Term Paper on "Music Education or Cross Platform Development"

Quoted Instructions for "Music Education or Cross Platform Development" Assignment:

Ideally, I would like something relating to pitch-recognition and music and/or music education. I'll be e-mailing research articles (approx. 8 sources) I've compiled. I recognize that this topic may be too narrow for 150 pages. If so, I'm flexible on expansion of the topic, or another topic altogether, such as "Cross-Platform Techniques in Software Development". I would also like the Table of Contents, Chapters 1-3 and the Bibliography as soon as they are available (even if they aren't complete).

Feature requirements:

Title Page

Abstract

Table of Contents

List of Figures/Tables (if applicable)

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - Review of Related Literature

Chapter 3 - Methodolgy

Chapter 4 - Data Analysis

Chapter 5 - Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

Bibliography

Appendices (if applicable)

General Style Requirements

-Arial font, Size 12

-Double-spaced throughout

-1.5” margins on all four sides of each page (left, right, top and bottom).

-All required chapter headings and subheadings defined in these Guidelines must be included in the Table of Contents and Body of the Proposal and Final Project.

-Only the text between Chapters 1-5 contributes to the page length requirements; front/end matter, tables, charts, figures, or graphs, etc. do not apply. Therefore, the first page of Chapter one should be labeled as page number 1. The front material such as the Title Page, Abstract, Acknowledgements (if any), Table of Contents, List of Figures, etc. can be either left blank or numbered with lower case Roman numerals (i, ii, iii).

-Bibliography and in-text referencing are to be formatted according to the American Psychological Association (APA) parenthetical style, e.g. (Jones, 2003). Footnotes and Endnotes are not acceptable. The Proposal submission requires a minimum of 8 properly documented sources in the Bibliography section.

-Papers must be written in present tense and utilize third person composition (no use of terms such as “I”, “Me”, “My”, “We”, “Our”).

-Presentation should be neat and professional with consistency in spacing, paragraph formatting, representational graphs and charts, chapter headings and subheadings, etc.

-The page length requirements for Final Projects are 150 pages minimum to 200 pages maximum

-Page length minimums are not negotiable. Page length maximums can be exceeded only if approved by faculty.

Chapter 1:

To be properly formatted and meet existing requirements Chapter 1 must include the following:

Heading:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Subheadings:

Problem Statement

Purpose of the Study

Importance of the Study

Scope of the Study

Rationale of the Study

Definition of Terms

Overview of the Study

The final paper introduction should include a statement of the problem, an overview of the study, the significance of the study, and how and why the study is important. The student should also use this section to define any terms that may be unfamiliar to the audience. In Chapter 1 students should describe in detail what they wish to prove or demonstrate. A general null hypothesis should be presented in this section. Sub-hypotheses, if there are any, should then be presented in null form as well. They should be carefully formulated so they can later be accepted or rejected based on the statistical outcome(s) of the research. It is helpful to number or otherwise identify hypotheses for ease of reference in future chapters of the paper.

Chapter 2:

To be properly formatted and meet existing requirements Chapter 2 must include the following:

Heading:

Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

The literature chapter (Chapter 2) of the final paper provides definition, support and elaboration for the paper's viewpoints. This chapter provides a connection with reputable research in the topic area of the student’s dissertation. It is not a string of reviews of articles or other references, but rather a framework that supports the study from a conceptual approach. It should be designed and outlined to address all of the major content topics and sub-topics associated with the research study. Approaches to Chapter 2 may be widely varied, depending on the topic and scope of the research. Be sure to consider the kinds of questions a reader might have in any serious inquiry into the topic, and try to substantiate every important concept involved in the study. The topic selected may have never been studied. This might necessitate making connections among similar concepts, drawing conclusions or creating analogies as appropriate to support the study.

