(Answered) PSY-693 – Professional Capstone

PSY-693 – Professional Capstone

Peer Review Worksheet

Please provide quality feedback to your peers that will help them to improve their research writing skills. This worksheet will assist you in providing that feedback. You will provide feedback for each one of your CLC colleagues; in turn, they will review your presentation.

Attach the completed Peer Review Worksheet for your colleague to review.

Name of the proposal’s author:

Name of the peer reviewer:

Reviewer

1. After viewing the proposal, write a one paragraph summary of the research proposal. The summary should present the reason for the research, the participants, the data collection method, and hypothetical results. The summary does not present your opinion of the study.
2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal. You must specifically discuss the strengths and weaknesses for each of the following proposal sections:

     Title:

Does the title give a clear and concise description of the scope and nature (quantitative, qualitative, mixed) of the research?

Is it too long or too short?

Does the title clearly specify the variables or issues under study, the type of research (descriptive, correlational, experimental, survey, or action research), and the target population?

Introduction/Background:

Does the introduction provide enough information about:

(1) why the research is important

(2) how this research will add to the body of knowledge in this area?

Support your answer with the argument and a brief quotation from the proposal.

Research Question/Problem:

Is each research problem/question clearly stated? If not, how could it be more clearly stated?

Is the purpose of the study clearly stated?

Does the purpose statement express what the study intends to accomplish?

Literature Review:

Based on your reading of the literature review, do you think the researcher has a good grasp of current (published within the past 5 years) research regarding the issue? Why or why not?

Are the works presented relevant to the research question?

Hypotheses:

How many hypotheses are being stated?

How clearly each one is stated?

Do they match the research purpose?

Are the hypotheses a prediction of the expected outcome of the study?

Methods:

What is the research method and design?

Is it appropriate for achieving the objectives and types of data to be collected and analyzed?

Participants:

Does the proposal describe who the population is and how to recruit the participants?

Data Collection Instrumentation and Techniques:

Does it include the specific technique, its procedure, and the instruments for collecting data?

Is it consistent with the research method/design?

What type of statistical analysis is suggested?  Is it appropriate with the obtained data?

Also, are procedures to follow for conducting the study described effectively? Are the procedures consistent with the research objectives and method/design?

3. List any potential ethical considerations you foresee. Every researcher developing a proposal for research must demonstrate how the rights of the participants will be upheld. Specifically, state:

How were the participants fully informed about the nature of the research?

How was the autonomy/confidentiality of the participants guaranteed?

How were the participants protected from harm? How was ethical permission granted for the study?

4. Describe the quality of sources provided in the proposal. Specifically comment on:

Are all the citations that appear in the proposal body presented in the References list? Explain the importance of citing all references.

How recent are the sources and are they appropriate for the topic investigated?

Explain the author’s familiarity with the body of knowledge that is investigated?

How was the application of the source comprehensive (depth and breadth)?

5. List any other suggestions/accolade you have for the researcher or the proposal. Using at least one full paragraph, you must address at least one of the following and specifically explain why this is a suggestion for improvement or specifically explain why you feel that this component of the proposal was done well.

The introduction and background to the study

The research questions/hypotheses

The literature review/theory

The data collection method

The data analysis method

The hypothetical data presentation/findings

The discussion of future research based on the results of this study

Sample Answer

Research Proposal

Summary

The project proposal is on establishing the prevalence of somnambulism among children and the effectiveness of pharmacological interventions in reducing the rate of occurrence of the problem. The researcher purposes of determining the age with the highest prevalence of somnambulism and whether the medical prescriptions are effective in controlling the condition or causes adverse effects. The study incorporates both a systematic review of scientific studies on the topic and a cross-sectional study that involved questionnaires and self-reporting in collecting the information. The secondary sources included the partially validated data sets, longitudinal studies, and cross-sectional studies. The participants of the study are children, assisted by their parents or guardians. The research findings showed that the prevalence of somnambulism was highest for children between the ages of 10-13 years; pharmacological treatment was primarily effective in controlling the problem. The study also found that some pharmacological medications (about 29) can trigger somnambulism.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Proposal

1. Title – The title of the study proposal, “Somnambulism,” is short and too general to guide a person in understanding the meaning of the study. The study does not provide the scope of the study, the population to be involved in the study, and the type of research. “Somnambulism” can be related to psychological issues, sleeping problems, and different populations, thus indicating the study’s topic as “somnambulism” does not communicate the scope, population, and type of study. The study also does not provide the variables to be established in the study, thus being ineffective.
2. Introduction/Background – The introduction provides a general overview of somnambulism about the dangers associated with somnambulism. The proposal discusses the dangers of children having somnambulism and the risk factors for developing the condition, including mental disorders and medications. The background information does not stick to a particular direction of study concerning somnambulism. The study does not provide the gaps in the current literature. The study hypothesizes that somnambulism is common in children, can be triggered by medications for adults, and can be developed due to neural connectivity issues. The hypotheses are proven through the studies such as Januszko et al. (2016), which indicate that some medications trigger somnambulism.
3. Research Question/Problem – The research question is not clearly stated in the presented proposal. Since the hypotheses are about somnambulism among the children, the research question could be: What is the age of children with the highest prevalence of somnambulism? Or, what types of medications increase the prevalence of somnambulism among children? Or what is the relationship between sleeping terrors and somnambulism among children? These questions would provide a direction of study. The study proposal does not have a clearly stated study purpose and thus no statement that clearly expresses the study’s intention.
4. Literature Review – The researcher used relevant materials from the literature review, providing relational data about somnambulism. The research articles focus on establishing the prevalence of somnambulism among children, medications contributing to somnambulism, the neurological risks, and the pharmacological interventions towards controlling somnambulism. The researcher has mixed both recent and non-recent, with some extending to 2016 and 2015. For instance, a study by Petit et al. (2015) supports the parental connection with somnambulism, that the parental history and sleep terrors among children were associated with the development of somnambulism in later stages. Stallman et al. (2016) is another source of literature cited by the researcher, providing information about the medications that help control the condition among children and adults. The studies are relevant to the research but are older than five years. This affects the reliability of the information provided by the sources since they are beyond the 5-year mark of age after the year of publication. The sources provided by the researcher are relevant to the study since they focus on somnambulism and the key factors that concern somnambulism.