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Assessment 1 Information Assessment 1 - Annotated Bibliography Due date: 10th October Estimated return date: 30th October Assessment task link to unit learning outcomes: 1. demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills of how to approach research in professional counselling practice. 2. examine research-based evidence and evaluate it according to quality indicators. 5. reflect on the legal, ethical and professional principles and practices relevant to various research methodologies and interventions in counselling. Details of task: The aim of this assessment task is to produce an evaluative annotated bibliography which will inform and support your work with clients. An annotated bibliography provides a brief account (annotation) of the available research on a given topic. It is a list of research sources (bibliography) that includes concise descriptions and evaluations of each source. More specifically, its purpose is to help you: ● Learn about a particular mental health issue or therapy through critically reviewing the literature. ● Gain an overview of the main issues, arguments and research within your chosen topic. ● Reflect on what has already been discovered about your topic. ● Develop your analytical skills through deeper engagement with individual sources. Assessment 1 - You are required to produce an annotated bibliography that contains 6 entries relating to journal articles from peer reviewed journals, and/or book chapters published by commercial publishers. Your annotated bibliography will focus on one mental health issue and one therapy which you will select from an approved list provided on Moodle. Read all of the information provided below, including the criteria for a better understanding of the task. An FAQ and marking rubric will also be made available on Moodle. Word count/equivalent: 4000 words (not including references or appendices) Weighting/Value: 50% Presentation requirements: Please submit your assignment in pdf. All formatting and referencing must be according to APA 7th Edition. Additional information: One of the challenges confronting counsellors today is the overwhelming wealth of information available. Not all of this information is valuable or reliable. In research relating to counselling, we find we have to continually evaluate information. Your judgement of the information you read may be based on the acceptability/credibility of the source of the publication. For example, anyone can publish on the web which does not make the publication automatically worthwhile, whereas publication in a professional journal in which "peer review" is part of the publication process, is considered more credible even though there still may be flaws. However, evaluating the worth or value on an article is more than just identifying if it is peer reviewed. You need to consider how relevant and compelling the argument is in relation to other published research. This assessment requires you to adopt a critical perspective. This does not mean you need to be negative, but rather, be careful to weigh up the value and credibility of the arguments in relation to the other sources you have annotated. You need to be critical about the information you are reading in order to identify weaknesses in various propositions, to select what is useful to you in extending your current knowledge, to question some of what you already know, and to add new perspectives. You should be relating what you are reading to other concepts and theories. In your research you are required to identify 6 peer reviewed journal articles and/or book chapters (from commercially published books) and write an annotated entry of approximately 550 words for each of them (6 x 550 words). Include an introduction of 200 words (maximum) to explain the theme of, and rationale for your selection and a conclusion of 300 words (maximum) with your learning, reflections, implications and recommendations. Your selections may be from journal articles and/or books. The aim of your annotation is to convey a sense of the worth of the information. A high quality annotated bibliography will also demonstrate a synthesis and evaluation of the source with that of other texts, research and theories. It is expected that some of your entries will directly compare the issues raised in one source with one or more other sources. It is strongly recommended that you focus less on summarising the entire source but rather critically consider one or two relevant or important issues within the text. Articles must be: ● Peer reviewed. ● Full text. ● Published within the last 10 years, preferably the last 5 years. ● In English language. ● Use an appropriate research design (i.e., randomised control trial, pre-and post-intervention comparison). ● Use either quantitative or qualitative data analysis. Articles must not be: ● Meta-analyses. ● Literature reviews such as Systematic reviews, Cochrane reviews, Narrative or traditional reviews and Scoping reviews etc. ● Letters. ● Perspectives/editorials. ● Synopses. For each selected sources, it is important to consider the implications for counselling, applications to other contexts, and in light of other literature under review. Remember that you need to minimize the time taken in summarising the article and maximise the critical discussion of the article, in terms of findings, methods, etc. In a high quality assignment, we would expect at least some of the entries to be referring to each other, comparing findings or other aspects. Examples will be provided on Moodle and discussed in class and online. Criteria for marking: The assignment will be marked according to the following criteria. Please see the rubric and FAQ available on Moodle for more detailed marking information. 