and 4 help answer the
second research question. These four questions are just a start; other
questions or follow-up questions may be necessary as the interview
proceeds. If possible, you should always pilot test your data collection
methods with a similar sample group and setting to see if any revisions
are necessary.
After conducting the interviews, the researcher must still follow a process
for data analysis. First, she reads through and transcribes all the
interview data. Next, she codes the data from the transcripts by labeling
different topics. Then, she categorizes or groups the codes into larger
meaningful chunks with a new label. However, the key difference with
this organizational format is that she pulls out major themes only from
Interview Questions 1 and 2 to answer the first research question. For
example, perhaps there was a clear pattern that leaders believed
collaboration was a key component of their effective leadership style.
Then she pulls out major themes from Interview Questions 3 and 4 to
answer the second research question. After the major themes are
identified, then rich, thick descriptions with supporting evidence and
quotations are reported.
Question 4 asked for the reasons behind the students’ best and
worst behaviors. Most students attributed their best behavior to
factors outside of the classroom such as having a good night
sleep, a good breakfast, good weather, or positive experiences
sleep, a good breakfast, good weather, or positive experiences
with friends prior to class. For example, one male Caucasian
student in the 11th grade said, “I woke up on the right side of the
bed and played with my brother. That made me happy.” Other
participants reported that on days when their behaviors were at
their best, they were connected to factors inside the classroom
such as classroom rewards, having lessons explained to them
well, or positive student interactions. For example, one male
African American student in the ninth grade said, “[The day my
behavior was at its best] was the day I hit level 5.”
Validity of Findings
Regardless of the format that is chosen to report findings, an important
component of reporting qualitative data is to ensure their validity. Validity
in this context is about the quality of the findings, which is different than
the validity with regard to quantitative measures that was mentioned in
Chapter 7. For qualitative studies, validity refers to the accuracy and
credibility of the findings (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). In other words, are
the findings plausible and trustworthy? You increase the validity of a
qualitative study by applying strategies to reduce factors that threaten the
credibility of your conclusions. For example, personal bias (subjectivity) is
a validity threat because your own experiences, assumptions, goals, and
beliefs will influence how you analyze, interpret, and present the data.
There are many strategies available to increase validity, and you should
apply those that are specific to the validity threats in your study. Some
recommended strategies include being upfront and honest about your
own personal biases, having extensive time and opportunities for data
collection, checking back with participants for accuracy (i.e., member
checking), and providing rich and thick descriptions (Creswell, 2013). A
commonly used method to increase validity is triangulation. Triangulation
is “the combination of methodologies in the study of the same
phenomenon” (Denzin, 1978, p. 291, as cited by Onwuegbuzie, 2002).
Data triangulation is one form of triangulation where multiple methods of
data collection are used to study one phenomenon. The different
methods act as a “check” on the others to support a single conclusion or
provide new information from different angles (Maxwell, 2013). For
example, a researcher could use multiple data collection methods such
as observations, interviews, and written documents. The point is not to
combine the data but rather to find the intersections, conflicts, or
connections among them. In doing so, the researcher is able to confirm,
dispute, or corroborate findings between data sources and have a holistic
picture of the phenomenon.
Summary
Chapter Four is a significant chapter in the thesis because it
reports the major results and findings of the study to the reader.
Chapter Four may also be one of the most satisfying chapters to
write because after all the months of data collection and data
analysis, you finally get to share all that was discovered. Whether
you are reporting quantitative, qualitative, or both types of data, it
is critical to be as detailed and comprehensive in your
descriptions as possible. This will enhance the validity, quality,
generalizability, or transferability of the results. In this chapter, you
are also laying the foundation for the final discussion and
conclusions, which are the focus of Chapter Five, Discussion, of
your thesis. This will be the topic of the next chapter of the book.
Here is a summary of the most critical points from Chapter 8:
Before reporting the results, make sure that all your data
have been organized and analyzed.
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
When you report your data in Chapter Four, it is important to
understand the differences in how to organize the results
(depending on the type of data collected) so that it is meaningful
to the reader. This is also important for replicability purposes in
case someone is interested in confirming or corroborating the
results. The following reflection/discussion questions will help
guide you through the reporting process.
Try It Exercises
The following exercises are designed to help you write Chapter
Four. In Activity One, you will calculate the descriptive statistics
for a given data set. In Activity Two, you will identify the inferential
statistics that will be used to report the data. In Activity Three, you
will report the findings from one measurement instrument that you
used to collect data.
3. Activity Three: For this activity, focus on the data from one
measurement instrument that was used during the study.
Key Terms
mode 172
range 174
Suggested Readings
Ali, Z., & Bhaskar, S. B. (2016). Basic statistical tools in research
and data analysis. Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, 60(9), 662–669.
Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5049.190623
Bazeley, P. (2011). Integrative analysis strategies for mixed data
sources. American Behavioral Scientist, 56, 814–828. Retrieved
from https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764211426330
Bazeley, P. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: Practical strategies.
London, UK: Sage.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and
conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Web Links
Atlas.ti
https://atlasti.com/qualitative-data-analysis-software/
https://atlasti.com/quantitative-software/
MAXQDA
https://www.maxqda.com/
MSU Library
https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/c.php?g=96626&p=626739
NVivo
https://www.qsrinternational.com/nvivo/home
OxfordLipGuides
OxfordLipGuides
https://ox.libguides.com/c.php?g=422947&p=2888387
QDA Miner
https://provalisresearch.com/products/qualitative-data-analysis-
software/freeware/
References
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/curryst01.html
http://www.ilstu.edu/~jhkahn/apastats.html
http://my.ilstu.edu/~mshesso/apa_stats.htm
SPSS
https://www.ibm.com/analytics/spss-statistics-software
https://www.spss-tutorials.com/spss-data-analysis/
Top 16 Qualitative Data Analysis Software
https://www.predictiveanalyticstoday.com/top-qualitative-data-
analysis-software/
Top 52 Free Statistical Software
https://www.predictiveanalyticstoday.com/top-free-statistical-
software/
Using SPSS to Understand Research and Data Analysis
http://wwwstage.valpo.edu/other/dabook/home.htm
The first three rungs of the chapter three ladder are labeled:
The first three rungs of the chapter four ladder are labeled:
An arrow from each of the instrument rungs on the left under chapter
three, points to the respective RQ rung on the right, under chapter four.
Back to Figure
The x axis below has values from 0 to 100, in intervals of 10.
The highest point on both curves is seen over the value 50 on the x axis.
9 HOW TO WRITE CHAPTER FIVE,
DISCUSSION
Introduction 199
Discussion 200
Limitations 204
Conclusion 207
Summary 211
Resources 212
Reflection/Discussion Questions 213
Try It Exercises 213
Suggested Readings 214
Web Links 214
Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a
truth.”
—Kahlil Gibran
—Kahlil Gibran
If you have completed Chapter Four and are ready to write Chapter Five,
this means that you have finished reporting all your results and findings—
fantastic! Conducting research and writing the master’s thesis have been
like running a marathon. You now realize how much work is involved in
conducting research and how tedious (and rewarding) it can be at times.
In addition, you have learned about the ethics involved throughout the
research process. Chapter Five is the last chapter of the thesis. Like the
last 6.2 miles of a marathon, it may be the most difficult chapter to write.
Chapter Five requires you to think differently about your study than in
previous chapters. You are called on to use all your research skills, and
in addition, you need to use the skills of reflection and interpretation.
Sometimes readers will read Chapter One and then skip to Chapter Five
for a quick check on the conclusions. Thus, you will need to demonstrate
what you have learned as a researcher as well as what you learned in
your research.
This chapter will focus on how to write the Discussion chapter of the
thesis. Chapter Five is a vital component of the master’s thesis. This is
where you will make the final interpretation of the results that were
reported in the previous chapter. However, this is more complex than
writing a summary. This chapter needs to be written so that the results
are interpreted in a meaningful way, and the implications are made clear
to the reader. As you prepare to write Chapter Five, ask yourself, “So
what? What do these findings really mean, and how do they help me
understand the research problem?” Remember that in conducting your
research, the end goal was not to collect data and report the results.
Rather, the goal was to identify a research problem (reflecting personal
and professional interests) and explore solutions and in the process to
increase understanding of a particular phenomenon. Keep in mind that
your readers share your interest in the research questions.
As you write this chapter, keep in mind who will be your intended
audience. Who will be reading the completed thesis? Will it be your thesis
committee and family members? Will you be presenting the thesis to a
larger group of faculty and students? Will you be presenting the thesis at
a local or national conference and perhaps preparing it for publication in
a peer-review journal? Depending on your intended audience, you may
need to tweak or add some parts to the chapter so that it is meaningful
and comprehensible. For example, if you will be presenting to a group or
at a conference, find out what the presentation guidelines are so that you
can organize your chapter in the same way. If you are planning to publish
the thesis, find out the journal’s criteria now so you can align your chapter
with their guidelines. It is easier to do this now as you write the chapter
rather than go back and revise it later.
with their guidelines. It is easier to do this now as you write the chapter
rather than go back and revise it later.
Introduction
Like every chapter of the thesis, this one begins with an introduction (this
section usually does not have a level heading). In the Introduction,
remember to use purposeful redundancy to connect this chapter
seamlessly to the previous ones. The Introduction should include a broad
statement of the general problem. This is similar to a recap of the issues
raised in Chapter One of the thesis. Then include a reminder of the
purpose and design of the study. The Introduction should be concise and
can be short.
Description
Discussion
The second section in Chapter Five is the Discussion (this section usually
does not have a level heading). One way to organize this section is to
use the three parallel ladders strategy. Write the discussion of the results
or findings in the same order they were reported in Chapter Four. For
example, if you reported quantitative data for various measurement
instruments in Chapter Four, then the discussion for each measurement
instrument would be written as a subsection in Chapter Five (see Figure
9.2 for the parallel ladders strategy for Chapters Four and Five).
Similarly, if you reported qualitative data by major themes or patterns,
then the discussion for each major theme or pattern would be a
subsection in Chapter Five. Finally, if you reported qualitative or mixed
methods data by research questions, then the discussion for each
research question would be a subsection in Chapter Five.
Description
Limitations
The third section is Limitations (this section typically has a level heading).
In this section, you will discuss the limitations and weaknesses of the
study. In Chapter One, there was a section on limitations; however, those
were the limitations based on the design of the study. Now that you have
completed the study, you are aware of additional limitations that occurred
during the study. Remember that all research studies have limitations or
weaknesses; as you become a more experienced researcher, you will
find ways to reduce the limitations, but you can never get rid of them
altogether. Thus, having limitations or weaknesses does not mean that
you did a bad job on your study. This just means that in research you are
rarely able to control all the variables or situations. What you are unable
to control becomes the focus of your limitations. The best way to handle
limitations and weaknesses in a study is to be honest and upfront about
them. Concealing, falsely reporting, or not reporting the limitations would
be considered unethical.
