Veterans Administration Healthcare
Order Description
GUIDELINES FOR THE POLICY RESEARCH ANALYSIS PAPER:
IT SHOULD DEMONSTRATE MY ABILITY TO FORMULATE A CENTRAL THEME FOR ANALYSIS APPLY THEORETICAL UNDERSTANDING USE RESEARCH FINDINGS IDENTIFY BEST PRACTICES AND OFFER POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS. USE THE INSIGHTS A RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE AND AN ANALYTICAL AND CRITICAL APPROACH FOR UNDERSTANDING AND DISCUSSING THE ISSUES BY STATING MY POINT OR ARGUING FOR A PARTICULAR PERSPECTIVE.
LITERATURE REVIEW: WHAT HAVE PEOPLE STUDIED IN THE AREA THAT IS DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY RELATED TO MY TOPIC? WHAT ARE THE PRACTICAL CONCERNS AND PRACTICE WISDOM REGARDING THE ISSUES UNDER STUDY? WHAT ARE THE THEORIES AND IDEAS OF THE BEST MINDS IN THE FIELD? HOW HAVE THE THEORIES AND IDEAS BEEN APPLIED TO POLICY ANALYSIS? WHAT METHODS HAVE BEEN USED TO DISCOVER/VERIFY THE FACTS?
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: WHAT ACTUALLY IS MY RESEARCH PROBLEM? CAN I ARTOCVULATE A (FEW) SPECIFIC RESEARCH QUESTION(S) AND TENTATIVE ANSWER(S)? HOW DO THE QUESTIONS RELATE TO POLICY/PRACTICAL ISSUES AND NEEDS? WHY DO I COME UP WITH THOSE TENTATIVE ANSWERS (ASSUMPTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS) RATHER THAN SOME OTHERS? ANY THEORETICAL GUIDANCE?
METHODS: HOW DO I DEFINE THE TERMS/CONCEPTS IN MY QUESTIONS AND/OR HYPOTHESES? HOW TO MEASURE THEM? WHAT (EXISTING) SOURCES OF INFORMATION OR DATA ARE YOU GOING TO USE TO ADDRESS MY RESEARCH QUESTIONS? WHAT ANALYTICAL APPROACHES/TOOLS WOULD I USE TO STUDY THE FACTS? WHAT ARE THE CONTEXT AND TIME FRAME I HAVE TO OBSERVE?
RESULTS: WHAT ARE THE MAJOR CONCLUSIONS OF MY ANALYSIS? WHAT IMPLICATIONS DO THE RESULTS HAVE TO POLICY PRACTICE AND THEORY BUILDING? WHAT ARE THE LIMITATIONS OF MY STUDY? ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ON THIS AND OTHER RELATED TOPICS?
REFERENCES
JOURNAL WEBSITES (BELOW) & OTHER SOURCES THAT NEED TO BE APPLIED TO PAPER: