Review of Nancy Jean Vyhmeister's Quality Research Papers

¶ … Handbook for Doctor of Ministry Projects

Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean. Quality Research Papers. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008

The book Quality research papers by Nancy Jean Vyhmeister is a book about quality research papers; the second edition of the book was published in 2008. The book acts a research guide as well as a theology religious book; it can be used for professional church research. It gives different guides and resources that can be used for research work. It provides a clear guide from the beginning of a research to the completion. This second edition is rapidly becoming a reference guide for general research writing and research in the field of theology. It has advances in technology; the second edition provides a guide for doing online research and church related research in a professional manner.

Nancy Jean wrote the book to help in theology research; she majorly wrote the book to give guidelines to theology students when researching. The book is meant to be an instruction for the Christians. She gives different aspects of research, and the correct format to be used in research.[footnoteRef:2] It also puts different forms of research in writing; like research techniques, bibliography, form and organization in a balanced perspective. The work in this book is collected from different authors hence lack originality. The first thirteen chapters describe research forms and have different book reviews. [2: Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean. Quality Research Papers. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008]

The author uses a formal style to write her work, the work has clarity because she writes following up-to-date procedures to explain the writing procedures. The procedures Nancy gives in her book are simplistic and easy to follow. The work is full of development because she starts from describing what research is, to where to finish and conclude the research. The book is well organized as it has a table of contents, which can easily lead someone to a specific topic. It is remarkably comprehensive about research, and it also balances the different stages in the research. The table of topics is based on development of different topics discussed in the book. The book is majorly written for theology students, to aid them in their research, but the book can be used by anyone while doing research in any genre or any writing. [footnoteRef:3] [3: Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean. Quality Research Papers. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008]

The theme of the book is about how to research and how to compile a research. It starts from scratch about how to prepare topics and questions for research to how to compile a research report. It also discusses tables and statistics that can be used in research. It gives enough information that can be used through a research process. The thesis of the book is about research methodology in theology, and the religious field. The author presents the book in the form of different units, which give specific, details about different topics she discusses in the book. These units expound into details about research and different descriptions found in the research process. These specific details help readers to understand the research topics well. The author has used bible quote and verses to help the reader in better understanding about what is discussed in the book. The author has also used situations to clarify her points and make her points better understood by the readers.

The author uses different ideas, and critical analysis to explain her points. She also explains different issues related to the subject matter without impartiality. She also explains her views from a theological-biblical point-of-view; by narration then ends with theological understanding. The book is thoroughly revised and accurate making it highly reliable for the readers. She gives a up-to-date procedure and meets her goals, because she gives basic examples for doing research, organizing different topics and writing an organized thesis. She also meets her goals because while she is a role model; she also produces an admirable example as she says in her conclusion. [footnoteRef:4] [4: Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean. Quality Research Papers. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008]

The key concepts helpful in preparation of a paper are; the research process. The research process is helpful in getting the required information. She gives details about what a research is, and what a research is not. She gives up-to-date details about the research process and also explains the importance of a research. From the research, one will require to use a library. The book gives procedures for using a library, using a catalog and also procedures for using other library sources. Research can also be done in the internet, and Nancy has sufficiently given details on internet research, using footnotes and how to evaluate the internet sources.

Another key concept is the choice of topics; where she gives the process of choosing, reading and how to select a thesis for the topic. This is a critical part of writing because a successful research depends on the topic, and well planed topic gives exceptional clarity to the writing. She also gives procedures to use for special research and the use of tables; where there is descriptive research, surveys, interviews and sampling. [footnoteRef:5] This part gives further details on how to handle different research methods. She also gives methods to be used while making bibliographies and citations. This is an essential part in any writing as it gives this is helpful to the writer and the reader; it gives further information about research or writing. In the bibliography, she gives different examples, which are easy to follow and understand. She gives examples on multiauthor and multivolume. These examples cannot be easily found in any other texts. [5: Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean. Quality Research Papers. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008]

Conclusion

Nancy Vhymeister Quality Research Papers can be used as a standard referencing material. It gives detailed information about the research process, book reviews, program development and it gives additional information to theology students. It also gives highly reliable information because it derives most of information from different texts. All information provided can be used to carry out a successful research in all fields and genres. [footnoteRef:6] [6: Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean. Quality Research Papers. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008]

Davies, Richard E., Handbook for Doctor of Ministry Projects. New York: University of America Press, 1984

Conclusion

Davies literature shows there were insufficient resources to be used in assisting students in their projects. Different references are used for further guidance. The book does not provide full information about research because the writer assumes that, the reader is well trained and has access to other handbooks that are theologically oriented. [footnoteRef:9] The book is too brief to deal with hence does not provide sufficient information for thesis development and writing. Different publications on advanced qualitative research have been made after this book making the book less reliable. Davies literature is competent and clearly explained because it provides various research issues and it also provides other references. Hence the book is a substantial research guideline for students and also an excellent book to be referred to when searching for research materials. [9: Davies, Richard E., Handbook for Doctor of Ministry Projects. New York: University of America Press, 1984]

Work cited

Davies, Richard E., Handbook for Doctor of Ministry Projects. New York: University of America Press, 1984

Vyhmeister, Nancy Jean. Quality Research Papers. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008