RESEARCH AND WRITING
A capstone business writing and research course which uses an adaptation of the scientific method to initiate significant research in business. This course should be taken in the senior year. Students will design, research, draft, and revise a mini-thesis on an important "hot" topic in their major. Special attention will be paid to the use of the Internet in conducting research.
The course consists of the production of one significant piece of business research in the student's major. The paper contains the following sections: Research Statement, Purpose, Background and Significance of the Problem, Review of Literature, Expectations, and a Survey Research Design Proposal.
The course has five major goals.
1. You will learn to do research about a "hot" business topic in your major, using academic and professional business journals such as the Journal of Accountancy as well as standard business periodicals and newspapers (e.g. Wall Street Journal). The majority of the sources used should have been published in the last two years. The idea is to understand a current business issue in depth. For example, if you want to write about Sarbanes Oxley, we want to know the current effects of the law. A detailed rehashing of Enron is not suitable. Books are permitted if they fall within the last two years. Of course, if you give internet statistics from even a recent book, they will be too old. The emphasis is on cutting-edge information from respected business sources. You will be required to have at least 20 sources in your paper with at least three academic journal sources.
2. You will read and master information on a topic in your major that will allow you to talk with some authority to both employers and graduate faculty. In putting together you paper, you should become something of an expert on the business content. A student recently obtained an excellent job in accounting when he was able to discuss forensic accounting in an informed way with an employer who worked in forensic accounting.
3. You will learn to use proper APA citation format, especially for electronic sources, so that you will be prepared for graduate school, should you wish to continue your studies.
4. You will improve your writing and analytical skills. Many students have provided the paper from the class to both employers and graduate schools as an example of their writing skills and the level of their college research. Honors students have won many awards from Alpha Chi, a national academic honor society of undergraduates, using the papers from this class.
5. You will need to draw from business (or other) fields outside of your major, when demanded by your topic. The demands of most topics will require students to read and understand interdisciplinary information. The survey design section of the paper will highlight this need.