Research Paper (Synthesis) - Related to course goal 6 and 10, and depending on the topic, to course goals 1 to 6:
The Research Paper is a MINIMUM 15 page (completely of text, which means that you should not count the title page, blank pages, reference pages, tables, or charts) scholarly research paper on a topic related to a major course concept in HRMD 640. Use your first paper as your beginning point.
Effective managers, leaders, and teachers are also effective communicators. Written communication is an important element of the total communication process. The Graduate Schoolrecognizes and expects exemplary writing to be the norm for course work. To this end, all papers must demonstrate graduate level writing and comply with the format requirements of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition (or later - the APA format for electronic resources is contained in the Content section in Read Me Second)). Careful attention should be given to spelling, punctuation, source citations, references, and the presentation of tables and figures. It is expected that all course work will be presented on time and error free.
A word of caution about selecting your topic. WRITE AN OBJECTIVE PAPER! DO NOT write a term paper (or give me a proposal) in which you have a foregone conclusion which you are going to prove in your paper. For example, let's say you are going to write a paper on the topic of affirmative action. You do some literature review and decide you are going to write a paper on, "The Failure of Affirmative Action Programs and Policies to Advance Diversity in the Workplace". I would not consider this paper to be "objective" - you have a foregone conclusion ("Failure") in which you are going to "prove" your thesis. To be more objective, you would want to objectively examine "the effects of affirmative action programs and policies in advancing diversity in the workplace".
Make sure the paper is critical/analytical or persuasive. Do not pick a topic that is merely descriptive, such as a historical overview of some law (e.g., The Equal Pay Act) or movement. While some descriptive overview may be necessary, use that ONLY as a necessity to fulfill the purpose of critiquing and analyzing the topic.
The paper requires you to select your own topic related to HRMD640. This means you need to decide what you are interested in, think about human resources issues in your organization, read, research, etc., prior to picking a topic. Do not simply ask me for ideas or what you should do for your paper. I welcome running ideas past me if you have problems determining which of several topics to tackle, BUT make sure you have carefully thought through what you want to present to me. I strongly suggest that you conduct preliminary research in the library prior to settling on a topic. The majority of you will have settled on the Research Paper topic after writing the First Paper whereas some of you may decide you want to write on a different topic. This is acceptable as long as it is related to HRMD640. This will allow you to determine whether there are sufficient reference materials to adequately cover your topic and will allow you to define your topic with sufficient precision (e.g., don't take on a topic that is so broad that you could write a book on it). I STRONGLY DISCOURAGE you from choosing your topic by simply looking through your textbook: your texts are an excellent place to start but move beyond them. Finally, DO NOT hand in a term paper which simply reiterates material that could be garnered from your textbook.
I would like to emphasize that your ability to think and write critically and clearly are important for your career as well as for scholarly presentations. Professors can and do differ in their expectations and criteria when grading papers and exams. There are two general issues I consider when I read and grade student papers. The first issue is what I refer to as the structure of the paper. This includes grammar, syntax, vocabulary, spelling, margins, citations, reference listings, etc. The second issue is the content of the paper - how you approach your topic, presentation of arguments, materials, or evidence supporting the arguments, the logic of your presentation, creativity, effectively incorporating sources from you research into your paper, whether it is analytical/persuasive or simply descriptive, etc. The content reflects your ability to conduct thorough research on your topic, and to critically sift through research materials to make a cogent and critical presentation.
The criteria and standards I will use to grade your Research Paper are detailed in the Course Content section.
I would like to point out a couple of things in which students make critical errors. First, please ensure that your grammar, syntax, vocabulary, spelling, etc. are at the graduate level of writing. If you have difficulty with your writing skills I suggest you contact the Writing Center. Second, ensure that you use APA format - however, do not provide me with an abstract nor use a heading on each page (I am overriding the APA format on this issue).
Be particularly sensitive to source citations. Examples of appropriate and inappropriate citations:
INAPPROPRIATE: Professor Ulysses S. Grant of the prestigious Harvard School of Economics, wrote in 1995 in his seminal book, "The Politics of Selection", that . .. . ... ... . .. "
APPROPRIATE: "Grant (1995) wrote that . . .. . . .. . .. . "
Note: I don't care about his title, first name, who he's affiliated (or where he's from), the name of the book, etc. - these are not relevant to the immediate topic of discussion in your paper - they do not establish the validity of an argument.
INAPPROPRIATE: "Research done in the late 1980's by some leading scholars, Howard Smith, Richard Longfellow, Jeanine Wonder, and Frank Wanderlic, found that in general, . . . . .."
APPROPRIATE: "Research by Smith (1986), Longfellow (1987), Wonder (1988, 1989), and Wonderlic (1989), found that in general ..." OR: "Researchers (Smith, 1986; Longfellow, 1987; Wonder, 1988, 1989; Wonderlic, 1989) found that in general . . ........"
INAPPROPRIATE: "Research by Smith (Smith, 1986) . . ........"
APPROPRIATE: "Research by Smith (1986) . .. . . ." OR "Research (Smith, 1986) has found. .. . . ."
Remember: APA format.
