· Locate six articles on a research topic of your interest—two quantitative research articles, two qualitative research articles, and two mixed methods research articles—published in peer-reviewed journals. · Prepare an annotated bibliography that includes the following: · A one-paragraph introduction that provides context for why you selected the research articles you did. · A reference list entry in APA Style for each of the six articles that follows proper formatting. Follow each reference list entry with a three-paragraph annotation that includes: · A summary · An analysis · An application as illustrated in this example · A one-paragraph conclusion that presents a synthesis of the six articles. · Format your annotated bibliography in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced. A separate References list page is not needed for this assignment. Running Head: Literature Review 1 Literature Review 2 4-2 Final Project One: Literature Review Kevin Menard Southern New Hampshire University 4-2 Final Project One: Literature Review I. Describe the community need in your local community or a community of your choice, and explain why you chose this issue. The need or issue that we are going to address in this assignment is the foster care system in the United States. We say that the future of a great nation lies in the hands of our children because they are the individuals who will lead our future generations. The welfare of children in a country is therefore very important. There are so many children in the United States that need to be adopted, and there are about 800,000 children every year that go through the foster care system in the country. The main intention of the foster care system in the United States is to ensure that children are provided with a safe and comfortable environment to grow up. However, over the years this system has failed repeatedly in delivering this objective. This is because there are so many children put in foster care who undergo harsh living conditions due to abuse, neglect, and lack of stability as they are switched from one home to another. Statistics show that more than 60,000 children in foster care go through neglect and abuse every year (Mitchell, 2016). For children welfare to be improved, we need to address this issue, and this is the reason why I picked this issue. II. Assess the primary and secondary sources for their credibility, justifying how the sources are or are not credible. How do you know the sources are credible? How do you know the sources are not credible? The research on this issue will be based both on primary and secondary sources. The primary sources to be used in this research are foster parents, children, and the institutions that place children into foster homes. The secondary sources to be used will include the National Institute of Health research on the topic and Children Bureau research. One can know if a source is credible or not depending on whether or .

1. · Locate six articles on a research topic of your interest—
two quantitative research articles, two qualitative research
articles, and two mixed methods research articles—published in
peer-reviewed journals.
· Prepare an annotated bibliography that includes the following:
· A one-paragraph introduction that provides context for why
you selected the research articles you did.
· A reference list entry in APA Style for each of the six articles
that follows proper formatting. Follow each reference list entry
with a three-paragraph annotation that includes:
· A summary
· An analysis
· An application as illustrated in this example
· A one-paragraph conclusion that presents a synthesis of the
six articles.
· Format your annotated bibliography in Times New Roman, 12-
point font, double-spaced. A separate References list page is not
needed for this assignment.
Running Head: Literature Review
1
Literature Review
2

2. 4-2 Final Project One: Literature Review
Kevin Menard
Southern New Hampshire University
4-2 Final Project One: Literature Review
I. Describe the community need in your local community or a
community of your choice, and explain why you chose this
issue.
The need or issue that we are going to address in this
assignment is the foster care system in the United States. We
say that the future of a great nation lies in the hands of our
children because they are the individuals who will lead our
future generations. The welfare of children in a country is
therefore very important. There are so many children in the
United States that need to be adopted, and there are about
800,000 children every year that go through the foster care
system in the country. The main intention of the foster care
system in the United States is to ensure that children are
provided with a safe and comfortable environment to grow up.
However, over the years this system has failed repeatedly in
delivering this objective. This is because there are so many
children put in foster care who undergo harsh living conditions
due to abuse, neglect, and lack of stability as they are switched
from one home to another. Statistics show that more than
60,000 children in foster care go through neglect and abuse
every year (Mitchell, 2016). For children welfare to be
improved, we need to address this issue, and this is the reason
why I picked this issue.
II. Assess the primary and secondary sources for their
credibility, justifying how the sources are or are not credible.
How do you know the sources are credible? How do you know
the sources are not credible?
The research on this issue will be based both on primary and
secondary sources. The primary sources to be used in this

