LITERATURE REVIEW PAPER

Strengthen your critical thinking skills as informed consumers of research! This assignment will

help you develop your research question, and set the foundation for your CPHS research

proposal! In this paper, you will conduct a literature review in an area of interest of your choice,

critically analyze the literature and synthesize your findings in a literature review. Your chosen

area of interest MUST BE RELEVANT TO SOCIAL WORK! The References section should begin at the end of your paper, in the same document as your paper.

Requirement Specific Instructions

Format of paper/

Length

Your paper must include 3 sections: (1) A cover page, (2) typed text (must be

between 3 pages [minimum] and 6 pages [maximum] in length), and (3) a

References page.

Your paper must be typed in APA format on a Microsoft Word document

(Note: Do NOT use programs that format your citations!!! These programs do

NOT format correctly!). This means that your paper must: (1) have a cover page

with a running head, the title for the paper, your first/last name(s), the course title, centered

on cover page (2) page numbers in the upper-right hand corner [each page should

have a page number in upper-right hand corner], (Note: Do NOT include an

abstract page), (3) double-spaced, (4) typed in 12-point font, (5) paragraph

construction [Note: Paragraphs must be at least 3 sentences in length to stand

alone as paragraph], (6) complete sentences, (7) good grammar.

Citations You must cite your sources of information in the correct APA format (Note: You

MUST utilize your 7th edition APA manual! On Blackboard, click on the “APA

format” tab to get important information about avoiding plagiarism,

paraphrasing, basic citations in paragraphs and in References section, as well

as important pages to refer to in your 7th edition APA manual).

Note: You can use no more than TWO direct quotes in your paper!!! This

means you must the majority of information from other sources in YOUR OWN

WORDS (paraphrase). Cite your source of information correctly!

You must select a minimum of 6 peer-reviewed journal articles that are

exploratory, quasi-experimental and/or experimental research studies (only one

of your six articles can be qualitative research articles). ALL OF YOUR

ARTICLES MUST HAVE A “METHODS” SECTION. You will find these

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on the TSU Library electronic databases. (Note: If you are not familiar with

what peer-reviewed journals are, watch this tutorial @

https://youtu.be/8xHUDaKmN8E ).

You may also want to include citations from credible websites (.gov, .edu, .org),

which often provide current statistics and information about your chosen area of

interest. That information can best contribute to your discussion in the first two

sections of your paper, the “Introduction” and “Scope of Problem”.

Note: Information from credible websites are in addition to the 6 required

original research studies published in peer-review journals. These credible

websites do NOT take the place of the 6 required original research studies!

You must also cite all of your sources in a References section at the end of your

paper (Note: A References section begins on a separate page at the end of your

paper; see your 7th edition APA manual to format this page and types of sources

correctly).

Citing your sources and constructing your References section in correct 7th

edition APA format will be a significant part of your grade for this paper! YOU

MUST USE YOUR 7th EDITION APA MANUAL TO DO THIS! Any papers

submitted without citation of sources will receive an automatic “0”, as this

is considered plagiarism.

Content of paper A literature review requires a synthesis of the research articles you have

reviewed- you should not discuss each article separately! In the literature

review, you should critically analyze and synthesize the literature of a topical

area of interest. Use the following outline to format your paper. Use the below

headings in your paper, and address each item within each heading, in the order

presented below:

INTRODUCTION

*Introduction of the topic/problem

*Provide a brief explanation about why this issue is relevant to the profession of

social work

*Provide a brief description of what your paper is going to address

SCOPE OF PROBLEM

*Describe the breadth (who/what is affected) and depth

(impact/magnitude/severity) of the problem

*Discuss the population(s) affected most by this problem

*Describe how the population(s) are affected

*Define your variables of interest

*Explain why this problem is important to explore and address

PREVIOUS FINDINGS

*Describe previous studies about your chosen problem (refer to studies

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METHODS sections, and synthesize this information)

– research designs

– sampling methods

– participants utilized in studies

– operationalization of independent and dependent variables

– statistical tests

– theories used (if any)

– hypotheses tested

– major findings

CRITIQUE OF LITERATURE

*Describe the strengths and weaknesses of previous studies methodology (i.e,

generalizability, measurement, cultural sensitivity, research design, threats to

validity, etc…)

CONCLUSION

*In general, describe what previous research has contributed to this topic of

interest

*Based on limitations of previous studies, describe how future studies can

address the weaknesses you identified

*Describe possible suggestions for future research by identifying potential

research questions, or relationships between variables that need further

exploration

*Close the literature review with a discussion of implications: Why is your

suggestion for future research important to the profession of social work?