Running head: RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 3 Development of Research Question and Literature Review Name Name of Institution Research Question and Literature Review The development of a research question is the initial step, which constitutes of the formulation of an answerable question into a certain specific concern. The knowledge of the topic of concern may be developed from reading different literature materials and identifying the information gap in the studies already conducted. Another way of developing a research question is the observation of a problem from the practical point of view in the field. In a research project, it is important to develop a research question in order to guide the methodology of collecting data that shall be analyzed to arrive on congruent and reliable answers to the problem. On the other hand, carrying out a literature review is extensively reading various research results from previous studies and other scientific information about the topic (Agee, 2009). In the case of Eboni Logan, the most appropriate step to do in determining the effectiveness of the abstinence-only education as a method of controlling pregnancies in teenagers will be to carry out thorough literature review. Literature review on abstinence-only education will help identify the various definitions and elements that make the subject. For instance carrying out a thorough literature review about abstinence-only education, the researcher will understand the principles of the program like abstinence from sexual activities until marriage and family values that are focused on in the program. This will enable the researcher identify the gaps that are present in the program which need to be studied and its use and effectiveness determined. For instance, literature reveals that abstinence-only sexual education has not been effective in controlling both pregnancies and transmission of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). It reveals that the program has misleading medical information and does not teach on the potential sexual risk life saving information. The other advantage of carrying out thorough literature review is to understand the status research status of the topic under study. Literature review will reveal whether the topic has been exhaustively or scantly researched on, thus creating a better ground for research topic. According to me, literature review will also help identify experts on the topic under research and therefore a potential avenue for informed decision on the specific aspect to study about the topic. Literature review will also help in identifying the key research questions that need further studies. Again, literature review is important in understanding the most appropriate methodology to use in the study. This will help develop more the research topic and research questions thus determining a new angle of the research on the topic under study. Literature review helps the researcher build a strong fou.

1. Running head: RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
3
Development of Research Question and Literature Review
Name
Name of Institution
Research Question and Literature Review
The development of a research question is the initial step, which
constitutes of the formulation of an answerable question into a
certain specific concern. The knowledge of the topic of concern
may be developed from reading different literature materials
and identifying the information gap in the studies already
conducted. Another way of developing a research question is the
observation of a problem from the practical point of view in the
field. In a research project, it is important to develop a research
question in order to guide the methodology of collecting data
that shall be analyzed to arrive on congruent and reliable
answers to the problem. On the other hand, carrying out a
literature review is extensively reading various research results
from previous studies and other scientific information about the
topic (Agee, 2009).
In the case of Eboni Logan, the most appropriate step to do in
determining the effectiveness of the abstinence-only education
as a method of controlling pregnancies in teenagers will be to
carry out thorough literature review. Literature review on
abstinence-only education will help identify the various
definitions and elements that make the subject. For instance
carrying out a thorough literature review about abstinence-only

2. education, the researcher will understand the principles of the
program like abstinence from sexual activities until marriage
and family values that are focused on in the program. This will
enable the researcher identify the gaps that are present in the
program which need to be studied and its use and effectiveness
determined. For instance, literature reveals that abstinence-only
sexual education has not been effective in controlling both
pregnancies and transmission of Sexually Transmitted
Infections (STIs). It reveals that the program has misleading
medical information and does not teach on the potential sexual
risk life saving information. The other advantage of carrying
out thorough literature review is to understand the status
research status of the topic under study. Literature review will
reveal whether the topic has been exhaustively or scantly
researched on, thus creating a better ground for research topic.
According to me, literature review will also help identify
experts on the topic under research and therefore a potential
avenue for informed decision on the specific aspect to study
about the topic. Literature review will also help in identifying
the key research questions that need further studies. Again,
literature review is important in understanding the most
appropriate methodology to use in the study. This will help
develop more the research topic and research questions thus
determining a new angle of the research on the topic under
study. Literature review helps the researcher build a strong
foundation of knowledge on the topic under study. The
researcher will also be in full perspective of the study and a
new direction it takes from the previous studies (Agee, 2009).
However, developing research questions without carrying out
thorough literature review has a number of potential quandaries.
In this study, the researcher will is likely to formulate a very
broad topic which might be very difficulty to achieve and thus
not able to generate information about the causes of
ineffectiveness of abstinence-only sexual education in schools.
A broad objective is usually very unattainable in terms of
financial demands, methodology choosing and extent of the

