PSY600 W1/D2  Instructions for the Initial Post  Part One: Professional Research Summary  You have been approached by your supervisor to create a Professional Research Summary that  explains how a masters program in psychology will be beneficial to you in your current position  or how it might assist you with a potential future position within the organization. For this  assignment, you will evaluate contemporary applications of psychology in professional settings  and research a specific area of psychology that is relevant to the work you are currently doing or  hope to do in the future. The research will be compiled into a brief summary report, which will  include elements of both academic and professional writing. You will practice both types of  writing by using academic writing in the creation of the descriptive research portion of the  assignment and professional writing skills in the summary portion, which will explain how the  research is professionally relevant.  Create a Word document for your summary. This document will be attached to your initial  discussion post. Include your name and the course number and title at the top of the document.  For the research portion of the report, you will choose a general area of interest from the  following list of psychology domains that is applicable to your current or future work.  • Developmental Psychology  • Social Psychology  • Cognitive Psychology  • Personality Theories  • Clinical Psychology  Within your domain, choose a specific topic and research five peer-reviewed articles that were  published within the last five years. Indicate your chosen domain and selected topic area in the  document, and then create a reference list of the articles you wish to include that is formatted  according to the instructions provided by the Ashford Writing Center in the Comprehensive APA  Reference List Models document. (You may also review samples of different types of APA  citations from the Ashford Writing Center.) Under each article, provide a well-developed threeto  four-sentence description of the information presented that includes the type of article, topic,  significant findings, and how it is relevant to the selected field of psychology. Once you have  completed your descriptions, create a summary of the findings and describe how this research  would be applicable in your current or future professional setting(s). Attach the document to your  initial post.  Part Two: Initial Post Reflections  In your initial post, reflect on the process of creating the report. Comment on the following  questions:  • What specific issues did you encounter?  • What were the challenges in both the research and writing processes?  • How did you work to overcome the challenges in this assignment, and how might you use  this experience to inform future research and writing practices?  • How were the resources in the Ashford University Library and the Ashford Writing  Center useful to you during the process?  • Are there specific additional resources you would like to have for future assignments?