Overview
Throughout this course, you have considered potential doctoral study topics and discussed what makes a good topic. This week, you will select one of those topics to use in this Assignment. Although it is likely that you will change or refine your idea before committing to your final topic of research, this week you will select one topic and will draft an initial problem statement for it. Note: You may want to take this topic with you to your first residency and get feedback on it from Walden Faculty and your residency colleagues.
The problem statement for your doctoral study will introduce readers to your topic and state why it is important. If you review the DBA Traditional Capstone Rubric Checklist Cross-ReferenceLinks to an external site., you will note four specific items that need to be included in a problem and purpose statement. They are as follows:
- The specific business problem
- Purpose of the research, that includes the research method (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods)
- For quantitative and mixed methods, independent/predictor and dependent variables
- Research Design (i.e., case study, phenomenological, quasi-experimental, correlational, etc.)
- The population
To prepare for this Assignment:
- Review the topics that you identified in the Week 9 Discussion and consider which one is most interesting to you at this time based on what you have learned throughout this course.
- Consider the following questions:
- Why is the topic appropriate for doctoral study?
- How does it tie in to your personal and/or professional goals?
- What is the business problem that this topic would attempt to address? In other words, if you wrote a doctoral study on this topic, what problem would you try to address?
- Does the evidence support that this is an important topic?
- Then, select one of those topics for this week’s Assignment.
- Search the Walden Library for scholarly, peer-reviewed articles related to your topic. Conduct research on the business problem, which you will use as a basis to construct a 1- to 2-paragraph background/summary of the business problem.
Submit the following:
- A 1- to 2-paragraph background/summary of the business problem.
- A 2-sentence problem statement for your selected doctoral study topic that includes the following four elements:
- The specific business problem
- Purpose of the research, that includes the research method (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods)
- For quantitative and mixed methods, independent/predictor and dependent variables
- Research design (i.e., case study, phenomenological, quasi-experimental, correlational, etc.)
- The population
In addition to your problem statement, include 3–5 scholarly, peer-reviewedor government sources to support your statement.
Refer to the Week 11 Assignment Rubric for specific grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use this rubric to assess and grade your Assignment. Please Note: For each page of your paper, you must include APA-formatted, peer-reviewed, scholarly citations.
Week 9 Discussion:
I identified three potential doctoral research topics that align with my professional background in nursing and my interest in women’s health and empowerment. The first topic is the impact of health education interventions on reducing the risk of gestational diabetes among high-risk women. This topic stems from my clinical experience and previous academic work on gestational diabetes. It is appropriate for doctoral study because it addresses a well-documented gap in preventative education and patient adherence. Research shows that early education and lifestyle interventions can significantly reduce adverse maternal outcomes (Vounzoulaki et al., 2020). The potential impact includes improved patient outcomes, reduced healthcare costs, and increased health equity among vulnerable populations.
The second topic focuses on the role of digital health platforms in improving self-care behaviors among working mothers. As a working mother, I am interested in how technology can support health, wellness, and balance. This topic is relevant due to the rapid growth of digital health tools and their influence on patient engagement. According to Patel et al. (2015), digital health interventions can enhance patient self-management and access to care. This research could benefit healthcare organizations by improving patient compliance and outcomes while promoting positive social change through increased accessibility.
The third topic explores the relationship between women-centered wellness brands and consumer empowerment in health decision-making. This aligns with my entrepreneurial interest in building a brand focused on empowerment and self-care. This topic is appropriate because it integrates business strategy with health promotion. Studies suggest that empowerment-based approaches can improve health behaviors and decision-making (Anderson & Funnell, 2010). The impact includes advancing business practices that support women’s health while fostering confidence and autonomy in healthcare choices.
These topics are supported by credible, peer-reviewed sources and address meaningful gaps in both healthcare practice and business innovation.
References
Anderson, R. M., & Funnell, M. M. (2010). Patient empowerment: Myths and misconceptions.
Patient Education and Counseling, 79(3), 277–282.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2009.07.025
Patel, V., Barker, W., & Siminerio, E. (2015). Trends in consumer access and use of electronic
health information. ONC Data Brief, 30, 1–10.
Vounzoulaki, E., Khunti, K., Abner, S. C., Tan, B. K., & Davies, M. J. (2020). Progression to
type 2 diabetes in women with a known history of gestational diabetes: Systematic
review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 369, m1361. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1361