Alcohol and Substance Abuse

Factors Associated With Alcohol and Substance Abuse in Older Adults

Your project report or thesis study should have the following elements in this order.

Title page ‐ contains short, descriptive title of the thesis or project (should follow APA requirements – see below)
Abstract ‐ the abstract is a brief summary (should not exceed approximately 200 words) of your thesis study or project.
It should: present a brief introduction to the focus of your research or project; give a summary of how you addressed the issue; and include a possible implication of your work.

Key words must be included.

Table of contents ‐ list all headings and subheadings with page numbers (remember to indent subheadings).

1. Introduction – The Introduction Chapter should include:
2. Background and context of the problem or area of focus.
3. A statement of the focus of the project or thesis study; often referred to as the statement of the problem.
4. A statement of the purpose of the project or thesis study; often referred to as the purpose statement.
5. Objectives of the project or thesis study or a justification of why the study or project was needed or important – why it was worth doing.
6. Assumptions that you made related to the area of focus of the project or of the study – what
7. Things you assumed were already true about the area of focus.
8. Identify the limitations of the study or project – what was not accomplished in this study.
9. Definition of terms – define unique terms you were used so that the reader shares the same meanings.

The introduction should be written at a level that makes it easy to understand for readers with general business or health care background, for example your classmates.

Literature Review ‐ Review what is known about your research topic as far as it is relevant to your thesis study.
The literature review should include the following sections:

1. Introduction to the literature review
2. Body of the literature review – one or more sections that summarize (with citations) information that is very specific to your study or project
3. Literature review conclusion – it is here where you place the compelling statement of why your thesis study or project focus is important (what we will know that we don’t now know or what difference the project will make).
Be sure to cite relevant references and include them in the final references section.

Methodology – This chapter should include the following sections:

1. Participants: Describe the participants in your study or project, including who they were, how many there were, and how they were selected.
2. Materials: Describe the materials, measures, equipment, or stimuli used in the study or project.
This may include testing instruments, technical equipment, books, organizational procedures or equipment, images, or other materials used in the course of the study or project.
3. Design: Describe the type of design used in the study or project. Specify the variables measured as well as the levels of these variables.
4. Procedure: The next part of your methods chapter should detail the procedures used in your study or project. Explain what you had participants do, how collected data, and the order in which steps occurred.

Results ‐ This chapter includes a description of the data collected for your study or the outcomes of your project.

It is simply a description of the data or the outcomes, it does not include any interpretation of what they may mean (that is for the final chapter). This chapter needs to include:

1. Introduction: Describe what the reader will encounter in the results chapter.
2. Results: Describe (using tables, graphs, figures, etc.) the results of the data analysis or the outcomes of the project.
Remember this is only a description, no interpretation of meaning should be included here. You can use subheadings for each of the findings or outcomes if you wish.
3. Summary: The final section summarizes what was described in this chapter. In condensed fashion, tell the reader what they just encountered.

Conclusions and Recommendations ‐ This chapter includes a detailed interpretation of the results from your study or of the outcomes of the project.

It is here where you tell the reader how you met the original purpose, objectives and whether the results supported the hypotheses or not.
Literally, this chapter is the accountability chapter for your study or project.
It should include the following sections:

1. An introduction to what will be covered in the chapter, including a restatement of the original purpose, objectives, and hypotheses of the study or project (found in Chapter I‐ Introduction)
2. Conclusion ‐ a detailed description of what the results mean in relationship to the purpose, objectives and hypotheses of the study or project.
Each of these items from Chapter I can be used as subheadings for this section if you wish
3. Recommendations ‐ list what recommendations come from your results related to the topic of the study or project
4. Recommendations for future research ‐ list the recommendations for what future researchers can do to replicate the study or do the project and accomplish even more than you did.
How can future studies or projects in your topic area be better?
5. Summary ‐ a one to two-page section that summarizes the entire process of doing the study or completing the project.

It summarizes all that is in the preceding pages.

References Page ‐ cite all ideas, concepts, text, data that are not your own. If you make a statement, back it up with your own data or a reference.
Follow APA guidelines for the thesis or project report.