Overview

Supporting Evidence and Project Questions

Provide a synthesized review of the scholarly literature and address the theoretical foundations or practice orientation for your study. Your supporting evidence should include:

Primary orientation.
Efforts to address the problem.
Synthesis of evidence.

Your project questions should illuminate the gap in literature and align with topic, problem, and evidence.

Refer to the Virtual ResidencyLinks to an external site. Campus page for your PhD or Professional Doctorate program’s Project Plan Guide. Remember, the Project Plan helps you develop the details of your project. Your work will be viewed through multiple lenses, including those of instructors, peers, the existing literature, and other sources. You should seek out opportunities to improve and refine your work. As you deepen your understanding and add detail to your project, you should expect to make several revisions throughout and beyond this course. Doctoral project planning is an iterative process, with each revision often inspiring further revisions until everything is aligned. These iterations are a necessary and customary part of the doctoral journey.

Instructions

Use your Project Plan Template and guide to complete the following:

Supporting Evidence

Explain how the proposed study will add or contribute to a better understanding of the theoretical foundation of the problem or contribute to a better understanding of practice.
Explain the proposed gap supported by scholarly literature or the practical implications of the proposed study.
Synthesize a review of the scholarly literature to expose, explain, and analyze previous scholarly efforts to address the project or problem.

Project Questions

List one or more project questions that align with the topic, problem, and supporting evidence within the program.

Include a list of terms and definitions that relate to the program, topic, problem, gap, program, and project framework.

Describe your target population.
Describe the background for your study and how your question relates to the background of the study. Discuss previous studies and demonstrate exactly how your project (answering the question, applying to practice) will advance the scientific knowledge base on this topic. Consider the following guidance:

Questions should be appropriate for the knowledge gap and current state of knowledge (supporting evidence).
Questions are cast using the variables or phenomena under study. The variables or phenomena in the questions are identical to the variables discussed in the problem and specific theory gap.
Questions are explicit in naming the type of relationship or phenomenon under study.
When answered, questions will make a contribution to theoretical or practical foundations. The contribution to the academic field and to the theoretical foundation must speak to how the relationship among the variables or to the phenomenon addresses the knowledge gap previously identified.

Additional Requirements

Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

Continue to use your Project Plan Template to structure your paper. Refer to the Virtual ResidencyLinks to an external site. Campus page for your PhD or Professional Doctorate program’s Project Plan Guide.

Resources: 6–10 scholarly references, including seminal works, listed in References section at the end of the paper.
APA guidelines: Double-spaced paragraph formatting in the body of the paper. When appropriate, use APA-formatted headings. Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and format. Refer to Evidence and APALinks to an external site. as needed.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 points.
Microsoft Editor: Use Microsoft EditoLinks to an external site. to help correct errors with grammar, usage, and writing mechanics.
Turnitin: Use the Turnitin results to revise your work before submitting your assignment for grading.
Synchronous Session Confirmation: When submitting your assignment, include this comment in the comments section “I attended and participated in the required synchronous session.”

Review the Supporting Evidence and Project Questions scoring guide before submitting to ensure that you have met all criteria.

Portfolio Prompt: Consider adding this assignment to your personal ePortfolio. This assignment demonstrates your ability to address the theoretical foundations or practice orientation for your proposed Project Plan. You will want to organize your course assignments to easily support future work on your dissertation or doctoral project and to showcase your knowledge with employers after graduation. For more information on ePortfolio, visit the Campus ePortfoliLinks to an external site. page.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Apply advanced critical thinking skills to develop a researchable topic.

Explain how the proposed study will contribute to a better understanding of the theoretical foundation of the problem or of practice.
Describe the target population.
Explain the proposed gap supported by scholarly literature or the practical implications of the proposed study.

Competency 2: Synthesize ideas and concepts from literature and in practice to develop a researchable topic.

Synthesize literature to illuminate, explain, and analyze previous scholarly efforts to address the problem.

Competency 4: Develop research questions that align with an identified problem.

Describe the study’s background and how the question relates to the background of the study.

Competency 5: Articulate a theoretical framework for the proposed study.

List project questions aligned with the topic, problem, and supporting evidence within the program.

Competency 8: Write in accordance with the academic and professional requirements of the discipline during the research process ensuring appropriate structure, grammar, usage, and style.

Convey purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
Apply APA style and formatting to scholarly writing.