Students will be required to write 10-12 typed pages utilizing APA style format/with bibliography/references (not included in the page count) and double-spaced. The research paper should research a community problem, possible solutions, and make policy recommendations.
Example Community Problems: Adolescent pregnancy, access to clean drinking water, child abuse and neglect, crime, domestic violence, drug use, pollution, mismanagement of resources, lack of funding for schools and services, ethnic conflict, health disparities, HIV/ AIDS, hunger, inadequate emergency services, inequality, jobs, lack of affordable housing,
poverty, transportation, violence, racism and police brutality.
To help structure your paper, the following suggestions can be used as a guide:
Justify the choice of the problem.
Frame the problem.
Identify whose behavior and/or what and how environmental factors need to change for the
problem to begin to be solved.
Analyze the root causes of the problem.
Identify the restraining and driving forces that affect the problem.
Find any relationships that exist among the problem you’re concerned with and others in the
community.
Identify personal factors that may contribute to the problem.
Identify targets and agents of change for addressing the problem.
I have taken into consideration the following criteria for analyzing the problem:
___Frequency of the problem ___Duration of the problem ___Scope or range of the problem ___Severity of the problem ___Legality of the problem ___Perception of the problem
I understand how to analyze a community problem:
___State the problem, in general terms
___Give some specific examples of the problem ___Think of some possible reasons or causes ___Find the most probable reason
___Identify some possible solutions
___Choose the best solution
___Implement that solution
___Evaluate the solution
I have taken into consideration the following common criteria for the best possible solution:
___Cost ___Time ___People ___Obstacles ___Impact
I have asked the following questions to measure impact of the problem and its potential solution:
___How many people will be affected/ will benefit?
___For how long will they benefit? How long will the solution last?
___How intensely will they benefit — what is the extent of impact on their lives? ___Are there any possible unanticipated consequences or side effects?
___What is the community’s preference?
___What is the likelihood of success?
I have asked the following questions about the likelihood of success:
___What is the best evidence that this solution is going to work?
___Where has this solution been tried before, and what has been the outcome?
___What does expert opinion say on the probability of this solution being successful? ___Have there been research studies showing that this solution works, or is likely to work? ___Does my situation match others where this solution has been successful?
___Do I have personal direct experience using this kind of solution?