Reference Page: Again, consult the APA manual. Sources listed on your reference page should match only what is cited in the text of your paper. Likewise, if you cite an author, there must be a corresponding source on the reference page. DO NOT list every source you consulted or read in writing your paper: some stuff you will read and "toss aside". I only care about the sources you used in the text of your paper to make your arguments or present evidence.
DO NOT break or subdivide your paper into headings and subheadings, e.g., how the material is presented in your textbook. The ONLY heading I want to see is the Title of the paper.
Do not include an abstract nor use a paper heading at the top of each page.
Do not include a Table of Contents. A Table of Contents is useful for a book or monograph but your papers are not going to be long enough to justify a Table of Contents (besides, you are NOT to subdivide your paper into sections necessary for a Table of Contents).
Do not use lists or "bullets". If you use charts, graphs, etc., make sure you explain them and refer to them in your paper.
USE only Word software with the doc. suffix. Any other format will be returned unread and the paper will be penalized 5 points for being late.
Keep quotations to a minimum. Quote only if it is absolutely necessary that you not change the wording of the author. If you copy material word-for-word it MUST be in quotes. I have yet to see a good reason for quoting material so I strongly suggest you completely stay away from quoting and use paraphrasing. Paraphrasing materials indicates you understand the source materials.
INDENT paragraphs and double space between paragraphs.
I will, at times, check source citations and references. I also use Turnitin.
Use "authoritative" sources. There is a lot of information and data that is unreliable and much of it reflects people's opinions. Also, anecdotal "evidence" is often used in trade journals and the news media. Certainly, as a manager, you want to make business decisions based on your knowledge of the limitations of information you have researched. Likewise, in your research you want to critically assess the nature (reliability and validity) of your sources to determine whether conclusions, arguments, and opinions that an author presents are valid. Popular publications such as, newspapers, news magazines, articles contained in internet services (e.g., Yahoo, Comcast, Google, etc., news), and even professional trade magazines (e.g., HR Executive, Personnel Administrator, etc.,) are typically not sufficient for research papers in a graduate program. Authoritative materials typically have a reference page (at the end of the article) which allows you to check their sources in order to judge the validity of the arguments, evidence, etc. For example, newspapers, news magazines (e.g., Newsweek), and some "trade journals", are not considered to be authoritative (and, if you review them, you will find they don't cite sources, so you are left to only to believe what the article reports). For example, the trade magazine, Human Resources Administrator, has some interesting articles in which an author may relate some of the author's experiences. While it may be interesting, this is considered anecdotal evidence which has very little persuasive appeal. As another example, a training "journal" reports on the percentage of organizations which use "Management-By-Objectives", yet it does not identify the source of its statistics. You have no way to check the validity of the numbers, thus it has no "authority". Another example is that Time magazine reports that the Economic Institute found that federal employees are "paid more" than private sector employees. I don't care if you identify the person in the Economic Institute who made the statement - you need to see the results of the survey or report that allowed the person to come to that conclusion. Furthermore, you have no way of determining what "paid more" refers to - pay or total compensation, etc. The persuasiveness of any argument or evidence is based on the validity and veracity of the source (Not to the reputability or authoritativeness of an individual).
Do not use "internet only" sources (that is, you can only find it on the internet). Do not confuse "internet only" sources from sources you use the internet to research. For example, you may access the UMUC library via internet to obtain authoritative material contained in the library - this is certainly acceptable and encouraged.
Do not use textbooks from other courses in this program or other college courses as references. Do not use newspapers, news magazines (e.g., Time, Business Week, etc.,) or trade magazines (HR Executive) as reference sources.
Do not over rely on only a few sources from which you paraphrase extensively. Even though you may have a minimum of 5 sources, if you use and cite only a few principal sources throughout your paper, there will be questions regarding how thorough you were in your research. While I don't expect an exhaustive review of the research and literature on your topic, demonstrate that you have been relatively thorough.
Use primary sources and avoid secondary sources, unless it is impossible to obtain the original source document.
Do not use the first person (e.g., I, we) or second person (e.g., "You should first . . .") pronoun in writing your paper.
Proofread your paper. You may spend up to 12 weeks on your paper, compiling information and writing it. You don't want your grade lowered because of some error that easily could have been caught had you proofread your paper. While this may seem an elementary point, it is amazing how such a simple point is overlooked.
Make sure your paper has, AT A MINIMUM, an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. MAKE sure your introduction specifies, in as much detail as possible, the purpose of your paper AND how you intend to fulfill that purpose (This is ONLY an example: "..... Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to . . . . . . In examining this issue, the paper first discusses the research on . . . . Second, the paper examines the research on . . . . These two lines of research will be compared and contrasted to . . . . Finally, based on the research, a set of recommendations will be presented which . . . ."). Keep in mind that your introduction tells me the purpose of the paper, why your topic is important/relevant, and how you will accomplish the purpose. Then, in the remainder of the paper (the body) do what you said you were going to do in the introduction. Finally, in the conclusion summarize your findings and/or give recommendations you garnered from your research.
Research Paper is due in your assignment folder no later than 11:00 p.m.(EST) on Sunday, .
In regards to papers submitted after the due date/time, you should consult the "Grading Information and Criteria" for the Departmental policy on late papers.
On all assignments (with the exclusion of participation exercises I present in the Conferences), I grant a 15 minute allowance in submitting the paper/exam into your assignment folder.