Sam's+Literature+Review

=__Sam Martin's Literature Review__=

__**A strong literature review must consist of the following elements:**__

1) Analyze the articles in question; 2) Compare and Contrast the articles; 3) Evaluate the articles; 4) Synthesize and integrate the findings of the articles; 5) I would add a fifth item: use the chart on page 268 of Dawidowicz (2006).

__**Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP**__)

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) is the code of ethics, rules and regulations for appraisal professionals in the United States. Promulgated by The Appraisal Foundation (TAF), USPAP is not federal law, but can be required by law, regulation or agreement. Students wishing to become licensed appraisers must take and pass a fifteen-hour USPAP course which conveys the sense of the rules and regulations to incoming appraisers. The USPAP course can be grounded or taught at a distance. The issue at hand: does USPAP instruction in an online medium convey ethics or morality in an meaningful way? Literature is quite narrowly focused concerning USPAP. The Lum Library of the Appraisal Institute might be a valuable resource.

__**Defining Issues Test (DIT)**__

Rest and a variety of others have developed and tested the Defining Issues Test (DIT), a morality test that can be correlated with Kohlberg's Stages of Morality. ( Rest and Narvaez, 1999) The DIT presents a number of case studies, and the respondents must indicate what actions they must take, and why. There are no right or wrong responses. Over several years of tests, the validity and reliability of the DIT (and its improved version, the DIT2, which is often the version used online) are well-known. The literature is rich concerning DIT.

__**Online Transmission of Ethics**__

Online ethics tests are critical to my dissertation research. The DIT2 will be administered online to students about to take the online 15-hour USPAP course. The DIT2 will be administered after the students finish the course, and have taken the USPAP exam. Significant differences would indicate that the USPAP course is having an impact on the morality level of the students. DIT2 has been shown to be valid and reliable in an online environment. ( Rest and Narvaez, 1999)

__**Lawrence Kohlberg**__

Kohlberg has postulated six stages of moral development. (Kohlberg and Lickona, 1976) The six stages are well-known, but are more qualitative descriptors. Rest's DIT is used to measure respondents' answers and relate them to the Kohlberg Stages. The lower stages are related to cause-effect morality: I do this, I get spanked. The higher stages are related to "thinking beyond myself," or "thinking beyond society." The DIT has case studies that parallel such stages of morality. The literature is rich regarding Kohlberg. However, the literature contains nothing about Kohlberg, the DIT, and USPAP: a classic gap in the literature.

__**Quantitative Analyses (Two-Tailed)**__

Once the data from the DIT are collected, they must be analyzed. The pre-course DIT results must be compared with the post-course DIT results. A paired t-test compares the mean of the pre-course data vs the mean of the post-course data, and helps determine if the difference is significant. Ultimately, the t-test will help prove or disprove the null hypothesis. The literature is rich with information about the t-test and its variants. Many programs are available to run t-tests.

__**References**__

Dawidowicz, P. (2006). Literature reviews made easy: A quick guide to success. Bloomington, IN: Positive Change Publishing.

Kohlberg, L., & Lickona, T. (1976). Moral stages & moralization: the cognitive developmental approach.

Rest, J. R., & Narvaez, D. (1999). DIT2: Devising and testing a revised instrument of moral judgment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 644.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (2008). Washington DC: The Appraisal Foundation.