Introduction
As the text points out, causal reasoning is used in clinical studies. As a professional in the health field, you will undoubtedly be referring to cause/effect studies for the rest of your professional life. In this discussion, you are asked to expand and deepen your understanding of clinical studies.

In 1999, a study on the causes of myopia appeared in the prestigious journal Nature (Quinn). The study received wide-spread publicity in leading newspapers, such as the New York Times, and on television outlets, such as CBS and CNN. Within a year, another article in Nature followed up the 1999 study (Zadnik et al., 2000). The studies had dramatically different findings.

Initial Post Instructions
Using what you have learned from the text, as well as any other sources you may find useful (including the website in the Required Resources), analyze and evaluate the methodology of both studies and how methodology affected the differences in how the studies were reported.

Reportage of both studies can be found with an Internet search using all of the following terms: <Philadelphia myopia night lights>.

Policy analysis begins with a review of current literature. Health care leaders must understand how and why laws are created. The best way to explore the historical significance and underpinnings of current legislation is to read the literature. Health policy making and legislation are dynamic processes influenced by multiple factors. A thorough review of the literature helps a policy analyst determine whether specific legislation is having the intended impact and if it has produced unintended consequences. In addition, a literature review enables informed recommendations for policy changes and advocacy.

This assignment provides an opportunity for you to complete an in-depth literature review related to the health care legislation you chose to investigate in this course.

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

• Competency 2: Evaluate significant federal and state legislation that affects the scope of, access to, availability of, and reimbursement for health care services.
  • Summarize findings from the literature on the effects of legislation on the scope, access to, availability of, and reimbursement for health care services.
  • Analyze the effects of at least one piece of legislation on health care access, cost, and/or quality.
• Competency 3: Analyze the effects of values and assumptions inherent in the changing priorities in health planning and resource allocation.
  • Articulate underlying assumptions, values, and biases in the literature.
• Competency 5: Recommend possible initiatives available to address current gaps in health care policy.
  • Identify current gaps in health care policy.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of specific legislation in closing current gaps in health care policy.
• Competency 6: Communicate effectively, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
  • Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.

Scenario

The health care think tank board of directors was intrigued by the introduction to your proposed research and has approved your choice of legislation as the focus of your investigation. Consequently, you have been given approval to proceed with the research. Your next step will be to conduct a review of the literature to determine the impact that your legislation has had on the industry and on various stakeholders, including patients.

Instructions

Conduct a review of current literature related to the research question you developed in your Unit 3 assignment. Chapter 14 of the Teitelbaum and Wilensky (2019) text provides a robust discussion on structuring a policy analysis. Tips in this chapter may help you with this section of your work.

• Include at least 12 articles, with a focus on how your chosen legislation has affected health care facilities, health plans, communities, and various stakeholders, including patients. Seek literature that will help you answer your research question.
• Be sure that your review of the literature captures the diversity of views. Most policies are steeped in controversy, and few will agree on the benefits of a particular policy. The more recent the policy, the more likely you are to find diverse opinions.
• Summarize your findings from the literature. Consider organizing your literature review using subheadings to discern conflicting findings and viewpoints.

Document Format and Length

Organize your literature review as follows:

• Introduction and the topic legislation.
• Brief description of the search strategy you used to secure the needed articles.
• Historical overview or context for the legislation.
• Current context for the legislation.
• Intended outcomes and possible unintended consequences.
• Specific theme of how the legislation affected the specific element of health care (the “Y” part of your research question).
• Possible gaps in the legislation.
• Summary.

Your literature review should be 6–8 pages of content plus title and references pages.

Evaluation

The following requirements correspond to the grading criteria in the assignment scoring guide, so be sure to address each point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

• Summarize findings from the literature on the effects of legislation on the scope, access to, availability of, and reimbursement for health care services.
  • What is known, unknown, or uncertain in your findings?
  •  What disagreements or controversies did you uncover in your review?
  •  Is further research required?
• Analyze the effects of at least one piece of legislation on health care access, cost, and/or quality.
  •  Is the legislation clear in its application and scope?
  • What factors determine its impact on health care access, cost, and/or quality?
• Articulate underlying assumptions, values, and biases in the literature.
  • How do these factors influence the authors’ arguments and conclusions?
  • How might your perspective or position influence your analysis?
• Analyze current gaps in health care policy.
  • What evidence do you have to support your findings?
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the legislation you have chosen to investigate in closing current gaps in health care policy. 
  • On which criteria do you base your assessment?
  • What evidence do you have to support your conclusions?
• Write clearly and concisely in a logically coherent and appropriate form and style.
  • Write with a specific purpose and audience in mind.
  • Adhere to scholarly and disciplinary writing standards and APA formatting requirements for your sources.