3. research are foster parents, children, and the institutions that
place children into foster homes. The secondary sources to be
used will include the National Institute of Health research on
the topic and Children Bureau research.
One can know if a source is credible or not depending on
whether or not information received from this source can be
trusted (Grudzina & Kolba, 2008). I believe that my secondary
sources are highly credible because the information will be
gathered from United States government research works which
are highly used and trusted. For the primary sources,
information provided may not be so credible mainly because the
sources to be questioned may hide a lot of information or even
lie for reasons such as fear of being exposed. An example of
this would be that the foster parents are being compelled to lie
for the foster children to uphold their reputation.
III. Assess the primary and secondary sources for their
applicability to your research, justifying how the sources are or
are not applicable. How will the sources support your research
question? How do the sources you’ve found appropriately cover
the range of research needed to address your topic?
Both sources are highly applicable to this research. This is
because they will help provide information that directly relates
to the topic being discussed in the research. The primary
sources will help provide information on the condition of foster
care, challenges, statistics of children in foster care, the rate of
abuse and negligence, and rate of movement from one home to
another along with the various loopholes in the system. The
secondary sources will also help provide statistics to compare,
information on the various challenges facing foster care system,
and the consequences of foster care in the country. This
information will help devise strategies for improving the system
which is the whole point of this research.
IV. Conclusions: Using the primary and secondary sources,
what conclusions can you draw for informing your research

4. proposal?
a) What types of research designs have been used with similar
issues? Differentiate the advantages and disadvantages of the
types of research designs.
The types of research designs used on the issue of the foster
care system include case study design, which entails studying a
specific research problem. This type of design eliminates
inaccurate presumptions because it narrows down its focus on a
field of research. However, it minimizes reliability if the sample
size of cases is too small. The other design is causal design
which applies x and y to study a phenomenon. It enables
researchers to establish a causal relationship between variables
thus increasing accuracy. On the other hand, other variables can
distort the outcomes of causal relationships thus affecting
validity. Cross-sectional design is also another common design
type, which measures variances among a group of people. One
advantage is that it integrates time in accurately measuring
certain characteristics but it is difficult to establish accurate
homogeneity among people or subjects.
b) What types of research methods have been used with similar
issues? Differentiate the advantages and disadvantages of the
types of methods.
The research methods applied are under the scientific method,
which integrates a systematic process to make valid
observations. It consists of two types of scientific research such
as descriptive research, which is an in-depth observation of
phenomena. Since it is based on the scientific method, it
eliminates errors compared to causal observations. However, an
in adequate sample size affects the outcomes. The explanatory
research aims to give an explanation as to how and why certain

5. phenomena exist. It largely contributes to academic research
thus fostering credibility however; it relies on descriptive
research during the initial stages of research.
c) Discuss any ethical dilemmas stemming from others’ research
and how these dilemmas may be relevant to your own research.
There are ethical dilemmas that arise from others’ research
based on the foster care system. There is the likely possibility
of research on human subjects being conducted at the expense
of participants for the benefit of the whole society (Millum
&Emanuel, 2007). One of the issues is informed consent, which
is required from the subjects being studied. Without proper
protocol of obtaining data, this introduces bias into the research
thus making it unreliable. Another issue is data confidentiality,
which poses the risk of exposing personal information of the
subjects or participants. This kind of research propagates
violation of privacy. In foster care it is important to promote
ethics as this impact the emotional and behavioural wellbeing of
the children, aspects that are usually ignored (Ferrara et al.,
2013).
References
Ferrara,P.,Romani,L.,Bottaro,G., Janniello,F.,
Fabrizio,C.,Chiaretti,A.,& Alvaro,F.(2013). The Physical and
Mental Health of Children in Foster Care. Iranian Journal of
Public Health, 42(4), pp.368-373.
Grudzina, D. & Kolba, B. (2008). Writing an A+ research paper:
a roadmap for beginning and experienced writers. Clayton, Del:
Prestwick House.
Millum, J., & Emanuel, E.J. (2007). The ethics of international
research with abandoned children. Science, 318(5858), pp.
1874-1875.

