1. How has writing a literature review effected the way you might do research in the future? 

It will change the way I outline my future work.  I will need to make sure I am looking for one type of answer.  When trying to write my literature review, I was semi confused with the examples of what should be included (theories, and major themes).  I sort of feel I needed a topic that was more singular, at least that is the way I described it.  I now feel like my topic was too broad because it was difficult to find parallel themes, or similar arguments.  I was researching how to become something, and having so much information that would come together, but in a steps sort of way, and not in a comparison way, made it difficult. 

2. Did you find any part of the literature review writing process difficult?

After reading the supplemental information and watching the videos I do not think it would be extremely difficult, but again, I think I struggled with having such broad information. 

3. How has your understanding and knowledge of the topic of your research question expanded due to the analysis you did in writing your literature review? 

I wouldn’t say it was expanded.  I tried to find similarities and themes, and only a couple of times, could I see similar ideas among information and authors. 

4.   What questions do you feel are still left unanswered about your research (it is alright to still have unanswered questions, since research is an ongoing endeavor)? 

I do believe I have a good foundation for the process and I answered many of my own questions in regards to the steps to take.  Of course there are things left unanswered and I could continue the research. 

1. What new sources did you include in your annotated bibliography and why?

I included a source on Competency Based Training Tools as well as a source on the current interests of doctorate-level professionals in the area of academia.  I included the first because I had yet to learn about them and can be crucial for any graduate student to know.  It goes over competency benchmarks and states that when an intern needs to demonstrates measureable outcome in these domains in order to graduate.  The second was interesting to me because when pursing a doctorate-level degree I think its important to know that it will be a competitive field to work in as well as find a position, so knowing what type of interest there is can and will be beneficial. I was surprised to find, a low 3.9% express an interest in doctorate-level work in academia; which is the area I’m interested in. 

2. What was the search path you took to locate them?

I utilized a path very similar to my previous searches.  I went to the Leatherby’s Library and accessed the database and included my usual criteria, Peer-reviewed, full text, and date parameters, Boolean phrases. 

3. Why do you feel these sources are credible (remember the CRAAP Test)?

Both of these resources are connected to bigger universities, and often, if I don’t find a source directly connected to the APA, American Psychological Association, ones contributed to by bigger universities suffice, along with a review of the author’s credentials. 

4. What aspect(s) of your research question do they address? 

One continues my research with knowing what I will encounter when pursuing this degree, which would be the competency benchmarks and how interns take them prior to graduation.  The other sheds light on my field of interests, which is academia, but will now expand my research, because I am curious why the interest level is so low. 

5. Are there still aspects of your research question that remain unanswered?

I still plan on researching admission requirements to schools.  One of my earlier resources provided a list of all the schools throughout the United States, and because I am really only focusing on the schools within California, I can focus only on their specific requirements, and plan my future classes accordingly. 

6.     What are some aspects of your research that you feel would be most interesting to a wide audience?

I think to the unknowing person, they might be interested, or at least entertained, at the amount of debt students in psychology programs are in.  I know I was surprised at how much people have to pay, PhD upwards of 65 and 70 thousand and PsyD closer to one hundred thousand.  Or the fact that graduates, of ten years or more, say if they had the chance to make that decision all over again they might bypass the debt because of their current earnings. 

This week offered a lot of valuable information.  Most of which I was aware of, especially regarding plagiarism, but I was not familiar with the workings of creative commons or intellectual property.  I found intellectual property to be really interesting, and didn’t mind partaking in the UCLA activity.  It makes sense that people should be allowed the credit for their work, but I didn’t realize how far it went.  For example the confusion about publishing notes taken in a class, and who would that information belong to.  One thing that will help me with plagiarism is the common knowledge policy.  That was sort of something I had assumed, but had not verified.  That will be helpful when researching when finding information that is often repeated. 

1.What did you learn about plagiarism? 

2.What is your definition of academic integrity?

3.What is your definition of Intellectual Property?

4. What did you learn about Creative Commons?

 5. What are open access journals?

#1. The thing that wasn’t necessarily new, but I was reassured about the common knowledge thing.  If information is found without five credible sources it is considered common knowledge and does not have to be quoted directly but credit it given in the references. 

#2. Academic integrity is not knowingly using someone else’s work or ideas as your own, not cheating on an examination, or submitting the same work to satisfy multiple assignments. 

#3. Intellectual property is something someone has created or said that is not patented or trade marked but still belongs to the person who created it. 

#4. Creative commons offers a different approach to the copyright restrictions where authors and creators allow their work to be used in a context that they approve of.  

#5. Open access journals are journals that are online and provided without cost or subscriptions and are generally free of copyright or licensing restrictions. 

I think the biggest thing about this study was to inform people about the rising student debt, especially in psychology programs. 

Deciding on a school to pursue will have a lot to do with the cost, unfortunately, and it is essential that I know what kind of financial obligation I will be making.  This study shows that PsyD students have the largest debt after graduation with an average debt of $173,000 and a median of $160,000.  Of course I knew school would be expensive, but a big surprise was that some people involved in the study, graduates within the last 10 years, said if they had a chance to do it all over again, some would reconsider their career in psychology.  Stating they were not making what they expected to at that point in their career, and especially not enough to offset the debt. 

I think the focus of my search will remain the same. I didn’t necessarily find one specific author to search, this study contained many, but I do want to continue looking into studies of this nature. 

I feel like my research skills are really improving.  Selecting the Boolean/Phrases on the left side really helped, and so did selecting the related words.  It was nice to find so many results within my search parameters.

This week I was able to find some much-needed information.  Because Brandman offers a masters program in psychology, I decided I should research what school I would attend post Brandman.  I found a great source, compiled by The American Psychological Association, which provided accreditation information and updates on schools within the United States.  Prior to discovering this, I sort of felt overwhelmed over the idea of trying to find ALL the schools offering this program. 

I found using asterisk was semi helpful as well as specifying what I was NOT looking for.  For whatever reason, I was getting a lot of psychology programs based out of Taiwan.  I am still confused why they were so prominent. 

I didn’t come across this source as easily as I would have preferred.  In fact, I went through numerous searches, often, resulting in journals that did not pertain to my search whatsoever.  I think trying to come up with variations of my initial search was probably the most difficult part.  I tended to use the same words, just imputing them on a different line, while still trying to get different results. 

Now, that I know which California school offer psychology programs, I would like to see what their application process consists of.  I am particularly concerned with what courses need to be completed prior to applying, and I think this is the best time to know, so I can look over the courses Brandman offers.  Also, tuition is extremely important, I would like to see what the highs and lows are, and take housing and other things into consideration when relocating to attend another school.  Another important thing is program duration.  I went the longest time thinking the program was five years, I recently read it was four, so that is a pleasant surprise.