Cultural Behavior-Factors HLT 515
Assignment: Cultural Behavior-Factors HLT 515
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Assignment: Cultural Behavior-Factors HLT 515

Assignment: Cultural Behavior-Factors HLT 515

Research Paper

For this assignment, you are to select a target population with a specific health issue and research how social, cultural, and behavior factors of the target population contribute to health outcomes associated with the health issue. The 1,200-1,500 word Research Paper must including the following:

Introduction: Provide a concise synopsis of the purpose of the paper and a general introduction to the target population and the health issue.

Target Population: Provide a description about the target population that you have selected; provide demographic information about the population; and discuss relevant social, cultural, and behavior factors that affect this population.

Health Issue: Provide information discussing the health issue that you have selected; include a history of knowledge and public health understanding regarding the health issue; how it has evolved; biological and epidemiological information related to the disease; and major social, cultural, and behavior factors that affect or relate to the health issue.

Relationship Between Health Issue and Target Population: Analyze how social, cultural, and behavior factors in the target population contribute to the health issue; and identify what factors/characteristics are positive or negative and which behaviors/practices/beliefs serve as risk factors or protective factors.

Current Strategies/Interventions: Discuss existing programming to prevent or reduce the health issue within the target population and challenges to interventions and programming.

Recommendations/Conclusion: Make recommendations to resolve the health issue within the target population based on your review of current literature and what you have learned throughout the course.

Minimum of Five References: Use the GCU Library to locate at least five resources, including at least two peer-reviewed articles.

Refer to the “Academic Writing Guidelines Resource.”

Be prepared to present a rough draft of your Research Paper for peer review at the beginning of Topic 6.

Use the completed “Peer Review Guide” from Topic 6 in making revisions and modifications to the final draft of your Research Paper.

Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

Academic Writing Guidelines Resource

Description Guidelines and Examples

Organization and

Structure Organization is the internal structure of a piece of writing, the thread of central meaning that ties the piece together from beginning to ending.

A piece of solid academic writing:

Begins with an introduction regarding the piece’s primary purpose or theme, which prepares the reader for what is to come (i.e., thesis statement).
Ends with a conclusion that summarizes the key points of the piece, draws conclusions, and generally provides closure for the reader.
The body of a piece of academic writing can be organized around a variety of structures.

Examples of organizing structures:

Main idea/thesis, with supporting details/evidence
Comparison-contrast
Deductive logic
Point-by-point analysis
Development of central theme
Chronology or history (e.g., of an event, process, era)
Solid academic writing uses transitional words and phrases to provide logical connections and sequencing. Examples of transitional words:

Addition: also, again, as well as, besides
Consequence: accordingly, as a result, consequently, for this reason.
Generalizing: as a rule, as usual, generally
Illustration: for example, for instance, for one thing.
Emphasis: above all, chiefly, with attention to, especially, particularly
Similarity: comparatively, coupled with, correspondingly
Exception: aside from, barring, besides, except, excluding
Restatement: in essence, in other words, namely
Comparison: in contrast, by the same token, conversely, instead, likewise
Summarizing: after all, all in all, briefly, in any case, in any event, in conclusion, in short, in summary, finally
Conventions and

Mechanics Description Guidelines and Examples

Solid academic writing is characterized by the proper use of conventions and mechanics, including: spelling, grammar, paragraphing, capitalization, and punctuation.

Examples of conventions and mechanics in academic writing:

Proper use of capitalization, punctuation, and quotation marks.
Subject/verb agreement.
Proper use of pronouns.
Technical abbreviations, acronyms, and units of measurement.
Paragraphs that are indented; consisting of three or more sentences.
Use of title page, headers, and footers.
Avoid the use of: contractions, incomplete and run-on sentences.
Word Choice and Usage In solid academic writing, the use of language is precise, with correct word usage and appropriate word choice.

Guidelines for language use:

In good descriptive writing, strong word choice clarifies and expands ideas.
In persuasive writing, careful word choice moves the reader to a new vision of possibilities.
Effective word choice depends less on an exceptional vocabulary and more on the skill to use everyday words well.
Use a thesaurus for new words with more specific meaning: For example, “pronounce” for “say,” or “embarkation” for “start.” In academic writing, “it” as the subject of a sentence is not acceptable. Make sure the reader knows what the subject of each sentence is.
Research and Resources In solid academic writing, it is at times necessary to support your thesis or argument with outside research. Use of proper resources for accurate and thoughtful support of any argument or position is essential in academic writing. Some strongly recommended sources for student use are:

GCU Library for search engines located at: http://library.gcu.edu

For instructions on how to use the GCU library, access and view our tutorials at:

http://my.gcu.edu/Academics/Library/Pages/Help.aspx

For good research techniques, view the tutorials in the Student Success Center.

Other Resources:

Online Writing Lab at Purdue University:http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Google Scholar:http://scholar.google.com/schhp?hl=en&tab=ws
ProQuest:http://www.proquest.com/en-US/
Lexis/Nexis
Northern Light Search:http://www.nlsearch.com/home.php
INFOMINE Scholarly Internet Research Connections:http://infomine.ucr.edu/
Additional Resources:

1) “Mechanics of Writing”:http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/0131428993/samplechapter/0131428993_ch01.pdf

2) “Key Terms in Academic Writing”:http://www.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc/writerscomplex.nsf/0/388b46277676ac8b852569cf00615929?OpenDocument

3) “Academic Writing Skills”:http://www.yourdictionary.com/dictionary-articles/Academic-Writing-Skills.html

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.