6. Mitchell, M. (2016). The neglected transition: building a
relational home for children entering foster care. Oxford New
York: Oxford University Press.
Padot, R. (2015). Politics of foster care administration in the
United States. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Running head: Milestone Two Draft
1
Milestone Two Draft
2
5-2 Final Project Milestone Two: Draft of Research Questions
and Ethical Considerations
Kevin Menard
Southern New Hampshire University
5-2 Final Project Milestone Two: Draft of Research Questions
and Ethical Considerations
I. Research Question and Ethical Considerations
The overarching question for the study will be “what is
the effectiveness of foster care placement in improving
academic performance?” This question has been created by
guidance from the study’s main objective which is to investigate
the impact of foster care placement on the academic
performance of high school students. The research findings will
help the foster care system reconsider some of the placement
criterion based on the academic performance of the already
placed kids.
According to Millum & Emanuel (2007), research unbiasedness
is an ethical issue which is difficult to comprehend in studies
done by not only novice but also by experienced researchers. In
order to ensure such unethical issues do not rise, confidentiality
of the information gathered will be of utmost importance. In

7. addition, the information collected will only be used for the
purposes of the study. Although ethical dilemmas will be bound
to rise during data collection, solutions will be arrived at with
the participant’s wellbeing and privacy taken into consideration.
An example of such dilemmas may rise where a legal institution
might request for information that a participant with an ongoing
legal investigation has provided for the purpose of the study.
Grudzina & Kolba (2008) name the two types of hypotheses as
null and alternate. The null hypothesis refutes the possible
outcome of a study by implying outcomes are purely from
chance. The alternate hypothesis articulates that study
outcomes are influenced by some non-random cause. The null
hypotheses in the study will be “there is no relationship
between foster care placement and the academic performance of
children in high school.” On the other end, the alternate
hypothesis will be “there is significant relationship between
foster care placement and the academic performance of children
in high school”.
II. Methodology
The study aims at using a quantitative research methodology.
Bernard (2013) defines a quantitative research as one that
involves collection and conversion of data into numerical form
so that statistical calculations can be performed and results used
to draw conclusions. The main reason for adopting this method
is because of its objectivity in the findings of a research as
evidenced by detailed study of the relationship between the
variables. Moreover, testing hypotheses is much easier with
quantitative methods.
The study’s proposed population will be all high school children
under foster care systems in the state, both male and female and
from both private and public institutions. Narrowing down to
the state rather than the whole country will be beneficial in
terms of logistics costs. In addition, study aims to make
generalizations for only the state but not the whole nation. A
sample size of 400 children will be appropriate for the study.

8. The units will be selected randomly across the state to ensure
equal probability of being chose for all. The four hundred is a
good representation of the population that will enable drawing
of conclusions while minimizing costs.
The study will adopt inferential statistics to analyze the
collected data. According to Bernard (2013), inferential
statistics are better to use than descriptive statistics because
they give more than the latter. For instance, inferential
statistics make it possible to test hypotheses. Objective data
will be presented in percentage form while subjective data will
be analyzed using five-point likert scales.
References
Bernard, H. (2013). Social research methods: qualitative and
quantitative approaches. Los Angeles: SAGE Publication
Grudzina, D. & Kolba, B. (2008). Writing an A+ research paper:
a roadmap for beginning and experienced writers. Clayton, Del:
Prestwick House.
Millum, J., & Emanuel, E.J. (2007). The ethics of international
research with abandoned children. Science, 318(5858), pp.
1874-1875.
SCS 224 Final Project Two Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
For this course there are two final projects or comprehensive
assessments. The second project for this course is the creation
of a research proposal. Research is
integral in the field of social sciences no matter which
discipline is being studied. Not only may professionals conduct
research, but they may also analyze and