There are several benefits to discussing the limitations of the study. First,
you can learn from them. One way to prepare for this section is to ask, “If
I had to do the study again, what would I do differently?” This could be a
variety of things including changing the sampling plan, adapting the
measurement instruments, using different materials, changing the
timeline, taking more detailed notes, having more or fewer research sites,
asking different questions, and so on. By reflecting on the things that you
would do differently, this helps you grow as a researcher and ensures
you will not make the same mistakes on your next study! This also helps
you become a “critical consumer” of the research literature as you begin
to identify similar limitations/weaknesses in other studies.
Conclusion
The last section of the chapter is the Conclusion (this section typically
has a level heading). In this section, you will identify at least three critical
conclusions based on the results of the study. One way to think about
this is to ask, “What are the three main lessons learned from the study?”
Your conclusions are like a synthesis of the major findings. For example,
perhaps one of the major conclusions from a study on cyberbullying was
that the middle school students’ level of psychological health was
positively related to time spent with adult mentors and caretakers. The
conclusions may also include unintended but significant discoveries that
were made as a result of the study. However, base the conclusions on
the findings of the study, and avoid overstating or overgeneralizing the
findings (i.e., do not claim that you discovered the fountain of youth). If
appropriate, you may also reference previous research that either
substantiates or contradicts your conclusions.
After you have identified each major conclusion, discuss the implications
of the conclusion. The implications are recommendations for how to
bridge the “research to practice” and can be in the form of actions,
policies, or procedures. For example, one implication from the study
above would be for adult mentors and caretakers to set aside a period of
“sacred” time during the week to spend with the middle school students.
These implications are critical because the reader has some guidance for
how to actualize and benefit from the conclusions.
If this gap exists because these students are not creating visual
images when reading, graphic novels may provide students with
the visualizations needed to comprehend the text. Though this
may not be universally effective for all students with AS, using
graphic novels in a Language Arts class could be a strategy that
teachers can use to help some students with AS. Teachers may
also want to consider incorporating visual images into other
aspects of teaching outside of Language Arts. Using visual
images to correspond with written directions may help with a
student’s comprehension of the directions. Additionally, visual
images could be used to illustrate historical events or to explain
a scientific process rather than just relying on text.
4. The present study illuminated some salient findings within the area
of effective communication in classrooms serving students with
emotional disturbance (ED) and learning disabilities (LD) (Kendall,
2006). First, the power of verbal and nonverbal communication in a
classroom setting to influence behavior either positively or negatively
by specific means was revealed. The greater implication of this
finding is that classrooms serving students with ED/LD often place
the fault and blame of students’ negative behaviors on the student
rather than considering factors such as tone of voice, levels of
ambiguity, body tension, and other forms of communicative intent of
the educators. On the other hand, the root of all conflicts cannot
rightfully be placed on the communication styles of the educator. A
deeper awareness of the way educators come across within a
cultural framework of the population they serve could only benefit in
preventing the conflicts and misunderstandings between both
educators and students that often invariably lead to negative
behavior blowouts. Teachers and educators may consider getting
additional training in cultural sensitivity to avoid these
misunderstandings with the populations that they serve.
After you have completed the conclusion section, it is typical to have one
last closing paragraph. You are probably thinking, “She’s not seriously
expecting me to write one more sentence! What more could I possibly
say?” The closing paragraph is typically your final thoughts and reflection
say?” The closing paragraph is typically your final thoughts and reflection
on the entire study. As these will be the last sentences in the thesis, they
should leave a lasting and profound impression on the reader.
Summary
Chapter Five is perhaps the most significant chapter in the thesis
because it provides interpretations and conclusions of the major
findings from the study. Chapter Five may also be one of the most
difficult chapters to write because it involves synthesizing the
results to draw out the “lessons learned.” In this chapter, you are
also providing the implications or applications of the findings for
the reader. In the next chapter, I discuss the APA editorial style
and other formatting issues to help you complete the master’s
thesis and get it ready for printing and binding. Here is a summary
of the most critical points from Chapter 9:
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
When you discuss your study’s findings in Chapter Five, it is
important to understand the differences in reporting results versus
making interpretations about the results. The following
reflection/discussion questions will help guide you through the
discussion process.
Try It Exercises
The following exercises are designed to help you write Chapter
Five. In Activity One, you will outline the first four major sections
of Chapter Five and begin to flesh out the components. In Activity
Two, you will write an outline of the conclusions section.
1. Activity One: For this activity, focus on the results or findings
that were reported in Chapter Four.
Key Terms
Web Links
American Psychological Association (Discussing Your Findings)
http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2006/01/findings.aspx
http://managementhelp.org/businessresearch/analysis.htm
Back to Figure
The first three rungs of both ladders are labeled:
The first three rungs of both ladders are labeled:
Major Theme 1, Major Theme 2 and Major Theme 3.
An arrow from each of the major theme rungs on the left under chapter
four, points to the respective major theme rung on the right, under
chapter five.
10 WRAPPING IT ALL UP
APA Style 217
Levels of Heading 218
Citations in Text 221
Direct Quotes 222
Paraphrasing 222
Reference List 224
Tables 226
Tables in Text 229
Figures 232
Figures in Text 233
Graphs 234
Final Formatting 235
Appendixes 235
Appendixes in Text 235
Front Pages 236
Title Page 236
Signature Page 237
Acknowledgments 237
Abstract 237
Table of Contents 239
Lists of Tables and Figures 239
Resources 244
Reflection/Discussion Questions 244
Try It Exercises 245
Key Terms 245
Suggested Readings 245
Web Links 246
There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one
knows what they are.
—W. Somerset Maugham
APA STYLE
Once you have completed all the necessary preparation tasks, you can
start the final editorial process in APA style. I highly recommend that you
have a copy of the most recent APA publication manual (or the electronic
version) handy at all times. The manual has over 200 pages of rules,
guidelines, and examples. However, I do not recommend reading the
manual from cover to cover (unless you are having trouble sleeping).
Instead, it is a great tool that you can refer to for specific style elements.
The sixth edition manual is divided into eight chapters. Chapter 1 focuses
on different types of articles and ethical considerations for publishing.
Chapters 2 and 8 focus on preparing manuscripts and the publication
process for academic journals. I highly recommend reading these
chapters when you are ready to submit your thesis for publication to a
journal in your field. Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the writing style aspects
such as the style, grammar, and mechanics. I do not focus on these two
chapters as much (except for the APA heading style), but I do
recommend that you read them because there are some very good
writing strategies and examples for language usage and grammar (see
Appendix D in this volume for additional writing tips). Chapter 3 also has
suggestions on how to reduce bias in your writing. Chapters 5 and 6 of
the APA manual focus on the editorial style aspects such as formatting
tables and figures, citations, and references. There are numerous
examples of reference examples in Chapter 7.
In this chapter, I focus on specific editorial style sections of the APA
manual. I discuss briefly how to format the following elements since these
are most relevant to the master’s thesis and often confusing to students:
(a) headings, (b) citations, (c) references, (d) tables, and (e) figures.
Since presenting statistics was covered in Chapter 8 of this volume (see
Chapter 4 in the APA manual), I do not review that information here. To
guide you in this process, I first discuss the APA style rules in general.
Then I provide examples. I have also listed numerous resources at the
end of the chapter to assist you with applying APA style.
In addition to covering APA style, I discuss the final format sections of the
master’s thesis that I have used with my graduate students. These are
not necessarily in APA style. These include the appendixes and a section
that I call the front pages. The front pages include the title and signature
pages, acknowledgments, abstract, table of contents, and lists of tables
and figures. Check with your chairperson or program to see if there are
formatting rules and guidelines for the appendixes and front pages.
Levels of Heading
One element of APA style is determining the levels of heading to use in
the thesis. This is like solving a Rubik’s cube—very difficult to solve
initially, but once you are proficient, it becomes routine. The levels of
heading refer to the organizational structure or hierarchy of the sections.
They inform the reader of the importance of the sections and whether
they are main sections or subsections. Sections that are of equal
importance are on the same number level heading, while subsections
would be on a different number level heading. In the sixth edition of the
APA manual, the heading style was immensely simplified, so now it is
much easier to determine how many levels of headings you need and
how to format them.
In APA style, there are five possible levels of heading (see Figure 10.1).
Keep in mind that the number of level headings is different from the
number level heading. Huh? The number of level headings refers to the
quantity of level headings you use. The maximum number of level
headings is five. The number level heading refers to a specific heading
location. There are five different locations, and the headings can be at
Level 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. Note in Figure 10.1 that the number level headings
are in numerical order; the top level heading is Level 1, then Level 2, and
so on. A good way to determine how many levels will be required in your
thesis is to look at your initial outline. How many sections and
subsections are there in each chapter? Are there larger sections that
could be divided into smaller subsections?
In Figure 10.2, there is an example with five levels of heading from
Chapter One of a sample thesis. As you read down the levels, each
descending level acts as a subheading for the previous level (i.e., Level 2
is a subheading for Level 1, Level 3 is a subheading for Level 2, and so
on). Note that even though Levels 3, 4, and 5 headings end with a period,
the heading does not have to be a complete sentence. When you have
multiple levels of heading, you can have as many of the same number
level headings as necessary. These show that the sections are of equal
importance. For example, you can have three Level 4 headings as
subheadings to one Level 3 heading. In Figure 10.3, there is an example
with four levels of heading from Chapter One of a sample thesis that also
has multiple subheadings at the same number level. Note how the Level
3 heading, Students with disabilities, has two subheadings at Level 4,
and the same is true for the Level 3 heading, Bilingual learners. In this
figure, I have also indicated where you would start to write the text.
Obviously, you would not include the labels of each level in your thesis—
those are included here to help you see the different levels and how they
relate to one other.
Description
Description
Citations in Text
The next element in APA style is how to cite sources (referred to as
works) in the text of the thesis. This is extremely important for several
reasons. First, readers may want to read the source document, and they
will need an accurate citation. Second, including citations from the
research literature adds credibility to support your claims. Third, you
should give appropriate credit to the work that you are citing. If you do not
give appropriate credit to the original work, this is considered a form of
plagiarism, which is a very serious offense akin to stealing. Citations of
works are necessary when you use a direct quote or paraphrase
someone else’s words, ideas, or research findings. Be very careful when
paraphrasing, because simply changing the order of the words or
substituting a few words can still be considered plagiarism (see the
website on plagiarism, http://www.plagiarism.org). Academic institutions
have a zero tolerance for any form of plagiarism, and this can result in
not receiving your degree or having it revoked (not to mention any legal
or monetary penalties).
