Research Methods for Christian Leadership IV – CLED 830

Course Description

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

The Christian Leadership Doctoral Programs require the research and writing of an original dissertation. A critical aspect and foundation for that task is the literature review. This course focuses on the process of conducting a literature review and then developing an appropriate literature review chapter for the dissertation. Creating a literature review is a complex process. Therefore, this course serves to create a road map to navigate this often-unfamiliar territory for the doctoral student.

Course Assignment

Textbook and other assigned readings, and lecture presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will engage in 4 collaborative Discussions through the course. The student is required to provide a thread in response to the provided prompt for each Discussion. Each thread must be 400 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be 200 words. The student must be sure to use course reading, videos, and other resources to complete this assignment. A minimum of 3 citations in current APA format should be included in the initial post. (CLO: A)

Literature Map Assignment

A literature map is helpful to visualize how an author has put together his/her review and notice the important interrelationships between literature streams. This may prove to be a beneficial step in organizing and writing the student's own literature review.

For this assignment, the student will choose one of the dissertations he/she has read so far in the course and create a visual map of its literature review. This could be in the style of a concept or mind map. The student should make sure that each literature stream of the review is included visually within the map and that he/she has represented the interrelationships between literature streams/topics that the author noted. This assignment should include an APA-formatted title page, an APA-formatted reference page for the dissertation reviewed, and another page for the literature map itself. The assignment can be created in Word or any other applicable program, but it must be submitted either as a Word document or PDF. (CLO: A)

Literature Review Assignments (4)

The following assignments allow a student to research, organize, and write a draft literature review for Chapter 2 of his/her prospectus. 

Literature Review: Part 1 – Preliminary Outline Assignment

This assignment is intended to provide the student with clarification and organization as he/she progresses toward the draft of his/her literature review he/she will write through the remainder of this course. The assignment also provides opportunity to receive instructor feedback in the process of preparing to write the literature review. For this assignment, the student will create a preliminary outline for the literature review. The outline should include the major topics/sub-topics the student plans to include. The student will also include two to three sources that use APA reference style for each point on the outline that represents a section of the review that he/she will write. This assignment should include an APA-formatted title page, a page containing one to two paragraphs that describe the research problem, research purpose, and research questions, and a two-page outline (single-spaced). The outline must follow the requirements of a Chapter 2 from the Christian Leadership Doctoral Programs Handbook. (CLO: B)

Literature Map Alternative: Students that tend to be more visual can choose to do a literature map of their literature review instead of a linear outline described above. If the student chooses this option, then the student will create a visual map of the literature review. This could be done in the style of a concept or mind map. The literature map should visually represent each of the major topics the student plans to include, representing possible interrelationships. The map should include two to three foundational sources for each literature stream/topic or subtopic. This assignment should include an APA-formatted title page, a page containing one to two paragraphs that describe the research problem, research purpose, and research questions, and the literature map. The map must follow the requirements of a Chapter 2 from the Christian Leadership Doctoral Programs Handbook. (CLO: B)

Literature Review: Part 2 – Theological Framework Assignment

As a student of Liberty University’s Rawlings School of Divinity, the student is to research and write within a biblical and theological framework. The student's literature review in Chapter 2 of his/her dissertation is to display such a biblical and theological perspective. The Christian researcher understands that all truth stems from our Lord. Therefore, it is appropriate to articulate a strong biblical and theological foundation in the student's literature review. For this assignment, the student will write a theological framework for the literature review. The theological framework section should include strong biblical and theological sources. This part of the draft should be a minimum of eight (8) pages (double-spaced), with at least ten (10) academic-quality sources. The paper should include a title page, a section detailing the research purpose statement and research questions, a body of the paper, and a reference page. This paper will be formatted according to current APA style guide standards. (CLO: B)

Literature Review: Part 3 – Theoretical Framework Assignment

A strong literature review for a dissertation should include the theoretical foundation(s) for the research topic. The theoretical framework for a literature review provides a foundation from which to understand the topic. For this assignment, the student will write a draft of his/her theoretical framework for the literature review. The theoretical framework section should include citations from important authors in the student's topic. This part of the draft should be a minimum of 8 pages (double-spaced) with at least 10 additional academic quality sources. The paper should include a title page, a section detailing the research purpose statement and research questions, the previously written theological framework section from part two of the Literature Review Assignment, the new theoretical framework section, and a reference page. The paper will be formatted according to current APA style guide standards. (CLO: B) 

Literature Review: Part 4 – Related Literature & Rationale Assignment 

A strong literature review for a dissertation should offer a comprehensive synthesis of related literature. This portion of the review will delve into related topics and sub-topics of your research topic. A good literature review must also offer a clear rationale for the research study, suggesting a gap in the existing literature, which the study will seek to address. For this assignment, the student will write a draft of the related literature, rationale for the study, and gap in the literature segments of the literature review. The related literature, rationale for the study, and gap in the literature sections should include citations from the important authors in the student's topics and related subtopics. This part of the draft will be a minimum of 15 pages (double-spaced), with at least 20 additional academic quality sources. The student must also include an introduction and conclusion for the overall Chapter 2 literature review. The paper should include a title page, a section detailing the research purpose statement and research questions, a newly composed introduction, the previously written theological framework section from part two, the previously written theoretical framework section from part three, the new related literature, rationale for the study, and identified gap in the literature sections, a newly composed conclusion, and a reference page. The purpose of this assignment is for the student to build one overall first draft of the Chapter 2 literature review. The paper will be formatted according to current APA style guide standards. (CLO: B)

Research Profile Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to create a research profile to use as a discussion tool for interaction with the research mentor and reader in order to create understanding and summarize the student's research study design. The student's research profile will include the following information in approximately 4-8 single-spaced pages: proposed title, research problem and gap, research purpose statement, research questions, delimitations of the research, research population, research sample(s) and sampling technique, proposed methodological design, proposed instrumentation, limitations of generalization, research competencies to conduct study, and precedent literature. For the precedent literature section, the student will provide a list of at least 10 sources critical and relevant to the research. With the exception of the paper being single-spaced instead of double-spaced, the research profile should be formatted according to current APA style. (CLO: C)