This lesson’s assignment will provide you with an opportunity to practice different synthesizing techniques.  You will continue to develop your dissertation literature review base by thematizing your existing information and adding four additional credible, relevant resources.   In previous assignments, you were asked to discover evidence of the research problem and provide information on what we currently known around your research topic, as well as information on a theoretical or conceptual framework to situate your research study.  It is now time to begin synthesizing this information into a holistic view of emerging themes around your research problem and topic themes.

For this assignment, you will also add a minimum of four credible, relevant sources.  Strive to include at least one article with findings and/or interpretation different from prominent thoughts in the literature.  Use what you learned during Lesson 3 to ensure your articles are credible.

You will practice synthesizing by adding a new section, “Working Themes”, to your document that already includes an introduction to your research topic, problem of interest, theoretical or conceptual framework, and references.

As you synthesize, you will notice that details from the Background section and perhaps from the Statement of the Problem section will be better placed in the Working Themes section.

· Your  Background section will decrease in size as it transitions into an overarching introduction to the research area. Revisit your synthesis matrix and current articles to identify additional details that may be appropriate to include in one or more themes in the new  Working Themes section for this assignment.

· Your  Problem of Interest area will also decrease in size as it transitions into a concise problem statement with evidence.   Revisit your synthesis matrix and current articles to identify additional details that may be appropriate to include in one or more themes in the new  Working Themes section for this assignment.

· One of your theoretical or conceptual frameworks will also be moved to this section.

Instructions

1. Consider your instructor’s feedback and additional work you have received during Lesson 3 and Lesson 4 assignments.  Update areas in need of refinement.  These refined sections will be included in this lesson’s assignment document.

2. Consider information from your new sources and what you have written so far to identify emerging themes. Use what you have gleaned from working through the Academic Success Center organizers.

3. For this assignment, you will create a new section,  Working Themes, to your document.  If you have identified themes not yet explored/searched, add these as potential theme headings for future consideration. Be sure to provide a note for your Instructor that the section is a future consideration.

Your assignment document should include these sections:

Introduction  (note in APA formatting, the first section of a chapter assumes the introduction and does not include a heading.  Assume this as a beginning for Chapter 2: Literature Review.)

Using three to five paragraphs, briefly orient your reader to the research area. Include only main ideas essential for the reader to understand the problem that will prompt the research study. Support assertions and information with citations of experts/researchers in the field.  Move and expand information from previous assignments’  Background section into the appropriate working themes.

Problem Focus

Note new name for this section.  Begin this section with a succinct, concise problem necessitating the need for a research study.  Provide a minimum of three pieces of evidence demonstrating the existence and/or effect of the problem.  This section should not exceed two to three paragraphs.  Move and expand information from previous assignments’  Background and  Problem of Interest sections into the appropriate working themes.

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

Select one of the two theoretical or conceptual frameworks that you explored in Lesson 4.  The other framework may be incorporated into one or more of the working themes, as appropriate.

Working Themes

Use themes and/or subtopics as headings. Use APA style formatting for your headings. Begin to develop these sections using the literature that you have selected.  In addition to the four new resources, revisit your synthesis matrix and current resources for additional information and details that may be instrumental in developing your themes.

Add additional themes and/or subtopics that you feel may be relevant, but you have not yet had an opportunity to explore.  Use appropriate APA style formatting.  Include a sentence noting to yourself and your instructor that these are working themes.

References:   Include a minimum of 4 new scholarly resources relevant to your selected research topic.  Add these to your list of previous resources.

Length:  8-10 pages.  Note:  At this juncture, it is difficult to estimate a specific assignment page range for each student.  Page range is dependent on the number of resources (maybe you have discovered more than the minimum requirement for some lessons) and the type of resources you have discovered (some or your resources will have more usable information than others).  The page range is minimum pages expected given the assignment content and minimum number of references