From Challenge to Opportunity: The Power of Possibility - Article Example

From Challenge to Opportunity: The Power of Possibility Introduction There are many purposes why journal articles are published. While some are to explore or describe, and evaluate a certain phenomena by providing subsequent proofs to support existing or new conclusions, others are made simply to explain them. The article entitled “From Challenge to Opportunity: The Power of Possibility” of the American Psychological Association (APA) (2010) is a type of an explanatory article. It was written to serve as an explanation tool about how certain aspects of APA have led it to the crisis that it is currently facing and to see whether the organization will or will not be able to turn the current crisis into forms of opportunities that will aid in making the Association a remarkable one. In connection, this paper will assess how effectively the article has served its purpose by critiquing each significant section. The Purpose of the Study The purpose of the article, as it has been emphasized earlier, is to consider identified areas of the organization that can help make the APA a remarkable association by overturning related crisis that it is facing and its causes from being factors which can bring forth negative effects into opportunities for positive change. It aimed at explaining a number of fundamental characteristics such as “what APA is, who and what it serves, and how it can prepare itself” (APA, 2010, p. 476) in the beginning of the report as the author thought these as their determinants of the Association’s ability to do so; and the necessity of indicating it early in the paper aided in clarifying its totality. Like all the statements of the purpose of the study should be, the article’s purposes has helped create a specific path that it has taken in answering why the current situation and what is thought to be done to counter it. As a result, the article was able to reflect the reason why it was written in the first place and all the important aspects of the cause-and-effect patterns that have led to the crisis have been addressed well. The Design Research designs are formulated so that the goal of the study is achieved as simply and as systematically as possible. It functions "to ensure that the evidence obtained enables us to answer the initial question as unambiguously as possible" ("Part I: What is," n.d., p.9). It dictates how the report should be structured and what comprises it (the research methodology, the variables, its validity, the samples, the sampling techniques, how they should be analyzed, etc.) which are deemed appropriate so that the purpose of the study will be achieved accordingly without having to undertake unnecessary and unrelated information in presenting the main idea or phenomena in question. The research design that the article “From Challenge to Opportunity” followed a simple structure that allowed an efficient presentation of the topic discussed. Using a concrete background, related literature, and appropriate sources of the information, APA (2010) was able to demonstrate how the two factors of customer service culture and organizational adaptability have caused the crisis that the Association is confronted with (p. 477). It has paved way for a more in-depth analysis of the key variables by assessing the collected data from the different surveys that have been recently conducted such as the diverse reasons of the members into joining the Association and how the patterns of the members’ tendency to choose the other organizations outside APA to answer their needs affected the organization. These data are considered to be reliable as the APA itself has gathered them in some separate, independent, and actual studies. However, because of the nature of the report, the article simply does not cite a specific sampling selection process in addition to the unavailability of the identification of what variables are dependent and independent as well as the specific methodologies used. This is understandable, though. What makes the article weak, on the other hand, is that it was not able to correlate the variables causing the crisis in making it into the opportunities that will permit the necessary changes to make it into the better organization as stated in the beginning of the report. Yet, the author has strongly pointed out that these steps will be featured in another report which is to be released this year. The Discussion The Article. The article “From Challenge to Opportunity” discusses the topic with clarity in relation to the involved factors which is, according to Maki (2004), one of the features of a good article (p. 150). The research design employed offered a way to expound the topic in an organized direction. Additionally, Maki (2004) noted that any article discussion is highly-regarded if it is able to connect the topic “to contexts outside that of the study” (p. 150); and despite the fact that the article does not totally have a formal and scholarly research format, the author still was able to associate the variables with the presence of factors outside the Association itself which is also a good way of examining as well as explaining why the phenomenon exists and is given significant attention. Then again, some important points, such as what has been mentioned earlier, have not been discussed thoroughly. The Author and the Validity of the Article. Since the article is a report about the condition of the American Psychological Association, it is only appropriate to have it reported by the Association itself. With the aid of the other internally-conducted surveys and the other information made available for the discussion, the report has carefully noted the significant areas that have contributed to the challenge that is currently threatening the Association. Therefore, despite the vagueness of some of the article’s sections which is mostly illustrated in the last part of the report, specifically in the discussion of the organizational adaptability, the information collected and presented are deemed logical and hence, is valid. Conclusion The explanatory form of the 2009 Annual Report of the APA Policy and Planning Board represents a work of integrity, one of the core values of St. Leo University, in research as it stood firm in presenting the facts about the Association’s true condition by reporting how and why it occurred in a straight and consistent manner and without inhibitions. Like what was said, each article is made for different purposes; while it has some glitches, the article at issue is, nevertheless, organized, understandable and informative in its own right which are proofs of a good one. References American Psychological Association. (2010). From challenge to opportunity: the power of possibility: 2009 annual report of the policy and planning board. American Psychologist, 65 (5), 476-482. Maki, P. L. (2004). Assessing for learning: building a sustainable commitment across the institution. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing. Part I: what is research design? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nyu.edu/classes/bkg/methods/005847ch1.pdf Read More