Chapter 3:

To be properly formatted and meet existing requirements, Chapter 3 must include the following:

Heading:

Chapter 3: Methodology

Subheadings:

Approach

Data Gathering Method

Database of the Study

Validity of Data

Originality & Limitations of Data

Summary of Chapter 3

In Chapter 3 of the final paper, the research design, any special tools, surveys, statistical procedures, tests, comparisons, questionnaires or interviewing techniques used should be explained and described in detail (Approach). This chapter should reference technical aspects of the research methodology and any technique(s) utilized to obtain data (Data Gathering Method). It must also explain what data sources will be utilized such as academic media, personal interviews, observation, etc. and why they believe the data is legitimate. They should also explain what is unique and innovative about the data; in other words, what was contributed that is different. The restrictions on the collection, availability and presentation (e.g. – researcher’s bias/background) of the data must also be provided. Every project has limitations, when these are explained the reader has more, not less confidence in the findings because understanding of the research process is being demonstrated.

Chapter 4:

To be properly formatted and meet existing requirements Chapter 4 must include the following:

Heading:

Chapter 4: Data Analysis

Chapter 4 will need to present an overview of the analysis including such items as factors that can limit the data, where possible omissions/errors could occur and the reliability of the data. In addition, any significant findings should be presented without discussion of the conclusions drawn. Chapter 4 must be written in such a way that there is no use of first person, the findings are completely objective (focused on fact and devoid of subjectivity) and the findings presented must be accurate, unbiased and exclusive of trivia. This chapter should be viewed as a specific analysis of all data required for the summary and conclusion in Chapter 5. This chapter must also include summary details of the demographic characteristics of research subjects in Chapter 4. This applies especially when demographic information can be considered pertinent to the outcome(s) of the study (e.g., where certain independent variables might influence other dependent variables). This data-centered chapter may appear to be just factual and numbers-based because it is essentially that. It should provide statistical outcomes and results, and may contain descriptive passages as well as graphic organizers. It is not, however, the place to expound on the meaning of the statistics or outcomes; such descriptions and interpretations are more appropriate to Chapter 5.

Chapter 4 should reflect the same general pattern or outline as the research design described in Chapter 3. However, it should be substantial enough that the procedures and results being reported can be determined.

Chapter 5:

To be properly formatted and meet existing requirements Chapter 5 must include the following:

Heading:

Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

Chapter 5 of the final paper will consist of summaries and conclusions as well as the proposed recommendations for resolution. The results should not be generalized or interpreted beyond that which the data supports. Students should view Chapter 5 as the answer to the problem statement set forth in Chapter 1.

Students need to seriously consider and answer all of the following questions in Chapter 5.

Does the study support or reject the hypothesis?

Does the study support or contradict previous research?

Is the study conclusive or is further research needed?

What are the implications of this research to the discipline?

Should relative practices be redefined?

Do the findings support or reject the hypothesis?

Chapter 5 provides the opportunity to report conclusions drawn from analysis of the data, based on the research design. Using statistical data students should accept or reject the hypotheses stated originally in Chapter 1. It is critical that the researcher interprets and report results accurately. Students must be very careful to maintain objectivity and to report only what the statistical data analysis can support. The possibility exists that outcomes might be different from what was anticipated. In this case, it is incumbent upon the student to report results honestly, without apology, and to consider reasonable explanations for the outcome(s). In some instances, such results provide excellent springboards for recommendations for future research.

Bibliography:

This should use the American Psychological Association (APA) style for the Bibliography and in-text citations. The Bibliography should be Arial font, size 12 and double-spaced.

Abstract:

An abstract must be a 1-2 page summary of the project. The abstract should be placed at the beginning of the paper between the Title Page and the Table of Contents. It should include a statement of the problem or issue, a brief description of the research method and design, major findings and their significance, and the conclusion. An outside reader should be able to decide from the abstract whether or not the paper is beneficial to their study. Due to the fact that the abstract is not part of the Final Project body (Chapters 1-5) it does not contribute to the page length requirement.