9. apply research to address specific problems or needs. It is
therefore vital that they possess the basic skills to do so in a
professional, ethical manner.
The summative assessment for this course will encapsulate
many of the practices that researchers encounter in their
educational or professional careers, as
students will not only be conducting research, but also creating
a research proposal. Although a granting institution or employer
generally guides research
proposals, the question and proposed conclusions for this
project will be entirely your choice. At the end of this
assignment, you will have a tangible example of
how to set up, process, and complete a professional-level
research proposal. Writing and communicating research
translates to a broader context outside of this
classroom, as employers and graduate schools alike enjoy
seeing students capable of synthesizing large amounts of data
into applicable, well-argued research
statements.
You will base your research on a community problem or need of
your choice, which calls for your unique experiences and
research interests. You will create a
research proposal in which you use the research from your
literature review to inform the pieces of your research proposal.
The project is divided into one milestone, which will be
submitted to scaffold learning and ensure a final, quality
submission. The milestone will be submitted in
Module Five. The final product will be submitted in Module
Seven.
In this assignment you will demonstrate your mastery of the
following course outcomes:

10. systems of practices and beliefs, and community needs
for their appropriateness in addressing research questions
e ethical considerations for developing a research
proposal
implementation and their ability to satisfy professional
requirements
Prompt
For the second project, you will use your research from the
literature review to create a research proposal. You will create a
research question, discuss ethical
impacts of the research and its dissemination, and propose
methodology for collecting data. Be sure to substantiate your
claims with peer-reviewed sources.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Introduction: Formulate a concise, but impactful introduction
to the research background, so the foundational information will
provide context to the
reader.
II. Research Question and Ethical Considerations: This section

11. will be twofold: It will deconstruct your research question into
its important sections, and
explain the significance of your research.
a) Based on the previous research you located from the
literature review, create a research question or statement, and
explain the creation.
b) Describe the implications of your research. What will your
research do for the community at large or the field in which you
are working?
c) Discuss how you will gain access to, or conduct, your data
collection from people and cultures in an ethical manner.
Provide specific examples of
ethical dilemmas that may arise.
d) Create a hypothesis that describes the expected relationship
between the research variables. Make a clear connection
between the questions
you are asking and your expected results. Think about your
proposed research as a projection of the results, rather than an
open-ended
question.
III. Methodology: In this section, you will describe the “how”
of your research design. You have already discussed the
research’s significance and explained
the tools you will need to explore the question; now, you must
clearly explain the steps you will take to reach a research
conclusion.
a) Describe your proposed methodology and why you decided to
use this methodology. Consider using qualitative data,
quantitative data, or a mix

12. of both if necessary.
b) Describe the scale of your research, justifying your sample
size. Be sure to explain the boundaries of the population in your
justification. If you
are planning to analyze a secondary dataset, explain the
implications of its size on your research question.
c) Explain how you plan to analyze your collected data. Will it
be descriptive or inferential? How will you analyze subjective
data differently from
objective data?
IV. Reflection: Your final thoughts will include projections into
the future, the feasibility of finances, and chronology of your
project.
a) How much time do you think this project will take, and do
you think this is feasible? From the point of time involving
grant money to your
project’s conclusion, how long do you think the process will
take?
b) Discuss how you will consider the ethical implications in
releasing your research findings to the public, providing
specific examples.
c) How much of a budget do you think this project will need and
do you think this is feasible? Consider if the research is
something you can do
entirely on your own from the desk in your home, or whether
you will have to travel to gather data.