Description
Direct quotes
One of the items that you must cite is a direct quote. However, I would
recommend using direct quotes sparingly and only if paraphrasing the
original work would not capture the essence of the message. Since a
page number is required for direct quotes, it is always preferable to have
a PDF reproduction of the written material if possible. If you are quoting a
lengthy passage (e.g., more than 500 words) from copyrighted material,
you may need to get permission from the copyright holder. If you cite a
direct quote, put the exact words in quotation marks and write the
author’s last name, year of publication, and page number of where the
quote is located in parentheses at the end of the quote. Here is an
example:
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing
Another case in which items must be cited in the text is when you
paraphrase ideas, words, or findings. There are multiple ways to do this,
depending on the number of authors, type of author, number of works,
source of the material, and so on. I give common examples of how to
reference a citation in the text for different numbers of authors or works.
For specific queries or other circumstances, please refer to the APA
manual or website.
The second format is used when the citation is at the end of the
paraphrased sentence or paragraph to support the text. When this is the
case, the author’s last name and year of publication are separated by a
comma and put in parentheses. Here is an example of the second
format:
If there are multiple authors (between two and five) for one work, they are
listed similarly with their last names and year of publication. If the authors
are listed as subjects in the sentence, separate the names with commas
and spell out the word “and” between the second to last and last author.
The year of publication is in parentheses after the listing of the authors. If
The year of publication is in parentheses after the listing of the authors. If
the citation is at the end of the sentence, put the authors’ names in
parentheses, separate them with commas, and use an ampersand (&)
between the second to last and last author. After the last author, put a
comma and the year of publication. Here are examples of multiple
authors in both formats:
Keep the listing of the authors in their original order from the article even
if it is not in alphabetical order. This is critical because authors are
usually listed in a particular order based on their contribution to the
manuscript. If there are three, four, or five authors, you can shorten the
citation to reduce space (after the first full citation) by using “et al.” (which
means “and others”) after the first author’s last name and then the
publication date. If there are six or more authors for one work, you would
automatically use the “et al.” format. For example,
Reference List
All the works that are cited in the text (excluding a few exceptions) will be
included in the reference list at the end of the thesis. Therefore, it is
imperative that they match! In other words, if the work is cited in the text,
it must be in the reference list, and vice versa. In addition, the citation in
the text (e.g., spelling and order of the authors, year of publication) will be
exactly the same as the citation in the reference list. Thus, be very
careful not to miss any references in either location, and you should also
compare them to make sure they are identical. The reference list is
intended to give credit to the source and allow readers to retrieve the
sources that were cited in your thesis. This means providing as much
specific information as possible about the author, year, title, source, and
retrieval location (for online sources). Include the digital object identifier
(DOI) if one is assigned. The DOI is a unique code of letters and
numbers that provide a link to the article’s location on the Internet (think
of it as a tracking device). Typically, the DOI can be found on the first
page of the article and should be copied exactly as it is written. If you
retrieved the periodical online and there is no DOI, you can list the URL
home page for the journal. If the URL is very long and you need to
continue the address on the next line, do not put in a hyphen; separate
before a punctuation mark such as a slash or period. After you have
listed the URL in the reference list, test it to make sure that it works! The
different ways to list references are so numerous that Chapter 7 (30
pages!) in the APA manual is devoted to this cause. Thus, it would be
impractical to discuss every possible configuration you might encounter.
Please refer to the APA manual for specific queries. If you have been
using a reference manager software program, most of the hard work is
done for you!
APA has strict rules about how to order and format the reference list. The
references are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the first
author, name of the group, or title of the work when there is no author
provided. In general, the listing follows typical rules for alphabetical order
(see APA manual for exceptional cases). For example, the
author/group/title starting with A would precede those starting with B, and
so on. The APA manual recommends double spacing in the reference list
for a journal manuscript, but single spacing is allowed within references
(use a double space between references) for the thesis. Check with your
chairperson to see if single or double spacing is preferred for your thesis.
There are a few general formatting rules. First, list each reference using a
hanging indent. A hanging indent is when the first line is flushed all the
way to the left margin and the rest of the lines in the reference are
indented one-half inch. This makes it easier to read down the list to find
specific references and helps separate the references from each other.
Second, in addition to listing the last name, always include the first and
middle initials (if given) of the author’s full name. This helps distinguish
between authors with the same last name. Third, list the publication year
in parentheses or “n.d.” if no date is provided. Finally, use sentence
capitalization to write the title of the work. Sentence capitalization is
when only the first word of the title and proper nouns are capitalized (like
in a regular sentence). Unlike the citations in the text, the titles do not
have quotation marks around them in the reference list.
Tables
Tables are another element of APA style that students often have
difficulty with in the thesis. Since there are 42 pages devoted to how to
format tables in the APA manual (Chapter 5), I can definitely sympathize!
A table is an alternative method to communicate ideas, words, or findings
in the thesis. Number tables are typically used to portray data from a
quantitative study (e.g., results in Chapter Four), and word tables are
sometimes necessary for findings from a qualitative study. Researchers
will also sometimes include a table to describe participants’ demographic
data (e.g., methods in Chapter Three). When considering whether or not
to include a table in the thesis, you should first decide if it is necessary.
Sometimes it is more effective to present information in text format (and
will save you a lot of time and effort). However, there are a few occasions
when it is recommended to use a table. First, the table should increase
efficiency for the reader. Sometimes presenting information in the text,
especially when there are a lot of data, can be dense or rambling, and
the reader can get lost in all the words. A table is a great way to convey
information in a more efficient manner. Second, the table should
supplement the text rather than duplicate it. In other words, the
information in the table should extend or enhance the information that is
in the text. If the table matches exactly what is in the text, then decide
which is more efficient and select only one approach. Third, the table
should allow for easy comparison between groups or participants. For
example, in quantitative studies, sometimes you will have pre- and
posttest scores or scores from different groups. In qualitative studies, you
might have quotes to support a major theme. Presenting this information
in the text might be too cumbersome and confusing for readers to keep
track of which group performed better or who said what, so a table is a
great way to show comparative data between participants and groups.
Description
Description
Tables in text
When discussing a table in the text, number the table in the order that it
appears. For example, the first table that you refer to in the text would be
Table 1, then Table 2, and so on. Then give a brief description of what
the table entails. Here are two examples:
The participants in the study were very diverse (see Table 1 for
participants’ demographic data).
You can also highlight some of the major findings of the table, but
remember that the text and table should not be redundant.
Psych.
Psych.
Autonomy Self-Regulation
Empowerment
African 59 59 29 62 62 75
American
Boys 49 59 40 60 58 77
Girls 69 73 29 75* 65 79
American 40 30 43 43 75 75
Indian
Boys 49 59 40 60 58 77
Girls
Asian 50 66 33 33 75 81
American
Boys 49 59 40 60 __ __
Girls 69 73 24 75* 65 79
Caucasian 46 67 95 71 94 94
Boys 49 59 40 60 58 77
Girls 69 73 29 75 65 79
Latino/Hispanic 92 83 52 81* 88 88
Boys 49 59 40 60 58 77
Note. Psych. = Psychological. Maximum score = 100. A dash indicates that the score was not
available. Adapted from “Transition from School to Work,” by Y. N. Bui, 2006, Journal for
Educators, 84, p. 81. Copyright 2006 by the American Association of Educators.
a
Three students did not complete the entire subscale.
* p <.05
Title
Regarding selecting a title, it should be evident from the title what data
are being presented in the table; this follows the rule of comprehensibility.
However, the title should not be too general or detailed. For example, the
title “Participants’ Responses” is too vague because it does not tell the
reader what the responses were from. The title, “Participants’ Responses
to the Online Qualtrix Survey to Measure Employees’ Satisfaction With
Changes in Their Health Plan, Manager’s Leadership Style, and Growth
Opportunities” is too long and detailed. The title, “Participants’
Responses to Satisfaction Survey” is just right.
Responses to Satisfaction Survey” is just right.
Next let’s discuss the cells, the points of interaction between a row and a
column. The data in the cells make up the body of the table. There are
several rules to follow for the cells. The key rule is consistency. However
you decide to display the data, it should be consistent within the columns.
For example, if you round a score in one item to two decimal points
(which is usually recommended), then all the scores in that column
should be rounded to two decimal points. In addition you cannot change
the unit of measurement within a column. If there is a cell where the data
are not applicable, then leave the cell blank. For example, the cells for
American Indian girls for the “Autonomy Pretest and Posttest Scores” are
left blank because there were only American Indian boys in the study. If
there is a cell where the data were not obtained or reported, then insert a
dash in the cell and write an explanation in the notes. For example, this
table has dashes in the cells for the “Psychological Empowerment
Pretest and Posttest Scores” for Asian American boys because they did
not complete that particular subscale.
Notes
APA allows you to write notes to explain certain items within the table.
There are three kinds of notes, and they are listed in this order at the
bottom of the table: (a) general, (b) specific, and (c) probability. General
notes are those that explain information relating to the entire table such
as abbreviations or symbols. To include a general note, write the
italicized word “Note.” at the bottom of the table followed by the notes.
The notes are written in a slightly smaller font size than the rest of the
table and do not have to be in complete sentences. If the table was
adapted or reprinted from another source, this also needs to be indicated
in the general notes. If you are reprinting a table or adapting parts of a
table from a copyrighted source, you must first obtain permission from
the copyright holder. The original source is then cited in the general note.
After the general notes, you can list specific notes. Specific notes are
those pertaining to an individual column, row, or cell. These are labeled
with a lowercase letter superscript in the cell and explained in the specific
notes (after the general notes). Finally, the probability notes are listed
after the specific notes. The probability notes indicate the results of
statistical tests for hypothesis testing. An asterisk (*) is placed in the cell,
and *p < .05 or **p < .01 is written in the probability note to identify the
alpha level. In Table 1, there are examples of the three different kinds of
notes at the bottom of the table, although it is not required to have all
types of notes in one table.
Figures
In addition to tables, it is sometimes helpful to include figures in the
thesis. A figure can be a chart, graph, map, photograph, or drawing.
Figures are a great way to show nonlinear relations, patterns of results,
concepts, or ideas that are difficult for the reader to “see” from text
descriptions. As mentioned, there are many different kinds of figures, and
each one serves a different purpose. However, before including a figure,
make sure that it is necessary. The decision rules for whether or not to
include a figure are similar to those for a table regarding efficiency over
text format and text enhancement. If you decide to include a figure in the
thesis, be sure to follow the three Cs of comprehensibility, clarity, and
consistency. The figure should be easy to understand (stand on its own),
easy to read, and consistent in appearance. Since there are many
different types of figures you could include, I provide a few general rules.
They are very similar to those for tables. For queries on specific types of
figures, please refer to the APA manual.
Figures in text
When discussing a figure in the text, number the figure in the order that it
appears. For example, the first figure you refer to in the text would be
Figure 1, then Figure 2, and so on. Then give a brief description of what
the figure entails. Here are two examples:
You can also refer to some of the major highlights in the figure, but
remember that the text and figure should not be redundant.
