Assignment

Resources: Course Textbooks; Meadows (2003; reference below), the document Finding Peer Reviewed Empirical Research Articles

Conduct a literature review that is related to your problem statement: THIS IS WHAT IM WRITING ABOUT

Why are southern who live in the southern states like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia have higher obesity rates compared to other state in different region. Is it because of lack of education for health diets or, does it has to deal with the culture and in environment they reside in? Majority of the population who are overweight live in urban areas where there are predominantly lower income families homes (Obesity Epidemic).

• Conduct background reading on your topic.

• Select at least three peer reviewed empirical research articles related to your research question. The articles should be no more than 10 years old. They should be actual empirical research articles; not review articles, meta-analyses, presentation abstracts, book reviews, letters to the editor, etc.

Complete the matrix using the three empirical research articles that best support your research question. Use a matrix to describe the three articles with the following columns:

In-text citation for each article in first column

Study design type and description (how the design is applied in this study)

Sample(s) size and description (including pertinent demographics, and any comparison groups)

Independent and dependent variables (and how they are measuring or determining those for each participant)

Key findings

Strengths of the study methods (e.g., the design, the sample, the measurements, the analyses used)

Weaknesses of the study methods (e.g., the design, the sample, the measurements, the analyses used)

In the last row of the matrix, based on what these studies have found or have not considered, and on their weaknesses, provide several considerations and needs for future research about this problem. What can future research do to add more information to address the problem?

Finally, create and present a single-sentence quantitative research question that is based on these research needs. The research question needs to use a structure that clearly and specifically defines the population and the measurable variables, in either a descriptive, relational or causal way (see Meadows, 2003, materials/discussion in Week 2; reference below).

The research question needs to be something that has not yet been answered by literature review, but that the literature review reveals to be a remaining question with regard to the problem. Perhaps you use a new population, or a different variable, or a different way of intervening or measuring, that you think would add to the understanding of the problem.

Provide a reference page for your sources, including the articles, according to APA format.

The entire assignment should be 1000-1500 words. Do not be overly wordy; use bullets within the cells. The idea is to be able to use the matrix to quickly scan the literature you've read, and the conclusions you've reached about future research needs.