By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 2: Evaluate the characteristics, purposes, benefits, strengths, and weaknesses of research methods.

Explain how theory guides research in a selected field of study.

Competency 5: Examine the appropriate application of scientific research methodology.

Describe the theory or theories that provide the framework of the research.

Analyze how researchers used a theory or theories to provide the framework for the research.

Evaluate the contribution the research made to the theory or theories.

Competency 6: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the identified field of study.

Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the identified field of study.

Write a 6–8-page analysis in which you discuss the theoretical framework of the research presented in one of the articles you wrote about in Assessment 2.

Theories provide structure and guidance for research. In return, research helps advance and build theories. You might say that theories and research have a reciprocal relationship in which each benefits the other. With perhaps a few exceptions, all research needs to be grounded in theory to have scientific merit. Obvious exceptions to this are those exploratory studies whose purpose is to generate new theories, though there is some debate about this (Greenwald, Pratkanis, Leippe, & Baumgardner, 1986). Theories provide a way to organize knowledge and make predictions about phenomena.

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Read the Assessment 3 Context [PDF] document for an example of how theory is an important tool for researchers.

Reference

Greenwald, A. G., Pratkanis, A. R., Leippe, M. R., & Baumgardner, M. H. (1986). Under what conditions does theory obstruct research progress? Psychological Review, 93(2), 216–229.

Preparation

For this assessment, use either the qualitative or quantitative research article you used in Assessment 2. Complete the following to prepare:

Reread the articles, paying close attention to the theory or theories the researchers discuss or mention in the introduction to the article.

Select the article that best lends itself to this assessment.

Note that qualitative research studies sometimes may not provide a theoretical framework. If this is the case for your qualitative article, do not choose it for this assessment.

If neither of the articles you chose in Assessment 2 discusses a theoretical framework for the research, you may select a different article for this assessment that discusses a theoretical framework used for the research. Use the same criteria for choosing the article that are listed in Assessment 2.

Using the Capella University Library, find and read at least five additional articles that discuss the theory or theories in your chosen research article to deepen your understanding of how the theories provide the framework for the research study.

You might find a reference for the theoretical article by noting the citations used in the research article and looking up the source information in the References section of the article. Otherwise, you can begin your search by using the name of the theory as a search term in your database search.

Instructions

In 6–8 pages, write an analysis in which you complete the following:

Begin your work with an introduction that explains the purpose of the analysis and its contents.

Discuss the general importance of theory in research, how theory guides research, and then how research contributes to theory.

Identify and describe the theory used to provide the framework for your chosen research article.

Use the theoretical articles you found about the theory to help support your description, making sure to properly cite all information.

Analyze how the researchers used the theory or theories to provide the framework for the research.

As you answer this, some things to consider are how the theory guided the literature review, the identification of the research problem, the selection of variables, the selection of the research population, and the research questions.

Continuing with the research article, analyze how answering its research questions will contribute to the identified theory or theories.

For example, how might answering the research questions test the theory, extend it to different contexts, generate a new theory, or add to the current tenets of the theory?

Evaluate how well you think the theory or theories provide a framework for the research study.

Include both strengths and limitations when evaluating the contribution the research made to the theory or theories.

End your paper with a summary and conclusion.

Additional Requirements

As much as possible, the assessment should be written in your own words; it may include paraphrased information that is properly cited in the current APA style.

If you need to quote, do so sparingly, and make sure you have cited quoted material according to the current APA style.

Your assessment needs to demonstrate your understanding of the material, not how well you can quote someone else’s work.

Write in a professional tone, without writing errors.

Include a title page and references page, using the current APA style and format.

Write 6–8 pages with 1-inch margins, plus a title page and references page. An abstract is not required.

Include at least 5 current scholarly or professional resources.

Use APA-style headings to organize your paper.

Use Times New Roman font, 12 point.

Double space.