Regarding size and font, all the elements of the figure must be legible.
The smallest font size is 8 point, and the largest is 14 point. The figure
should also fit on the page (landscape or portrait) although APA has
dimension rules for publication purposes. APA also recommends a sans
serif font (without serifs) like Arial. Serifs are the small features added to
strokes (which can clutter up the figure). Another thing to consider is the
shapes that are used in the figure. APA recommends using circles and
triangles (open and solid) because other combinations of shapes, such
as squares and diamonds, can look too similar. If there is a legend to
help explain the lines and points in a graph, this must be included within
the margins of the graph.
the margins of the graph.
For a thesis, the figure caption, or title, is placed below the figure itself.
The caption is labeled Figure 1 (or whatever number figure it is), italicized
with a period, and flushed to the left margin. The description of the figure
follows this label using sentence capitalization. The caption should be
detailed enough (but not overly detailed) so that the reader can
understand the figure without having to refer to the text. The caption does
not have to be a complete sentence, although it ends with a period.
Following the description, you can add any necessary notes such as
explaining symbols, abbreviations, and reprints from other sources. Use
the same notes format APA recommends for tables.
Graphs
One common type of figure used in the master’s thesis is graphs. Graphs
are typically used to show relationships between two variables,
comparisons of data, percentages/proportions, or patterns over time.
There are many different types of graphs including scatter plots, line
graphs, bar graphs, pictorial graphs, and circle (pie) graphs. A legend is
located within the graph and explains any symbols used in the graph. In
many graphs, there is an x axis (horizontal line) and a y axis (vertical
line). The independent variable is represented on the x axis, and the
dependent variable is represented on the y axis. Most computer
spreadsheet programs (e.g., Microsoft Excel) can generate the graphs for
you. In Figure 10.10, there is an example of a graph in APA style.
Description
FINAL FORMATTING
Appendixes
Appendixes are a critical part of the thesis because they allow you to
include detailed information about the study and procedures that would
not be appropriate to include in the five chapters. Some items that I
require students to include in the appendixes are the Institutional Review
Board (IRB) cover letter and blank consent form(s), sample lessons
and/or intervention materials, and measurement instruments. I require
these items because they are critical to understanding the design and
results of the thesis. An advantage of putting these items in the appendix
is that they do not have to be computer-generated by you. For instance, if
you used a commercial assessment tool or instructional materials, you
could photocopy parts of these (with permission from the copyright
holder) as examples.
Appendixes in text
The APA rule for referring to appendixes in the text is similar to tables
and figures. When mentioning an appendix in the text, label the appendix
in the order that it appears; however, use capital letters instead of
numbers. For example, the first appendix you refer to would be Appendix
A, then Appendix B, and so on. Then give a brief description of what the
appendix entails. Here is an example:
The appendixes are typically placed at the very end of the thesis after the
tables and figures. For a manuscript for publication, APA requires that
page numbers extend into the appendixes. I do not require students to
continue the page numbers for the appendixes in the thesis. This allows
for flexibility in photocopying items from other sources. However, since
the individual items do not have page numbers, make sure that each item
has an appropriate heading for easy identification.
To identify and label the appendixes, each one begins with a cover page
on a separate page. The cover page lists the title of the appendix and the
items within the appendix (i.e., you can have more than one item in a
single appendix). On the cover page, use a larger font for the title of the
appendix and then list the items in a smaller font. The title is centered
near the top of the page and the items are below the title, flushed left with
bullet points. In Figure 10.11, there is an example of a cover page. Note
that there are four different measurement instruments included in this
appendix. These items would be inserted after the cover page in the
order that they are listed.
Description
Front Pages
Remember when I promised in Chapter 1 that I would pull you through
the finish line if I had to? Well, look at where you are today! If you are
ready to prepare the front pages of the thesis, this is like the last 385
yards of the marathon. You can almost touch the finish line, and your
loved ones are on the other side taking pictures and chanting your name!
Savor this moment. As soon as you complete the front pages, you are
truly done. I promise. The front pages include the title and signature
pages, acknowledgments, abstract, and table of contents. These are not
in APA style, so check with your chairperson for how he wants you to
proceed with these items. Each institution will have its own formatting
requirements for these front pages.
Title page
The title page is the cover page for the entire thesis. On this page, you
need to identify the title of the thesis, institution, name of the degree, your
name, and date. The title of your thesis should be between 10 and 12
words and encompass the essence of your study. There is a sample title
page in Figure 10.12 (adjust the spacing on your page to make it look
aesthetically pleasing).
Description
Signature page
The next page is the signature page; this is where your chairperson and
committee members will sign the thesis. Remember, the thesis is not
official until it has been approved and signed by your chairperson and
committee members. On this page, leave space and lines for your
chairperson and committee members to sign (add more lines if
necessary). There is a sample signature page in Figure 10.13 (adjust the
spacing on your page to make it look aesthetically pleasing).
Acknowledgments
The next page is the Acknowledgments. This is really the best page in
the entire thesis because you get to acknowledge and thank every
person who supported you along the way. Do not forget to acknowledge
your chairperson and committee members, family, friends, pets, the local
coffee barista, me, and so on. The title of this page is “Acknowledgments”
(in British spelling, it is “Acknowledgements”), and it is centered at the top
of the page. This page is also where you begin the page numbers in
roman numerals (e.g., i, ii, iii, iv). I prefer page numbers at the bottom of
the page in the center. However, APA style is upper right-hand corner for
manuscripts, so check with your chairperson to see if she has a
manuscripts, so check with your chairperson to see if she has a
preference.
Abstract
The next page is the abstract. The abstract is a brief (usually between
150 to 250 words) summary of the thesis. While it is brief, the abstract
should also be comprehensive in describing the purpose, participants,
methods, and major findings/results/conclusions. The title “Abstract” is
centered, but the text is flushed to the left margin. There is an example of
an abstract in Figure 10.14.
Description
Table of contents
The next few pages are the table of contents. The table of contents is
extremely critical because it is a road map to the entire thesis. Therefore,
make sure the page numbers and headings match exactly what is in the
text of the thesis. I typically advise students to create the table of
contents at the end after all the final, final, final edits are completed (in
case things shift around). The title of your thesis is at the top center and
every letter should be capitalized. Then the front pages are listed on
separate lines starting with the Acknowledgments, Abstract, and Table of
Contents.
The next items in the table of contents are List of Tables, List of Figures,
and List of Appendixes. These are recommended if you have more than
one table, figure, or appendix, because it makes it easier for the reader to
find the information embedded in the text or at the end of the thesis. The
List of Tables and List of Figures are lists of the titles and page numbers
of individual tables and figures. The List of Appendixes lists the titles of
the appendixes but there are no page numbers.
The next page is the first page of Chapter One. This page starts the
Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) that extend into the references, tables, and
figures. After each chapter heading, list all the Level 2 and Level 3
headings with their corresponding page numbers. Slightly indent each
subheading within the chapter. Do not list Level 4 headings. After the
chapters, the last item on the table of contents is “References” with the
corresponding page. Figure 10.15 is a sample of a condensed Table of
Contents.
Use Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) for the front pages (e.g.,
Acknowledgments, Abstract).
Use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) on the first page of Chapter One and
continue into the references, tables, and figures.
Keep at least one signed copy for yourself (your chairperson and
institution/program usually also get a copy).
All text, references, and tables should be double-spaced (unless
your chairperson says otherwise).
Check the levels of heading to make sure they are correct.
Spell out all abbreviations at first mention and put in notes in the
tables and figures.
Check that all table columns have headings.
Obtain written permission for all copyrighted material for quotes,
tables, and figures from the copyright holder.
Description
The second step is to find the perfect journal to submit your manuscript.
The perfect journal will be one that is in your field/discipline and is related
to the research topic of your thesis. The journal should also be at the
research level of your study, most likely at a scholarly practitioner level.
You do not want to submit your manuscript to a top tiered journal unless
your research methodology was very rigorous (which is really hard to do
at the master’s level). Once you have selected a journal that you think is
appropriate, review the manuscript guidelines and read several articles
so that you have a sense of the writing style and whether your study will
be a good fit. Finding a good fit is critical—you can have a fantastic study
but if the editor and reviewers do not believe it is good fit for their
audience, they will reject it.
The third step is to read and follow directions carefully. The manuscript
guidelines for author submission will be posted on the journal’s webpage,
and you need to follow them step-by-step. If you do not follow their exact
instructions, there is a good chance that your manuscript will not be
reviewed. Most journals want manuscripts submitted through an
electronic portal (with all identifiable information removed) so that the
review process is confidential.
The fourth step is to edit your thesis very carefully. Submitting sloppy
work with grammatical or spelling errors (or not following APA style) will
only upset the editor and reviewers and will reduce any chances of the
manuscript being accepted. Do not simply cut and paste chunks of your
thesis. You will need to rewrite the manuscript by following the journal’s
guidelines. Remember that you can submit your manuscript to only one
journal at a time. This is partly why it takes so long for research to
become published. You have to wait until the entire review process is
completed before you can submit your study to another journal.
Finally, do not give up. Based on the peer reviews, the editor has the
choice to accept, accept with revisions, or reject the manuscript. I will not
tell you how many times my manuscripts have been rejected and about
how every manuscript that has been accepted was with revisions. The
positive part about being rejected is that you can read the reviewers’
comments (after you give yourself a pity party) and revise your
manuscript to make it stronger. Then you can submit the manuscript to
another journal that might be a better fit. The key to getting published
(like everything else in life) is perseverance. Do not give up if you are
rejected! I know it is difficult to keep it separate, but a manuscript
rejection is not a personal rejection of you! Simply find a journal that
might be a better match and go through the submission process again. It
can take several tries before you are successful. Obviously you know a
thing or two about perseverance because you have just completed a
master’s thesis! Just think, after you present and publish your thesis, you
can take another long vacation. You will need the energy to get ready for
your next big study. . . . Did I hear you say “doctoral dissertation”?
Summary
In this chapter, I discussed the editorial style rules and guidelines
established by APA (2010) for citations, references, tables,
figures, and other issues to help you finalize the master’s thesis. I
hope they helped you complete the final product. Congratulations
again on completing your master’s thesis, a major feat! Here is a
summary of the most critical points from Chapter 10:
Keep the listing of the authors in their original order from the
source even if it is not in alphabetical order.
If the work is cited in the text, it must be in the reference list
and vice versa. In addition, the citation in the text (e.g.,
spelling and order of the authors, year of publication) must be
exactly the same as the citation in the reference list.
For online sources, provide the retrieval location (or DOI) in
addition to information required for printed material.
Follow the three “C” rules for table and figure design:
comprehensibility, clarity, and consistency.