3. sample population. Developing research questions without
conducting extensive literature review will also result into
collection of data without considering appropriate study data
collection methods and tools thus result into collection of
irrelevant and unreliable information (Robson & McCartan,
2016). The collected data will therefore be scanty or not
meeting the study objectives and therefore fail to appropriately
answer the research questions of concern. The other potential is
that the researcher is likely to research on a topic that has been
exhaustively researcher on and therefore yield obvious results.
If the researcher chooses on an aspect that has not been really
researcher on, formulation of the research methodology might
be in jeopardy because of not consulting other researchers
through literature review (Agee, 2009).
References
Agee, J. (2009). Developing qualitative research questions: a
reflective process. International Journal of Qualitative Studies
in Education, 22(4), 431-447.
Robson, C., & McCartan, K. (2016). Real world research. John
Wiley & Sons.
Social Work Research: Program Evaluation
Major federal legislation was enacted in 1996 related to welfare
reform. Financial assistance
programs at the national level for low-income families have
been in place since the mid-1960s
through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
program. The Personal

4. Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of
1996, or welfare reform, created
TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). Major
components of the new
TANF program were to limit new recipients of cash aid to no
more than 2 years of TANF
assistance at a time and to receive no more than 5 years of
combined TANF assistance with other
service programs during their lifetimes. The goal was to make
public assistance a temporary, rather
than a long-term, program for families with children. Beyond
these general rules, each of the 50
states was given substantial latitude to adopt requirements to fit
their own objectives. The new law
also allowed states that reduced their public assistance expenses
to keep whatever support was
already being provided by the federal government for use at
their own discretion. This was seen
as a way to encourage states to reduce welfare dependency.
In response, the state of California decided to call its new
program CalWORKs, the California
Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids program.
CalWORKs is California’s application of
the new TANF federal law. Like most of the other states,

5. CalWORKs provided its 58 counties
with a fair amount of discretion in how to implement the new
provisions. Some counties chose to
develop strong upfront “employment-first” rules that mandated
recipients be employed as soon as
possible. Others chose a response that included testing and
assessment and the provision of
education and training services.
One of the largest counties in the San Francisco Bay Area
developed several options for
CalWORKs recipients, including immediate job readiness (Job
Club) help, remedial education for
recipients lacking basic skills, and vocational training at local
community colleges and adult
education centers for those seeking higher level education and
skills. Recipients could take up to 5
years to complete these activities and even longer in certain
circumstances to maximize their
chances of success. Recipients were predominantly single
mothers. If recipients fully complied
with the rules, they received a variety of financial incentives,
while those who did not comply
received sanctions that often resulted in reduced benefit levels.
The county provided grants to a

6. wide array of education, training, and service programs to work
as partners in serving the needs of
participants.
In 1996, the county’s CalWORKs program enrolled
approximately 22,000 families in various
forms of public assistance programs. Of these, approximately
10,000 elected to participate in one
of the education and training programs, 9,000 elected to attend
intensive job placement (Job Club)
classes, and the remaining 3,000 opted to not comply with the
new program and accepted reduced
benefit sanctions.
To meet its state and federal mandates, the county carefully
tracked the progress of
all program participants and compiled comprehensive quarterly
reports that summarized
assignments and outcomes at each of the contracted partner sites
as well as countywide trends.
During the first 11 years of the program, from 1996 through
2007, the county’s public assistance
roles were reduced by approximately 40%, from more than
22,000 to about 13,000 families. The
best results were obtained among participants in education and

7. training programs, who accounted
for about two-thirds of long-term outcome success, although
this group was also found to be more
costly to the local CalWORKs program during their years of
study. These costs, in addition to the
longer period of monthly benefits received, also included the
cost of education and training and,
in some cases, childcare expenses. Among the participants who
were placed in the immediate job
search (Job Club) program, total costs to the county were
somewhat less per year, but more than
50% were still not successful in gaining employment, and those
that did find a job received a much
lower salary and fewer benefits, and another 23% fell back on
CalWORKs after later losing their
employment.
Although the results of the CalWORKs program in this county
seemed to be following a mostly
positive trend from 1996 through 2007, the situation changed
dramatically in the opposite direction
during the national economic downturn from 2007 through
2011. Total public assistance rolls more

8. than doubled to about 30,000 during this time as the local and
state unemployment rate rapidly
grew from about 7% to more than 12%. The county was initially
successful in getting the state to
grant it waivers to allow recipients to extend their period of
benefits during education and training,
but these waivers were considerably restricted after 2011 due to
major state budget cuts. Between
2011 and early 2013 the total number of recipients began to
decline again by about 10% from its
peak 2 years earlier. However, the total number of CalWORKs
recipients is at 27,000, still about
5,000 recipients higher than when the program started in 1996.
Compounding the difficulty of more people becoming eligible
for CalWORKs’ benefits due to
poor economic conditions, the state’s budget crisis prompted a
reduction in state allocations to
counties and recipients. Nonetheless, county administrators
were still pleased to report that more
than more than 16,000 recipients during the program were able
to obtain employment or other
support that eliminated their dependency on cash public
assistance