1. Rationale and selection of articles (10). 2. Level of critical analytical discussion (10). 3. Cross referencing of the literature (10). 4. Ability to reflect on practical implications for counsellors (15). 5. Quality of academic literacy and referencing (5). Assignment 1 FAQ 1. Are in-text references included in the word count? Yes. 2. Do all articles critiqued have to reference a piece of quant/qual research or can they be theories e.g. from a textbook? Your articles/book chapters must be based on research completed. You cannot use theoretical articles. 3. Do the articles have to include research that is finished or can it be planned research? As mentioned above, your articles/book chapters must be based on research completed ie a research study that has been finished with the results and discussion included. 4. Should all articles link to each other in a theme/ flow of writing or can they be individually critiqued? All articles can be individually critiqued. Have a look at the unit guide for how you can synthesize the main themes/points of the articles. 5. I find that chapters from text books are not peer reviewed. I don't think any texts are! Is this ok to use? Yes, as long as the texts are from commercially published books. Book chapters need to be reporting results from research conducted. 6. Is it ok to write in the first person for reflection and learning, especially in the conclusion of the assignment? Yes, in APA style it is acceptable to use first person. The key point here is finding the right balance. Some writing in first person is okay for this assignment, but keep in mind, assignment one is not a reflective essay. 7. For the reference list at the end of assignment 1, do we include the references from the articles/book chapters we annotate? Yes, please include the references from the articles/book chapters you are annotating. 8. Do we have to understand maths and stats to critique the research chosen for our assignment? Please don't feel overwhelmed by numbers, you get a lot information from the Discussion section of any paper that should help to explain the outcomes that have been found from the research. The Results section of a paper can also provide information about the findings from a paper. By reading through the introduction to the article you should be able to understand what the author/s are investigating and by following this with an examination of the discussion section you should be able to understand if they achieved the results they were looking for. Also please note that the articles you select to examine could be qualitative or quantitative. The results and discussion are what is important, not every number which got to that point. 9. Some issues can be very broad like depression or anxiety for example as they can be focused on children or teenagers or be specific like bipolar depression etc. Can we focus on a specific area under a topic/issue? For example looking at anxiety in children rather than anxiety in general? You can choose the area you wish to study say "depression" and then focus on particular concerns within that area. 10. In what ways can I critique a research article? There are many ways you can critique a research article. Some examples include: · Are the research questions/hypotheses clear? · Does the literature review make sense, is it consistent? · Is the sample size sufficient? · Is the intervention well described? · Does the author clearly describe how the results lead to the conclusions? · Are the conclusions consistent with the study aims? 11. What issues can I choose as a presenting issue and a therapy? (i.e. CBT for anxiety). Yes, for this assignment you choose: A presenting issue and a therapy 11. As some topics are very wide and have thousands of articles available, we have a lot of choice. Should we avoid journals with a low impact factor? I noticed that some of the 'top 10 Psychology journals' (in terms of impact factor) are not in PsychINFO. No need to avoid journals with a low impact factor. The main thing to ensure is that your articles come from a peer review journal. 12. Should our selection include at least one Hong Kong/Singapore/Australian article? Most seem to be from USA/UK/Canada. There is no requirement that your articles need to be from a Hong Kong/Singapore/Australian journal. 13. Can we use secondary references? No. At Masters level, you are expected to go to the original source. Secondary references are not acceptable. Assignment 1 Instructions The aim of this assessment task is to produce an evaluative annotated bibliography which will inform and support your work with clients. An annotated bibliography provides a brief account (annotation) of the available research on a given topic. It is a list of research sources (bibliography) that includes concise descriptions and evaluations of each source. More specifically, its purpose is to help you: · Learn about a particular mental health issue or therapy through critically reviewing the literature. · Gain an overview of the main issues, arguments and research within your chosen topic. · Reflect on what has already been discovered about your topic. · Develop your analytical skills through deeper engagement with individual sources. You are required to produce an annotated bibliography that contains 6 entries relating to journal articles from peer reviewed journals, and/or book chapters published by commercial publishers. Your annotated bibliography will focus on one mental health issue and therapy which you will select from an approved list provided on Moodle. Read all of the information provided below, including the criteria for a better understanding of the task. An FAQ