Figures are a great way to show nonlinear relations, patterns
of results, concepts, or ideas that are difficult for the reader to
“see” from text descriptions.
Resources
Reflection/Discussion Questions
When you are doing the final formatting for the thesis, it is
important to understand the APA style editorial rules and
guidelines. The following reflection/discussion questions will help
guide you through the editorial process.
Try It Exercises
The following exercises are designed to help you edit and format
the thesis. In Activity One, you will create a reference list for
various sources. In Activity Two, you will create a table using
demographic data from the participants in your study.
1. Activity One: For this activity, create a condensed reference
list from five of your in-text citations (try to list a variety). Be
sure to identify the type of work and then include all
necessary information in your reference. Have a partner
check them to make sure they are correct!
2. Activity Two: For this activity, create a table based on your
participants (e.g., demographic data, test scores, qualitative
quotes). Have a partner check it to make sure it is
comprehensible, clear, and consistent.
Key Terms
stubs 231
Suggested Readings
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual
of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington,
DC: Author.
Web Links
APA Style
http://www.apastyle.org/
https://www.apa.org/pubs/apastyle/index.aspx
BibMe
http://www.bibme.org/citation-guide/apa/
Citation Machine
http://www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-book
http://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaquickguide
Plagiarism.org
http://www.plagiarism.org/
Purdue Online Writing Lab: APA Style
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction
Back to Figure
Back to Figure
The text in this figure reads:
Students with autism (in bold and italics font) (Level 4). Notice how this is
on the same (equal) level as the previous Level 4 heading.
Bilingual learners (Level 3) (in bold font). Notice how this is on the same
(equal) level as the previous Level 3 heading.
Spanish-speaking bilingual learners (in bold and italics font) (Level 4) (in
bold font). Notice how this is on the same (equal) level as the previous
Level 4 heading.
Other-language bilingual learners (in bold and italics font) (Level 4) (in
bold font). Notice how this is on the same (equal) level as the previous
Level 4 heading.
Notice how this is on the same (equal) level as the previous Level 2
heading.
Back to Figure
The text in this figure reads:
Back to Figure
The text in this figure reads:
Becker, L. B., Vlad, T., Huh, J., & Prine, J. (2001). Annual enrollment
report: Number of students studying journalism and mass communication
at all-time high. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator (text in
italics), 56(3), 28–60. Retrieved from
http://www.grady.uga.edu/annualsurveys/Enrollment_Survey/Enrollment_2000/Enrollm
Back to Figure
The text in this figure is seen below:
Back to Figure
Back to Figure
The text in this figure is seen below:
Davidson, G., Devaney, J., & Spratt, T. (2010). The impact of adversity in
childhood outcomes in adulthood: Research lessons and limitations.
Journal of Social Work (text in italics), 10(4) 369–390. Retrieved from
http://jsw.sagepub.com/content/10/4/369.refs [URL directly to article] (text
in bold).
Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects manual.
(2008). Retrieved from University of San Francisco website:
http://www.usfca.edu/uploadedFiles/Destinations/School_of_Education/documents/IR
[no author, document on university website] (text in bold).
Back to Figure
The x axis on this graph shows four ranges of students’ scores: 1.00 –
1.99, 2.00 – 2.99, 3.00 – 3.99 and 4.00 – 4.99.
The y axis is labeled percentage of students. The values on this axis start
at 0 and end at 60, in intervals of 10.
Each range of scores has three bar labeled group A, group B and group
C respectively.
1.00 – 13 2 21
1.99
2.00 – 55 43 44
2.99
3.00 – 30 43 32
3.99
4.00 – 0 11 3
4.99
Back to Figure
The text in this figure reads:
Back to Figure
Back to Figure
The text on this figure reads:
MASTER OF ARTS
in
SPECIAL EDUCATION
By
Yvonne N. Bui
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Under the guidance and approval of the committee, and approved by all
its members, this thesis has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree.
Approved:
(Blank for chairperson) (blank for date)
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to measure the effects of a
comprehensive writing program for students with and without
learning disabilities (LD) in inclusive general education
learning disabilities (LD) in inclusive general education
classrooms. The program included prewriting, narrative text
structure, writing strategies, and process writing. The study was
conducted in five 5th-grade classrooms with 113 students (14
students with LD). A quasi-experimental comparison-group
design was used; three experimental classes received the
intervention, and two comparison classes received traditional
writing instruction. Measures included writing indicators as well
as state writing competency test scores. The students in the
experimental group made significant gains from pretest to
posttest on most writing measures. Students in the comparison
group made gains on some measures, but the effect sizes were
smaller.
Back to Figure
Acknowledgments i
Abstract ii
Table of Contents iii
List of Tables v
List of Figures vi
List of Appendixes vii
Chapter 1 1
Introduction 1
Statement of the Problem 3
Educational Significance 14
Definition of Terms 14
Limitations 17
Ethical Considerations 17
Chapter 2 19
Literature Review 19
References 66
APPENDIX A SAMPLE INSTITUTIONAL
REVIEW BOARD INITIAL APPLICATION
Project Title: Bridging Cultural Themes in Educational Practices:
Increasing Students’ Math Performance
(5) Procedures
The intervention, Bridging Cultural Themes in Educational Practices
(BCTEP), integrates the African American cultural themes of
communalism, movement, and orality (Boykin, 1983) with standards-
based mathematics instruction for students with disabilities. For example,
students will work in interdependent groups (i.e., communalism) to solve
math problems together.
Movement during math instruction will be integrated through dance,
rhythm, and music. Orality will provide the opportunity for students to
participate in the mathematics instruction through various forms of
spoken language (e.g., call and response). The study goes beyond
addressing superficial cultural differences and the need to be culturally
sensitive toward minority groups. Instead, the premise of the study is
based on the cultural compatibility hypothesis, which states that when
classroom instruction is designed to be compatible with the students’
natal culture, improvements in students’ academic learning can be
expected (Deyhle, 1983; Jordan, 1985; Jordan & Tharp, 1979; Vogt,
Jordan, & Tharp, 1987). Thus, the intent of this intervention is to match
the classroom environment and teaching practices with the students’
natal or home culture to minimize conflicts and maximize achievement for
students with disabilities from culturally diverse backgrounds.
___________________ _______________________
Signature of Applicant Date
APPENDIX B SAMPLE COVER LETTER
Dear Sir or Madam:
[contact information] Thank you for your consent and assistance with this
study. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by phone
at (insert phone number) or by e-mail at (insert e-mail address) or by
regular mail at (insert mailing address).
Sincerely,
Procedures
If I allow my child to be a participant in this study, the following may
happen:
1. The classroom teacher will teach my child math strategies daily (50
minutes) for 8 weeks using standards-based math materials that
integrate African American cultural themes.
2. (Insert name) will have access to my child’s relevant
documents/educational records (which will remain confidential).
3. My child will complete a math test before and after the study is
completed.
4. My child will complete a satisfaction survey about math before and
after the study is completed.
5. My child will complete a mini math test after each lesson is
completed.
Risks or Discomforts
Benefits
There will be no direct benefit to me for letting my child participate in this
study. However, it is likely that my child will improve his/her math
performance and increase his/her satisfaction with school and math.
Other benefits include minimizing the probability of cultural
misunderstandings and therefore maximizing achievement for students
from culturally diverse backgrounds who have special needs.
Costs/Financial Considerations
Payment/Reimbursement
There will be no payment for my child’s participation in this study.
However, my child will receive school supply materials at no cost to the
school or me.
Questions
I have talked to (insert your name and chairperson) about this study and
I have talked to (insert your name and chairperson) about this study and
have had my questions answered. If I have further questions about the
study, I may call him/her at (insert phone number) or e-mail him/her at
(insert e-mail address).
If I have any questions or comments about my child’s participation in this
study, I should first talk with the researchers. If, for some reason, I do not
wish to do this, I may contact the Institutional Review Board for the
Protection of Human Subjects (IRBPHS), which is concerned with
protection of volunteers in research projects. I may reach the IRBPHS
office by calling (insert phone number), by e-mailing (insert e-mail
address), or by writing to the IRBPHS at (insert school address).
Consent
I have been given a copy of the “Research Subject’s Bill of Rights” and I
have been given a copy of this consent form to keep.
______________________ ______________________
Active vs. passive voice: Use the active voice so that your sentences
are more concise:
B:
Back it up: When you make a definitive statement such as, “Students
with disabilities perform lower on standardized tests,” you need to
back this up with a citation.
Buffers: Do not write paragraphs where every sentence ends with a
citation. This makes the writing extremely choppy. You need to
include buffer statements in between the citations where you are
connecting the information or expanding/commenting on it in some
way.
C:
Colons: Only use them sparingly and when you’re making a long list.
Then number the items.
D:
Don’t (do not) use contractions in the thesis at all—spell them all out.
E:
Edit, edit, edit. Read your writing aloud to make sure it makes sense.
Then have someone else read it before you turn it in to your
chairperson.
Et al.: This can only be used if you have listed all the authors the first
time or if there are six or more authors (see APA). If you are going to
use it, then it should be “(Bui et al., 2020).”
F:
G:
H:
Headings: Use three level headings if you want to organize using the
three parallel ladders strategy.
I:
J:
Jargon: Terms that are uncommon should be briefly defined in the
text. Longer definitions belong in the definition of terms section in
Chapter One.
K:
L:
Label all the acronyms the first time they appear: “students with
learning disabilities (LD)”—after that, you can use the acronym
alone, “students with LD.”
M:
Match the subject with the appropriate pronoun: “The student’s score
and her attitude.” “The students’ scores and their attitudes.”
Multiple works: When you have multiple works, group them together
in alphabetical order—“Students of color are overrepresented in
special education (Bobbett, 2014; Bui, 2018; Edwards, 2015; Hawk
& Lee, 2020).”
N:
O:
Organizational structure: Be sure to structure your chapters using
the three parallel ladders strategy.
Outline: Before you write, you should create an outline of the topic
sentence for each paragraph. Then you can see if your paper has
funneled correctly in the Introduction and if you have the three
related areas in the Statement of the Problem and the Background
and Need.
P:
Pace yourself: Set a writing goal for yourself every day whether it is
a time goal or a completion goal. Do not wait 2 weeks before the
thesis deadline. This is not something you can “wing” at the last
minute.
Paraphrase; do not plagiarize.
Possessives:
Q:
Quotes: Use quotes sparingly, and if you do, you need to cite the
exact page number from the source.
R:
References: Look to see how APA formats citations in the text and in
the reference list.
Rhetorical questions: Do not ask rhetorical questions in the text.
S:
Save: Press the “save” button every time you finish writing a
sentence or paragraph—this will keep you from having a nervous
breakdown when your computer freezes.
T:
Tense: 95% of the thesis will be in the past tense since most of the
research has already been conducted.
