Trait Theory

To complete this paper, go through each section of your article, and pull out the key findings – this is the typical summary portion of this assignment. What is different, though, is that at the end of each section, you must also explain – in your own words – what this means to you and your reader. In other words, what are the implications from the “take-aways” in each section?  This means that each section in your journal should also be a section within your paper. While each journal article is different, you’ll probably end up with something like this:   Introduction – This is your introduction, not the journal article’s. Here you should explain why this article is so important, and by adopting the views in the article, what do readers gain / how do they benefit (this will become your thesis)? Literature Review – This is where the researcher typically paint s a picture of the current state of the field. What are the key points (take-aways) from the recent history of the field? For the implications section of your summary on this section, how would you describe the current state of the field? What are they (the field’s researchers, collectively) working to achieve? What is their focus? Methods – This is where the researcher explains how they gathered data in the study. This will probably be an easier section to summarize because they most likely used some sort of instrument. For your implications section, though, explain why this was a good choice (or bad choice). *HINT: It’s a good idea to use validity and reliability in your implications here. Results / Discussion – If you get a results section that is separated from the discussion section – and you probably will – just lump it in with the discussion section. If the article doesn’t have a results section, you’re pretty lucky. Usually, it’s just the numbers and “raw data” that is gathered from the study. It usually consists of numbers and formulas, so it’s often difficult to understand. That’s why I recommend just going to the discussion section – this is where they interpret the data for the reader and explain what it all means.  Summarize the researcher’s findings, and for your implications portion of this section, explain what this means for the field. Remember when you explained “What are they (the field’s researchers, collectively) working to achieve? What is their focus?” in the Literature Review section? Here you can explain how these researchers have contributed to that work/focus. Conclusion – This is your conclusion, not the journal article’s. Here you should review all of the implications/take-aways that you just suggested your reader adopt, and explain what the readers gain by adopting these implications/take-aways. Basically, if the reader follows what you and the summarized article say, how do the readers benefit (it’s probably just a review of your thesis)?