 

Week 11: Being Mindful of Ethics in Research for Positive Social Change

Throughout this course, you have reviewed numerous studies that contributed to the development of key theories in psychology. Some of the research might have seemed questionable to you, such as Zimbardo’s prison study, Milgram’s obedience experiment, or Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment. As a result of studies such as these, ethical guidelines were established to minimize any negative impact that study participants might experience. This week, you will learn more about the ethical guidelines that are in place to protect participants’ rights and safety. As a social change agent and psychology professional, you might be conducting your own research; think about how you would protect the safety of your participants while seeking information that could lead to positive social change. You will also submit your completed Psychology Theories Template at the end of the week.  

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Evaluate ethical issues related to research
• Analyze actions for positive social change
• Evaluate key concepts in theories

Learning Resources

Required Readings

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
“Protecting the Rights and Welfare of Research Participants” (pp. 21–26)

Greenaway, K. H., Cichocka, A., Veelen, R., Likki, T., & Branscombe, N. R. (2016). Feeling hopeful inspires support for social change. Political Psychology, 37(1), 89–107. doi:10.1111/pops.12225

Fisher, C. B., & Vacanti-Shova, K. (2012). The responsible conduct of psychological research: An overview of ethical principles, APA ethics code standards, and federal regulations. In S. J. Knapp, M. C. Gottlieb, M. M. Handelsman, & L. D. VandeCreek (Eds.), APA handbook of ethics in psychology, Vol. 2: Practice, teaching, and research (pp. 335–369). American Psychological Association.

Document: Psychology Theories Template (Excel Spreadsheet)

Journal of Social Change. (2017). Retrieved from http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/jsc/
Examine the contents of the Journal of Social Change and review at least one article of interest.

Walden University. (2013). What kind of social change agent are you? Retrieved from http://impactreport.waldenu.edu/ 

Walden University. (2018). Social change. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change 

Walden University. (2018). The Walden community: Scholars of change. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change/scholars-of-change
At this website, review a few of the latest videos by Walden scholars of change to support your understanding of social change and the research needed to support such change.

Required Media

Walden University, LLC. (Producer) (2016). Social change research [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 7 minutes.
Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

  

Discussion: Ethical Research for Social Change

Consider the research articles you have read throughout this course and the themes and topics that were explored. Many of articles are descriptions of seminal research that contributed to the development of key theories in psychology, some were conducted to advance knowledge in the field, and many had positive social change implications.

In this week’s discussion, you will be an agent for positive social change and describe a study you would like to conduct that could improve people’s lives. In your post, do not worry about accurately describing the design or methodology of your study; focus instead on what you would like to learn more about and what kinds of participants you would include in your study. Here is an example of the beginning of a discussion post describing a study and its participants:

I would like to conduct a study that examines the characteristics that contribute to adolescent texting while driving. My participants would be adolescents who are of driving age, male or female, anywhere in the United States, any culture, any socioeconomic level.

The rest of the post would include a description of an ethical consideration and the positive social change implications of the study.

To Prepare

• Review this week’s Learning Resources on conducting ethical research and promoting social change
• Think of a study you would like to conduct that has implications for positive social change.
• Identify at least one ethical guideline that you would need to consider as part of your research

 Based on unit materials and your own research what are some challenges that LGBTQ youth face today? How do you think the human services field can better address these issues? Research one LGBTQ youth organization and briefly summarize their mission and the outreach they provide.

You must support your response with scholarly sources in APA format.  Simply stating your opinion is not enough, back up your opinion with citations.  Refer to the DB Grading Rubric for more details.

 

For this forum, draw on Valenti, Davis (and if you’d like, Garcia from last week’s reading) to answer one of two questions.

1. How did your experience of sex education (or lack thereof) in high school reflect or diverge from Valenti’s description?

2.How does Angela Davis’s description of reproductive rights differ from how you have understood the pro-choice movement? 

In no less than 300 words, answer the above questions using the readings for the week, then respond to one classmate for this forum in no less than 100 words. For full credit, each response should mention at least ONE text in detail.