V:
Value judgments: Do not use words that express worth or value. For
example: “There were only eight students in the study.” “The
students finally improved on their tests.” “The mean gains from pre to
posttest were pitiful.”
Versions: Always date and properly label the versions of your writing
—this will keep you from revising an old draft.
W:
X:
Y:
You: “You” does not belong in the thesis—neither do “we,” “our,” “I,”
or “us”—always keep the writing in the third person (check with your
chairperson).
Z:
Zzzzzzzz . . . get sleep. Writing is easier when you are rested. Take
frequent (but short) breaks to rest your eyes—blink a lot when you
are at the computer (do not strain your eyes). Write difficult sections
when you are most alert. If you are hitting a mental writing block, do
a less demanding task such as typing up your references.
APPENDIX E SAMPLE CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
[implications/manifestations of national
problem]
Poor academic performance may lead to student discouragement and
disenchantment with the public education system, which may contribute
to student dropout rates. Nationally, 5% of students enrolled in high
school in 1999 left school before October 2000 as reported by National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) studies. NCES also reported that
in October 2000, approximately 3.8 million people between the ages of
16 and 24 were not enrolled in high school or had not completed a high
school program (NCES, 2005a).
school program (NCES, 2005a).
Given the level of noncompletion of high school programs, poor
postsecondary outcomes at the national and state levels may be
expected. According to NCES, one of the goals of public education is to
provide young people with the academic skills necessary for success in a
postsecondary learning environment. Students who do not complete a
secondary program do not receive this academic training and will most
likely be unsuccessful in a postsecondary school setting or not attempt
enrollment in a college or university at all (NCES, 2005a). The
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development calculated the
first-time entry rate in postsecondary education for students in the United
States to be at 42% in 2003. This was a shamefully low percentage
compared to Australia, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland,
and Sweden, which had first-time entry rates of 60% or more (NCES,
2005b).
Students with LD also had a lower sense of self-efficacy than their peers
without disabilities. Attributing academic success or failure to external
factors was found to be a common practice among students with LD. This
lack of self-efficacy among students with LD contributed to the amount of
difficulty they experienced in academic settings (Dev, 1996).
Metacognition.
[problems in area 2] In addition to wanting to accomplish a task
(motivation) and feeling as if they have the ability to accomplish a task
(self-efficacy), students with LD may also benefit from knowing the best
way for them to go about accomplishing a task (metacognition). Students
with LD have difficulty with metacognition skills, including self-evaluation
and self-regulation (Klassen, 2002). Accurately evaluating their own
academic skills presents challenges to students with LD (Stone & May,
2002). This inaccurate self-evaluation may lead to difficulties for students
with LD in organizing and planning assignments because the student will
have trouble determining the course of action best suited to his abilities.
Students with LD are challenged by analyzing task requirements,
choosing and applying appropriate strategies to complete tasks, and
evaluating and adjusting performance because they have a tendency to
place more of their focus on lower-order processes than on the
evaluative aspects of metacognitive skills (Butler, 1998). Another aspect
of metacognition is making adjustments to learning. There is a
connection between adjustment, learning, and achievement in that
people learn by adjusting and adjust to learn (Martin, Mithaug, & Cox,
2003).
Developing an understanding of a student’s own cognitive processes
may be a particularly difficult aspect of metacognition for a student with
LD due to difficulties she experiences with self-regulation (Price, 2002).
Self-regulation involves the student being able to understand the
requirements of a task or goal and to monitor progress and deadlines.
When a task is attempted but not accomplished, the student must be able
to self-regulate, or make academic, behavioral, or social adjustments to
meet his goal (Martin et al., 2003). Students with LD, including students
diagnosed with attention deficit or hyperactivity disorders, found
behavioral self-regulation especially difficult due to the nature of these
disorders (Shimabukuro et al., 1999). Students with LD typically have
difficulties in making adjustments and transitioning, which may present
another metacognitive challenge to the student (Shimabukuro et al.,
1999). An understanding of one’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses
seems crucial for students with LD to make effective choices and
decisions about their learning.
Self-determination.
[problems in area 3] Combining motivation, self-efficacy, and
metacognition skills with the development of self-determination among
students with LD may improve these students’ outcomes. Students who
embodied the skills of self-determination had a higher rate of success
both academically and in making transitions to adult life (Bremer,
Kachgal, & Schoeller, 2003). The Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA) of 1997 promoted student self-determination in intent and
spirit by mandating that students be involved in the Individual Education
Program (IEP) and transition planning (Grigal et al., 2003). Unfortunately,
rather than supporting and encouraging development of self-
determination, many educational environments rely on short-term
solutions such as overreliance on accommodations or overuse of course
waivers. This results in high dropout rates and low postsecondary
education rates among students with disabilities (Field et al., 2003).
Ideally, it can be argued that all teachers enter their classroom with their
own ideas for how their students should conduct themselves
behaviorally. Furthermore, each educator’s personality, cultural identity,
race, and manner, which play a large role in conveying these
expectations, are diverse. Previous research (Sherwin & Schmidt, 2003)
has indicated a need for educators and service providers to be aware of
the cultures they serve, to prevent miscommunications. A study by
Dennis and Giangreco (1996) investigated similar notions by exploring
aspects of cultural sensitivity in standard family interviewing practices
that guide, develop, and implement students’ individualized education
programs (IEPs). The researchers emphasized their perspectives as
professionals and as members of minority groups in the United States.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to listen carefully to interview
responses, consult current research in the area of cultural sensitivity, and
construct more culturally sensitive family interviewing practices.
The research was driven by three questions: (a) “What does cultural
sensitivity mean in family interviewing,” (b) “How do professionals
approach their work in culturally sensitive ways,” and (c) “How can family
interviews be conducted in more culturally sensitive ways?” These
variables in the form of participant interview responses were transcribed
and entered into Ethnograph (a computerized software program) for data
analysis.
The results of this study revealed that with regard to the definition of
cultural sensitivity in family interviewing, the participants conveyed the
need for professionals to understand each particular student’s family
environment, to more accurately interpret the family’s future life and
learning goals. With regard to professionals approaching their work and
conducting family interviews in more culturally sensitive ways,
participants stated that professionals needed to form positive attitudes,
greater sensitivity, and respect for other schools of thought, even if they
were contrary to the values they currently identify with. This is an
important implication for educators who teach students from diverse
backgrounds. The aforementioned work approaches and open-
mindedness may prove successful for the educator who will meet with
the parents of students from various cultures. Knowledge of the students
and families one serves, as well as genuine sensitivity to their cultural
norms, can function to alleviate misunderstandings and may help clarify
communicative intent in the classroom as well as in IEP meetings.
Although the research discussed many salient and pertinent issues in the
areas of cultural sensitivity, a threat to the internal validity of the study
was a lack of clarity of the variables measured and, subsequently, a lack
of clarity of the results. Threats to the external validity include vague
descriptions of the setting and duration of the investigation of the issue.
Thus, the generalizability of these findings to other groups may be
limited.
Adapted from Iniguez, D. (2007). Providing primary language
support for English language learners with learning disabilities
through affirming intervention models. Unpublished master’s
thesis, University of San Francisco, California.
The participants were 33 teachers from large urban school districts. The
ethnic background of the participants was 45% African American and
55% European American. The teachers volunteered for the study and
were also paid a modest stipend. The criteria for the participants included
having only elementary and middle school teachers and a collaboration
of at least two teachers from the same school. In addition, the school
groups had to have at least one special educator. As a result, 60.6%
were general educators with an average of 9.6 years of experience, and
39.4% were special educators with an average of 11.9 years of
experience. The majority of the participants were elementary educators
at 85%, and 15% were middle school educators.
The participants engaged in professional development activities based on
a multicultural education framework. Project CRISP was created to help
teachers understand the importance of “culturally responsive pedagogy”
(Voltz et al., 2003, p. 64). In addition, the influence of culture on learning
styles and behavior was also integrated into the project. The foundation
of the project was based on Banks’s model of multicultural education
(2001), which has five main components: (a) content integration, (b)
knowledge construction process, (c) prejudice reduction, (d) empowering
school culture, and (e) equity pedagogy.
The professional development was divided into several stages. The initial
part of the project was conducted as a seminar that lasted 3 days. The
seminar was organized to begin with Banks’s (2001) model of
seminar was organized to begin with Banks’s (2001) model of
multicultural education. The other activities included were hands-on
activities, developing plans with same-school participants, discussions,
and demonstrations. One of the final activities included goal setting for
the participants. All the participants had to name at least one goal that
would continue and extend the participants’ learning in the areas
discussed during the seminar. From the goals, teachers wrote their own
ongoing professional development plan. All schools worked in
collaborative teams and worked about 26 hours to accomplish their
defined goals. The participants’ professional development plans included
action research projects, curriculum development projects, and reading
groups.
A variety of measurement tools were administered to assess the effects
of Project CRISP. First, the participants were administered a
questionnaire as a pre- and postassessment based on a five-point Likert-
type scale that included responses from (1) strongly disagree to (5)
strongly agree. The postquestionnaire had two extra questions that were
relevant to the effects of the project on the participants’ teaching
methodology that was administered 15 weeks after participants attended
the seminar. In addition, all participants were interviewed over the phone
as a pre- and postassessment of overall familiarity and understanding of
multicultural education and the process they used to refer students for
special education services. The interviews averaged about 20 minutes
each. The final measurement tool used by Project CRISP was a pre- and
postlesson plan analysis that required participants to deconstruct a given
lesson plan by creating a culturally appropriate one.
There were several methods of data analysis for the different measures.
The data for the questionnaire were analyzed by using a paired t test to
determine whether the differences in pre- to postmean ratings were
statistically significant. The interviews were transcribed and coded to look
for frequent themes cited in the interviews by the participants. To add to
the validity of the project, a trained graduate assistant concurrently coded
the transcripts and the interrater reliability was found to be 78.8%. For the
lesson plan analysis, the ideas were classified in the areas of content,
methodology, materials, and assessments. Again, an interrater reliability
was used and had a rate of 82.9%. The amount of change between the
prelesson plan analysis and the postlesson plan analysis was rated on a
1–4 scale. The total mean ratings were comparatively analyzed with a
paired t test.
Results from the questionnaire indicated that most teachers thought
Project CRISP was effective in helping them become better teachers.
The results of the prequestionnaires showed that most general educators
felt comfortable and able to work with culturally and linguistically diverse
felt comfortable and able to work with culturally and linguistically diverse
families and were also familiar with the culture of their students. Yet a
distinction was found in three areas: (a) meeting the needs of their
culturally and linguistically diverse students, (b) identifying the differences
between a learning disability and learning differences, and (c) how to
teach and implement a curriculum from a multicultural standpoint. The
three areas that were identified as a need were rated significantly higher
(.05 level) on the prequestionnaire results. Most participants revealed
that their teacher training program was inadequate in preparing them to
work with a culturally and linguistically diverse student population. The
postquestionnaire showed that teachers continued to feel comfortable
teaching a diverse student population.
