RESEARCH ASSESSMENT PAPER ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
OVERVIEW
The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe a current disaster research need. This paper
will be the foundation for developing a potential research proposal. As such, an extensive search
of the existing literature is required with scholarly and academic sources being properly cited.
An evaluation of the literature will be used to develop a topic, problem statement, and
conclusion.
INSTRUCTIONS
The paper must strictly follow current APA guidelines, be 1,000–1,600 words, and include at
least 5 sources. You must clarify the issues being discussed by relating them to scriptural/biblical
principles and personal experience.
At a minimum, the following sections are required:
 Introduction
o Provide a brief introduction about the key elements in the paper.
 Background and Problem Statement
o Preliminary research must be conducted using practitioners, government sources,
articles, etc., to identify and support the problem. The background must include
citations from these sources to support your position and problem statement.
o The problem statement will describe the situation and present issues as well as
identifying one or more problematic issues. The problem statement must be clear
and concise (approximately 200 words).
 Literature Review
o The literature review is a critical component of a proposal. This section highlights
what has been achieved related to your topic. Answer the following questions:
 What has been tried?
 What were the conclusions?
 What do researchers agree or disagree about?
 What are the central themes and arguments in current studies?
 What is missing from current studies?
o Scholarly articles are required. Although some information from government
sources may be used sparingly, approximately 80% of the review should
incorporate recent scholarly articles (published within the last 5 years).
o Do not state your opinion in this section. All information provided must be
properly cited and must be from quality academic sources. To achieve this, use
direct quotations, paraphrases, and synthesized information from multiple
sources. For example, this statement synthesizes the opinions of 4 scholars:
“Researchers have argued that disaster planning is critical to minimizing the