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

At a minimum, the following sections are required:

· Introduction

· Provide a brief introduction about the key elements in the paper.

· Background and Problem Statement

· 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.

· 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

· 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?

· 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).

· 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 negative effects for emergency responders (Brown, 2010; Caldwell, 2009; Moore, 2011; Stanley, 2008).”

· Conclusion

· Summarize your findings. What are the key points in the literature?

· What type of study is needed (i.e., qualitative or quantitative)? What or who should be studied (e.g., police chiefs, emergency responders, citizens, etc.)? What geographic area will be studied (if any)? Explain why you chose these elements.

· Why is it important to study this topic? Are there any potential issues with studying this topic?

Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.

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