The results of the interviews were grouped in the following categories by
the authors of the study: referral practices, prereferral interventions,
behavior management, and teacher perceptions on the effects of Project
CRISP. The questions about referral practices during the preinterview
showed that 65% of general educators had referred students for special
education services because of academic difficulties in math or reading.
The postinterview showed similar rates, at 60%, of teachers referring
students for special education services. Yet, at the postinterview, about
25% of the participants noted the need to address a variety of factors,
such as home environment and communication with other educators in
the referral process. The preinterview about prereferral interventions
highlighted three areas that were commonly used as a response:
accommodations (35%), parent collaboration (35%), and professional
collaboration (25%). The postinterview noted a new category adapting
the methodology for the needs of diverse students. About 54% of special
educators among the participants were found to be involved with
prereferral interventions. The pre- and postinterview results about
behavior management found minimal differences; 53% of general
educators and 45% of special educators believed students’ cultural
backgrounds can affect their behavior. The teacher perception results of
Project CRISP were noted as making a difference in teaching
methodology by 45% of general educators and 69% of special educators.
The lesson plan analysis noted the most changes in the area of content
and methodology. The variation of the mean for general educators was
2.00 during the prelesson analysis and 2.44 on the postanalysis of the
lesson. The variation of the mean for special educators was 1.83 during
the prelesson analysis and 2.25 during the postanalysis of the lesson.
There were no statistically significant changes between the pre- and
postratings.
The authors of the study indicated that teachers believed they lacked the
methodology and cultural understanding to adequately teach culturally
methodology and cultural understanding to adequately teach culturally
diverse students before the intervention. A difference was also found in
the level of confidence by special educators to work with culturally
diverse students in comparison with general educators. The study also
highlighted how Project CRISP was able to influence teacher reflections
of classroom practices with culturally diverse students. Participants in the
study also added depth to their prior knowledge.
The implications of these results indicate a need for educators to receive
more training to teach a culturally diverse student population to reduce
the number of referrals for special education services. This can be
obtained by providing a positive school environment and workshops for
educators on how to teach to different students’ cultural learning styles.
This current study addresses this need by providing reading instruction in
the students’ primary language. The authors also suggested that special
educators should participate in professional development programs
focused on working with culturally diverse students.
The study had several limitations as noted by the researcher. First, the
length of the professional development was a weakness because the
seminar only lasted 3 days, in comparison with courses at the university
level, which last for several months. More time could have been valuable
for the participants. Another possible major limitation of the study was
that participants volunteered for the study, and there was a small sample
size. The project’s sample group might have been composed of
participants who wanted to learn about multicultural education theories.
Other teachers may not have been present at the study because of their
personal biases. Future studies need to be conducted with larger sample
sizes with a diverse group of educators.
GLOSSARY
abstracting:
Abstracting is a method of organizing information about an article
that includes a brief summary and selected critical information about
the study.
accessibility:
Accessibility refers to the ability to gain access or entry to the
research site and participants.
advance organizer:
An advance organizer is an outline for the literature review and
informs the reader of what will be addressed in the chapter.
advanced search:
Advanced search (also referred to as guided search) allows the user
to set specific filters to narrow the search results.
AND:
The AND Boolean operator combines two or more terms so that
each record contains all of the terms.
Belmont Report:
The Belmont Report is a summary of the basic ethical principles and
guidelines for conducting research with human subjects.
beneficence:
Beneficence is the second principle in the Belmont Report and refers
to two general rules: “(1) do not harm; and (2) maximize possible
benefits, and minimize possible harms.”
benefits, and minimize possible harms.”
Boolean operators:
Boolean search operators are used in electronic databases and
other search engines to define the relationships between words or
groups of words.
chairperson:
The chairperson is the faculty member who is assigned to or
selected by the graduate student to advise him or her throughout the
master’s thesis process.
chunking method:
The chunking method refers to breaking up large tasks into smaller,
more manageable chunks such as writing one section of a chapter
rather than the entire chapter.
column head:
In an APA table, the column head identifies the items listed under
one column.
column spanner:
In an APA table, a column spanner is a broad heading that covers
two or more columns.
Common Rule:
The Common Rule is a federal policy for the protection of human
subjects followed by most of the federal departments and agencies
that sponsor research with human subjects.
convenience sample:
In a convenience sample, the researcher selects the individuals who
are available and accessible at the time.
cost-benefit analysis:
In a cost-benefit analysis, researchers must weigh the potential
benefits against the anticipated risks and decide whether the
benefits are so great that they justify putting subjects at a certain
level of risk or whether the risks are so high that the benefits are not
worth the potential harm to subjects.
data coding:
Data coding is a data analysis process used in qualitative research
to categorize and label the major themes.
data triangulation:
Data triangulation is one type of triangulation procedure where
multiple methods of data collection are used to study one
phenomenon.
deception:
Deception occurs when the researcher omits information about the
study or gives false information.
deductive reasoning:
A logic/reasoning approach that moves from the general to the
specific.
dependent variable:
The dependent variable is the variable that is observed to see if
there is a change (e.g., effect) in response to the independent
variable. The researcher cannot manipulate the dependent variable.
descriptive statistics:
Descriptive statistics are the basic level of statistical analysis for a
data set from a sample group. Typically, reported statistics include
the mean, median, mode, variance, and standard deviation.
descriptors:
Descriptors are used in electronic databases to give every record a
subject indexing term (i.e., controlled vocabulary or subject terms).
dictionary definition:
A dictionary definition is a definition that is offered in a dictionary to
define ambiguous terms related to the study or research question.
digital object identifier (DOI):
The DOI is a unique code of letters and numbers that provides a link
to a journal article’s location on the Internet.
dissertation:
A dissertation is typically the culminating requirement for a doctoral
degree.
editorial style:
The editorial style is a set of rules or guidelines that writers must
adhere to for publishing manuscripts, books, and so on.
electronic database:
An electronic database is an electronic collection of information (e.g.,
books, journal articles, reference materials) where an individual can
An electronic database is an electronic collection of information (e.g.,
books, journal articles, reference materials) where an individual can
research and retrieve resources. Electronic databases can be
interdisciplinary or organized around a particular subject area or
field.
empirically based:
Empirically based research findings are those that are based on data
that are produced by experiment or observation rather than opinion
or theory.
example definition:
An example definition is a definition that uses examples to define
ambiguous terms related to the study or research question.
expanders feature:
The expanders feature is the opposite of the limiters feature and
broadens an electronic search by allowing the user to combine or
add key terms.
external validity:
External validity (outside the study) refers to whether the results of
the study are applicable or can be generalized to other settings and
groups.
feasibility:
Feasibility refers to how realistic it will be to access data or
participants and the time needed to complete the study.
Final Rule:
The Final Rule is the revised Common Rule that was issued in by
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and 15 other
federal departments and agencies. The Final Rule was published in
the Federal Register (FR) on January 19, 2017 and went into effect
on January 21, 2019.
full-text (see also PDF):
Full-text is when the entire resource is available either in a printable
webpage format or a PDF format.
hanging indent:
A hanging indent is used in the reference list. A hanging indent
refers to when the first line of a reference is flushed all the way to the
left margin and the rest of the lines are indented half an inch.
heading capitalization:
Heading capitalization is when all the major words are capitalized
like in the title of a movie.
hypothesis:
In quantitative studies, a hypothesis involves making assumptions or
predictions based on probability distributions or likelihoods of events.
independent variable:
The independent variable is the variable that is deliberately
manipulated (e.g., cause) by the researcher to produce a change in
the dependent variable.
independent-samples t test:
The independent samples t test is used to determine whether the
difference in means on the dependent variable between two
independent groups is a real difference or one that is due to chance.
inductive reasoning:
A logic/reasoning approach that moves from the specific to the
general.
inferential statistics:
Inferential statistics are the higher level of statistical analysis where
inferences are made from a sample to a population. Inferential
statistics may also include hypothesis testing and set probability
inferences are made from a sample to a population. Inferential
statistics may also include hypothesis testing and set probability
levels to test for statistically significant differences between groups
or treatments.
interlibrary loan:
Interlibrary loan is a service provided by libraries whereby a user of
one library can borrow books or acquire photocopies of articles in
journals that are owned by another library (sometimes there is a fee
involved).
internal validity:
Internal validity (within the study) refers to whether the changes in
the dependent variable were due to the independent variable or
some other variable.
interrater reliability:
Interrater reliability refers to the relative consistency of the ratings of
the same stimulus given by two or more independent raters (data
collectors). Traditionally interrater reliability has been measured by
percentage agreement, calculated as the number of agreement
scores divided by the total number of scores.
justice:
Justice is the third principle in the Belmont Report and refers to
fairness and equity in the selection of participants and distribution of
benefits.
Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments:
The Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments increased the regulatory
powers of the Food and Drug Administration so that drug
manufacturers had to prove that their drug was safe and effective
before marketing and selling it to the public. The act also required
that subjects from medical studies give their informed consent.
keywords:
Keywords are typically two to three words or short phrases that are
fundamental to the research topic, problem, or questions and are
used to refine the search process.
levels of heading (see also heading):
The levels of heading refer to the organizational structure or
hierarchy of the sections in the manuscript or thesis. Five is the
maximum number of levels of heading in a manuscript or thesis.
limiters feature:
The limiters feature narrows an electronic search by allowing the
user to set specific limits, so the search results will only contain
research with the chosen specific criteria.
literature synthesis:
A literature synthesis (also referred to as a research synthesis) is a
type of article in which the results of several related studies are
compared and summarized.
mapping:
Mapping is a technique to visually organize research articles around
a core issue, theme, author, and so on. There are different types of
mapping formats (e.g., concept, mind, subject tree, content) and
software programs available.
measure of variability:
A measure of variability is a statistic that indicates how close or
spread apart (i.e., dispersed) the scores are in a distribution.
measurement instruments:
Measurement instruments are data collection tools (e.g., surveys,
observations, tests) that are used to measure changes in dependent
variables or variables of interest.
median:
The median is the middle score in a distribution or the score that
divides the distribution in half (50% above and 50% below).
meta-analysis:
A meta-analysis research study is one in which the results of several
related studies are analyzed and reported with statistical measures
(e.g., effect sizes).
mixed methods research:
A research approach that intentionally uses both rigorous
quantitative and qualitative methods and draws on the strength of
each to answer research questions.
mode:
The mode is the most common or most frequently occurring score in
a distribution.
multidisciplinary database:
A multidisciplinary database is an electronic database that covers
different subjects rather than just one specific field or discipline.