13. Milestones
Milestone: Draft of Research Question and Ethical
Considerations (Section II) and Methodology (Section III)
In Module Five, you will submit a draft of Section II and
Section III, including all critical elements as listed in the
prompt. This draft should be as detailed as
possible in order to allow the instructor to provide significant
feedback. The draft should be at least two to three pages in
length. This milestone will be graded
with the Final Project Two Milestone Rubric.
Final Submission: Research Proposal
In Module Seven, you will submit your completed research
proposal. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing
all of the critical elements of the final
product. It should reflect the incorporation of feedback gained
throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the
Project Two Rubric.
Final Project Two Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your research proposal should
adhere to the following formatting requirements: three to four
pages, double-spaced, 12-point T imes
New Roman font, one-inch margins, and APA citations and
style.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in
Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade
Center. For more information,
review these instructions.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs
Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value

14. Introduction:
Background
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
references research from the
literature review to support a
concise, impacting research
background
Formulates a concise, impacting
research background, providing
context to the reader
Formulates a research
background, but does not
sufficiently provide context for
the reader, is lacking significant
detail, or is not concise
Does not formulate a concise,
impacting research background
5
Research Question and
Ethical Considerations:
Research Question
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
references research from
literature review to support the
creation of the research question

15. Creates a research question
based on the previous research,
explaining its creation
Creates a research question
based on previous research, but
does not explain the creation
Does not create a research
question based on previous
research
8
Research Question and
Ethical Considerations:
Implications
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
references research from the
literature review to support
research implications
Describes the implications of the
research, detailing the impact on
the community or field at large
Describes the implications of the
research, but does not detail the
impact on the community or
field at large
Does not describe the implications
of the research

16. 8
Research Question and
Ethical Considerations:
Data Collection
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
discussion is especially-well
detailed
Discusses how to gain
information in an ethical
manner, providing specific
examples of ethical dilemmas
Discusses how to gain
information in an ethical
manner, but does not provide
specific examples of ethical
dilemmas
Does not discuss how to gain
information in an ethical manner
10
http://snhu-
media.snhu.edu/files/production_documentation/formatting/rubr
ic_feedback_instructions_student.pdf
Research Question and

17. Ethical Considerations:
Expected Relationship
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
thoroughly explains the bounds
of the data with regard to the
research question and the
expected conclusions
Creates a hypothesis describing
the expected relationship
between research variables,
making clear connections
between questions asked and
the expected results
Creates a hypothesis describing
the expected relationship
between research variables, but
does not make clear connections
between questions asked and
the expected results
Does not create a hypothesis
describing the expected
relationship between research
variables
8
Methodology:
Proposed Methodology
Meets “Proficient” criteria and

18. demonstrates command of the
methodological knowledge
associated with a research
proposal
Describes the proposed
methodology and justifies the
choice of methodology
Describes the proposed
methodology, but does not
justify the choice of
methodology
Does not describe the proposed
methodology
10
Methodology: Sample
Size
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates a nuanced
understanding of pairing data
with an appropriate sample size
Describes the scale of the
research, justifying the sample
size
Describes the scale of the
research, but does not justify the
sample size

19. Does not describe the scale of the
research
8
Methodology: Analyze
Collected Data
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates a nuanced
understanding of the
relationship between methods
of analysis and types of data
Explains how to analyze the
collected data and takes into
account elements related to the
proposed methodology
Explains how to analyze the
collected data, but does not
make a clear connection to the
proposed methodology
Does not explain how to analyze
the collected data
8
Reflection: Time
Meets “Proficient” criteria and is
especially well-detailed

20. Explains the projected time of
the project and determines its
feasibility
Explains the projected time of
the project, but does not
determine its feasibility
Does not explain the projected
time of the project
10
Reflection: Releasing
Research Findings
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
demonstrates a nuanced
understanding of the ethical
implications behind releasing
research information
Discusses ethical implications in
releasing research findings to the
public, providing concrete
examples
Discusses ethical implications in
releasing research findings to the
public, but does not provide
concrete examples
Does not discuss ethical
implications in releasing research
findings to the public

21. 10
Reflection: Budget
Meets “Proficient” criteria and is
especially well-detailed
Explains the projected budget of
the project and determines its
feasibility
Explains the projected budget of
the project, but does not
determine its feasibility
Does not explain the projected
budget of the project
10
Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and
organization, and is presented in
a professional and easy-to-read
format
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization

22. Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
5
Earned Total 100%