What was the process by which you narrowed down potential topics to two appropriate ones? And how were these decisions made on the basis of either class discussion, or our required, course textbook (Aveyard 2014), or both?
The process by which I narrowed down potential topics was pretty simple for me. I knew I wanted to do something nutrition related as that is what I hope to have a profession in, in my future, so it was a matter of who I wanted to focus on. My sister is currently a 1st grade teacher and has noticed students who do not have very healthy lunches are different learners than students who have a balanced, healthier diet. This really caught my attention as this has become a bigger study in today's society. I was debating on the topics of nutrition of younger students, more specifically school lunches, or how their development is affected with their physical and mental activities based on their diets. I then began to research articles in the Journal of Public Health and there were many articles related to nutrition of students and how school lunches affects their development and studies. After reading the textbook about picking a topic that is specific enough, it helped me narrow down to the right topic.
What research question did you choose, and how are I can be sure you're making a reasoned, academic judgement on the basis of chapters 1-3 (Aveyard 2014)?
My research question is: “What is the difference in nutritional value of a school lunch in an affluent school district and a lower income school district and how does it affect the students’ learning?” After reading Aveyard text, I narrowed down my question by getting a specific topic of nutrition affecting students learning and more specifically, school lunches nutritional values. I have keywords of school lunches, nutritional value, and high/low income school district.
What article (or articles) are you basing this question on, and what type of article is it (research, theory, policy, practice) (citation[s] in APA, please)?
Wojcicki, Janet, M. (2006, September). Programs and Policies to Improve Child Health. American Journal of Public Health. 96(9).
This is an article from the American Journal of Public Health and it is about ways to improve child health in school lunches and is based on San Francisco. This will be a very helpful article to get more information and research about my topic.
Hathaway, Millicent, L. (1950, September). School Lunches: Their Nutritive Value and Relation to the Health and Diet for Children. American Journal of Public Health. 40.
This is another article that will be very useful because it is about school lunches which is what I am basing my topic on.
How can I be sure that the key vocabulary of the question corresponds not only to literature in the field, but also to chapter 1-3 (Aveyard 2014)?
I had a lot of difficulty in coming up with a specific enough research question and I am still going through some confusion and difficulties. I came up with my keywords of nutrition, school lunches, development, learning capabilities, and I am still trying to come up with more that will help me through this process. I know through this process, I will come up with more as I get more information and research done.
Based on what your question is, what kind of literature are you going to need? Again, please explicitly reference the text (Aveyard 2014). What is your hierarchy of evidence?
In the order of most important to least: (pg. 70, Aveyard)
- Observational studies
- Expert opinion
- Comparisons of nutritional value
- Comparisons of school districts
How exactly did you research question arise out of "practice"?
How do you define your key terms, and how do these definitions link to key journals in the field?
My question arose out of “practice” because the sources and articles I have currently are both peer-reviewed articles which helped me narrow down my research topic I chose.
Nutrition AND development
School lunches AND nutrition
Elementary school
Development
Affluent school district AND low income
Children AND nutrition
Nutritional value AND school lunches
Did anything unexpected happen? From you initial search, does it appear as though your research question will work? Or does the vocabulary and/or type of research sought need to be changed?
I have been unclear and have been working around my topic to make it clear in exactly what about nutritional values I want to research on. I think I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to do and that is compare the nutritional value and the way students do in school in a higher income district and lower income district. I might need to change the vocabulary a little bit and play around with different words.
Any final thoughts?
I drew out a mind map just like Aveyard gave us an example in the book of my topic and ideas that branch out from it to organize all my thoughts.
No comments:
Post a Comment