Environmental issues article critique and Research Paper

Unit IV Article Critique

The Article Critique assignment for this class is to investigate a peer reviewed professional journal for an article of interest to you related to an environmental issue. The object of your critique is to describe how the study followed or failed to follow the criteria for good research. Speculate on which of the writer’s conclusions were warranted and which were not. Please include the following topics in your critique of the selected article:

1. A brief introduction of the article

2. A statement of the research problem

3. A description of research procedures

4. Flaws in the procedural design

5. Analysis of the data

6. Limited and justifiable conclusions

Your critique should be at least two full pages of text in 12 point double-spaced Times Roman font. Please include an APA style reference for the article that you are reviewing.

The article you select for this assignment should be less than five years old and should be at least five pages long. You are encouraged to utilize the Research Database found in the CSU Online Library located in the Course Menu. This database will allow you to quickly search through thousands of journal articles.

To submit your completed assignment upload it using the “Article Critique” link located in Unit IV. Do not e-mail your paper directly to your professor. By uploading into Blackboard, your university record will automatically be updated to indicate you have submitted your paper and it will be provided to your professor for grading.

Unit VIII Research Paper

Please select a topic from one of the issues studied in the course. If several topics of interest overlap, you may combine them. If there is a topic that you would like to write about that we did not cover, please send an email to the professor seeking permission.

Please write a well-organized and thoughtful five page (minimum) Research Paper examining the topic in greater depth than the coverage in Taking Sides.

You may, optionally, submit your selected topic and summary outline to your professor via email before you begin writing your Research Paper. Generally, your outline should include the following major sections which correspond to Level 1 headings per APA publications guidelines:

1. Introduction – Briefly describe the issue and state the purpose of the paper.

2. Background – Review relevant literature on the subject. This is a good section to satisfy the requirement for five or more primary sources. Be sure to use APA formatted in-text citations to identify sources for information. Note that in-text citations are required even if the information has been reworded.

3. Methods – State how you will address the issue. For example, you could perform a review of related research, conduct interviews, and/or perform observations. If you use a tool such as a standardized checklist, you should provide information from the research literature on the tool’s reliability and validity.

4. Results – Present the findings from implementation of your selected methods. The inclusion of tables, figures, and/or pictures in addition to describing the results in the text adds much to the paper’s readability. Tables, figures, and pictures must have titles and citations. If a table, figure, or photograph is copy/pasted from a source, you must indicate that permission has been obtained from the source or that the information is public domain (still cite the source).

5. Conclusions – Present your conclusions and recommendations. In general, your own opinions should only be included in this section.

6. References – All of your references must be in APA format.

Research paper title page and reference page are not included in the required five page (minimum) paper length. CSU requires that students use the APA format in writing course papers. Therefore, the APA rules for formatting, quoting, paraphrasing, citing, and listing of sources are to be followed. Your paper must contain at least five references from primary sources, and may include Internet sources, books, and professional journals or resources related to the profession. Peer reviewed articles (of at least five pages long and less than five years old) are encouraged.

To submit your Research Paper upload it using the “View/Complete” link located in Unit VIII. Do not e-mail your paper directly to your professor. By uploading through SafeAssign, your university record will automatically be updated to indicate you have submitted your paper and it will be provided to your professor for grading