National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of
Biomedical and Behavioral Research:
The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of
Biomedical and Behavioral Research was the first national public
group whose responsibility it was to identify a set of basic ethical
principles and guidelines for conducting biomedical and behavioral
research involving human subjects.
nonnumerical data:
Studies that use qualitative approaches collect nonnumerical data to
answer their research question(s). Nonnumerical data are narrative
data (i.e., words).
non-refereed:
A non-refereed article is one that did not go through an external
review process before being published.
nonresearchable question:
A nonresearchable question is a type of question where the
researcher cannot collect measurable data to answer the question or
the “answers” are based on philosophical, spiritual, or religious
beliefs.
NOT:
The NOT Boolean operator searches terms so that records with
certain terms are excluded from the results.
null hypothesis:
The null hypothesis, H0, represents the “chance” theory, meaning
any observed differences are due to chance, and the treatment has
no significant effect on the dependent variable.
numerical data:
Studies that use quantitative approaches collect numerical data to
answer their research question(s). Numerical data are mathematical
(i.e., numbers) data.
Nuremberg Code:
The Nuremberg Code is a set of standards of ethical medical
behavior that all physicians should adhere to when involving human
behavior that all physicians should adhere to when involving human
subjects in medical experiments.
operational definition:
An operational definition is a definition that describes attributes or
characteristics of the term that need to be present in order to
measure it.
OR:
The OR Boolean operator searches terms so that at least one of the
terms is present in the record.
PDF:
The PDF format is a full-text electronic “picture” of a document and it
resembles how a research article actually looks in the journal.
plagiarize:
Plagiarizing refers to using another person’s ideas or words without
giving them proper credit.
primary sources:
Primary sources are the actual or the original results of studies
reported by the researcher(s) (i.e., firsthand information).
probability notes:
In an APA table, probability notes appear after the specific notes and
indicate whether results were statistically significant (meaning that
the null hypothesis was rejected).
purposeful redundancy:
Purposeful redundancy refers to intentionally reiterating main points
about the research problem and study throughout the thesis.
purposive sample:
In a purposive sample, the researcher selects individuals who are
In a purposive sample, the researcher selects individuals who are
considered representative because they meet certain criteria for the
study.
qualitative research:
A qualitative research method delves into a particular situation to
better understand a phenomenon within its natural context and the
perspectives of the participants involved.
quantitative research:
A quantitative research method includes but is not limited to
research using descriptive, correlation, prediction, and control
(cause-effect) methods.
random assignment:
In random assignment, each participant in the sample has an equal
and independent chance of being selected for the treatment group.
random sample:
In a random sample, every individual in the population has an equal
and independent chance of being selected.
range:
The range is the difference between the largest and smallest scores
in a distribution.
refereed:
A refereed (also referred to as peer-reviewed) article has been
submitted for external review by a panel of reviewers before being
published.
reference materials:
Reference materials are collections of information such as
encyclopedias, handbooks, indexes, and dictionaries.
relevancy ranked:
The “relevancy ranked” option shows the search term first and then
lists subject terms (i.e., descriptors) that are related to the search
term displayed in order of relevance.
reliability:
Reliability refers to the extent to which an instrument consistently
measures what it was intended to measure.
replicability:
Replicability refers to the ability to replicate (i.e., copy) the study to
Replicability refers to the ability to replicate (i.e., copy) the study to
verify and interpret the results or adapt and expand the study.
research question:
A research question is related to the problem in a study and is the
question that the researcher attempts to answer. The research
question guides the type of data that will be collected or how the
data should be collected.
Research Subject Bill of Rights:
The Research Subject Bill of Rights is a list of rights that is
guaranteed for every participant in a study.
resources:
Resources are tangibles such as materials and finances necessary
to conduct a study but also include nontangibles such as personal
health and energy.
respect for persons:
Respect for persons is the first principle in the Belmont Report and
includes “two ethical convictions: first that individuals should be
treated as autonomous agents, and second, that persons with
diminished autonomy are entitled to protection.”
sample group:
The sample group is the group of participants in a study. They are
the group that the researcher collects data from or about.
sampling:
Sampling refers to the process of selecting participants for a study
from a population.
search engine:
A search engine is a computer system where information is stored
and organized for easy retrieval. The most common search engines
search for information on the World Wide Web through the Internet.
secondary sources:
Secondary sources describe or summarize the work of others (i.e.,
secondhand information).
seminal article:
A seminal article is an article that was significant to the topic (e.g.,
classic) or created a change in the field.
sentence capitalization:
Sentence capitalization is when only the first word of the title and
proper nouns are capitalized like in a regular sentence.
skimming:
Skimming is a technique to quickly scan a research article by
reading the abstract, introduction, and conclusion to get the main
idea.
specific notes:
In an APA table, specific notes appear after the general notes and
explain information pertaining to an individual column, row, or item.
standard deviation:
The standard deviation indicates how much the scores vary from the
mean in a distribution.
stub column:
In an APA table, the first column on the left side of the table is called
the stub column.
stub head:
In an APA table, the stub column’s heading is called the stub head.
stubs:
In an APA table, the stubs are the row headings, which are the major
independent variables related to the stub head.
t test:
A t test is a statistical test that is used to determine whether the
observed difference between two mean scores represents a true
difference or is due to chance.
terminal degree:
A terminal degree is the generally accepted highest academic
degree in a field of study.
thesaurus:
The thesaurus contains alphabetized descriptors (i.e., subject terms,
subjects) that are used in the electronic database to give every
record a subject indexing term (i.e., controlled vocabulary).
thick description:
A thick description is an explanation that includes both the behavior
and the context in which the behavior was displayed.
and the context in which the behavior was displayed.
three parallel ladders strategy:
The three parallel ladders strategy is an organizational writing
strategy. The three ladders represent sections of your thesis
chapters that are aligned by topic or order (e.g., Statement of the
Problem, Background and Need, and so on).
time:
Time refers to the researcher’s time that is available to devote to the
study as well as the duration (length) and frequency (how often the
researcher will interact with participants) of the study.
timeline:
A timeline is a schedule that is created by the researcher that
outlines all the necessary steps and phases to complete the study
within the allocated time.
Type I error:
A Type I error is rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true.
validity:
Validity refers to the extent to which the instrument measures what it
was intended to measure. Validity can also refer to the credibility of
findings in a qualitative study.
Fraenkel, J., Wallen, N., & Hyun, H. (2015). How to design and evaluate
research in education (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Machi, L. A., & McEvoy, B. T. (2016). The literature review: Six steps to
success (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Way, N., Stauber, H. Y., Nakkula, M. J., & London, P. (1994). Depression
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and qualitative analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 23(3),
331–357. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01536723
Auden, W. H., 50
Babbie, E., 12
Bayor, R. H., 53
Brown, C. F., 96
Cormier, R., 91
Creswell, J. D., 12, 69, 122, 138, 146, 190
Creswell, J. W., 12, 14, 15, 53, 66, 68, 69, 106, 118, 122, 138, 139,
146, 155, 185, 190
Demaray, M. K., 96
Drew, C. J., 78
Fetters, M. D., 15
Freshwater, D., 15
Goredimer, N., 23
Greene, J. A., 77
Grieger, I., 185
Hardman, M. L., 78
Henderson, L., 176
Hosp, J. L., 78
Johnson, S., 47
Kendall, D., 143, 146, 147, 153, 156, 189, 203, 206
Kim, J. H., 77
Kim, W. O., 77
Kornhanser, M., 148, 149
Lao Tzu, 43
Lincoln, Y. S., 12
London, P., 143, 161
McCoy, B. R., 93
McEvoy, B. T., 26, 121, 122
Mertler, C. A., 66
Milgram, S., 31
Mujis, D., 12
Obama, B., 1
Patchin, J. W., 98
Plagiarism.org, 84
Plano Clark, V. L., 15, 106, 138, 139, 190
Podolsky, S. H., 77
Santayana, G., 88
Secord, S. M., 96
Acknowledgments, 237
about, 16
abstract, 237–238, 238 (figure)
acknowledgments, 237
defined, 275
peer-reviewed, 68
relevant, 118
types, 67–68
conclusions/implications, 128–129
data analysis, 128
intervention/issue, 126
introduction, 124–125
limitations/weaknesses, 129–130
procedures, 127
purpose, 125–126
research synthesis, 124–130, 125 (figure)
results, 128
setting/sample, 126
variables/measurement instruments, 127
Capitalization:
heading, 237 (figure), 238 (figure), 277
Captions, 233–234
about, 9
Background and Need section, 102–104, 103 (figure), 104
(figure), 105 (figure)
Citations in text:
paraphrasing, 222
Clearinghouse websites, 26
Coding, data, 128, 159, 275
Column heads, 231, 275
Convergent design, 15
CrimeSolutions.gov, 26
Critical issues, 25–26
“C” rules:
figures, 232
tables, 228–229
Definitions:
Discovery services, 57
about, 54–57
advanced search, 63
defined, 276
about, 75–76
Final Rule, 80
Expertise, of chairperson, 7
Explanatory sequential design, 15
Exploratory sequential design, 15
about, 232–233
captions and legends, 233–234
in text, 233
Fonts, 233
Front pages:
Government reports, 26
Hypotheses:
Inferential statistics:
defined, 277
IngentaConnect, 67
about, 9
Ladder strategy:
Legends, 233–234
Levels of heading, 218–221, 219 (figure), 220 (figure), 278
LibGuides, 67
Literature searches:
about, 47–48
Literature synthesis:
limitations/weaknesses, 129–130
procedures, 127
purpose, 125–126
results, 128
setting/sample, 126
variables/measurement instruments, 127
Master’s thesis:
about, 3–4
benefits of writing, 4
components overview, 8–12
Measurement instruments:
reliability, 154–155
types, 151–152
validity, 153–154
about, 15–16
advantage and challenge, 139
Notes:
Procedure section:
Professional degrees, 2
PsycINFO, 30
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(APA), 16, 216
Qualitative research:
about, 14–15
approaches, 138
defined, 280
generalizability, 146
Quantitative research:
about, 12–14
approaches, 138
Chapter Three (Methods), 142, 143–144, 146, 156–158, 159–
160
Chapter Four (Results and Findings), 169–183, 175 (figure)
defined, 280
Reasoning:
Reliability:
about, 154–155
defined, 280
Research questions:
about, 35, 38
about, 23–24
accessibility, 33–34
clearinghouse websites, 26
critical issues, 25–26
electronic databases, 30
government reports, 26
Results:
Samples:
SmartText Searching, 60
Surveys, 176–177
Tables:
in-text, 229
notes, 232
title, 231
uses, 226, 228
Text:
Thalidomide, 77
Themes, major, 184–187
figures, 232
tables, 228–229
t tests:
Validity:
about, 153–154
defined, 281
Variables:
WhatWorksClearinghouse, 26
Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement, 151, 153
Writing strategy: