BUS 385/485: Human Resource Management Thesis (SPRING/AUTUMN 2002) PAGE 5
TENTATIVE CALENDAR (white page) 2
COURSE SYLLABUS (white pages) 3
FORMAT FOR ASSIGNMENTS (white page) 5
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHOOSING YOUR TOPIC (white page) 6
CONDUCTING RESEARCH AND COLLECTING ARTICLES (purple pages) 7
GUIDELINES FOR SUMMARIZING ARTICLES (green pages) 10
ESTABLISHING AUTHORSHIP (pink pages) 12
SAMPLES OF REFERENCES FROM APA’S PUBLICATION MANUAL (tan pages) 19
REFERENCE CITATIONS IN TEXT (yellow pages) 21
WRITING A THESIS PLAN (bright purple pages) 23
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUMMER LITERATURE REVIEW (bright green pages) 26
REVISED THESIS PLAN (bright pink pages) 29
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THESIS ORAL PRESENTATION (bright yellow pages) 33
DIARY OF SEARCH TERMS (white pages) 38
SAMPLE THESIS (bright red page) 40
TENTATIVE CALENDAR
Read the appropriate sections of this thesis manual prior to the dates listed below. Refer to the APA Publication Manual (5th edition) as needed.
DATE ASSIGNMENT READING
01-15 Course introduction and preliminary topic selection White pages
01-22 Conferences (Bring thesis topic and research articles) Purple pages
01-29 Topic selection/Business practices article discussion Green & Pink pages
Chapter 3
02-05 Conferences (Bring business practices articles) Tan & Yellow pages
02-12 Business practices paraphrase due Chapter 1
Context/History article discussion
02-19 Conferences (Bring context and history articles)
02-26 Context/history paraphrase due Chapter 2
Theory article discussion
03-05 Conferences (Bring theory articles)
03-12 Theory paraphrase due Chapter 2
Legal article discussion
03-19 Conferences (Bring legal articles)
03-26 Easter Break - No class
04-02 Legal paraphrase due Chapters 4 & 5
Evaluation/effectiveness article discussion
04-09 Conferences (Bring evaluation/effectiveness articles)
04-16 Evaluation/Effectiveness paraphrase due Bright pages
Thesis/Research plan discussion
04-23 Conferences (Bring an outline/draft of thesis/research plan)
04-30 Thesis/Research plan due
05-07 Conferences (Discuss summer research plans)
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructors: Mr. Ronald Collins Office: 329G Hoffman Phone: 588-7281
Dr. Thomas Pusateri Office: 187 Hennessy Phone: 588-7226
Course objectives: This seminar is designed to enhance the professional skills of candidates for the Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management: skills in library research, critical reading, oral and written communication, and accurate interpretation and application of relevant theories and methods used in human resource management. You will develop these skills by conducting preliminary research for a thesis in human resource management (to be completed during Autumn 2002 at Loras College).
Thesis content: During this pre-thesis course you will conduct independent library research on several areas related to your thesis topic. We expect each thesis next semester to:
· introduce an issue of concern to human resource management, providing an introductory assessment of its current social, psychological, business, technological, legal, governmental and/or international contexts;
· follow the issue’s historical development through relevant literature in business, legal, and psychological journals;
· discuss social/psychological theories and research pertaining to the issue;
· elaborate on current and future laws and government policies that affect business practices associated with the issue;
· describe current business policies and practices addressing the issue; and
· discuss evaluation research that will permit you to articulate a position concerning the most rational viewpoint(s) and/or likely future of research and practice on this issue.
COURSE AND CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES: During this pre-thesis course, you will locate articles of relevance to each of the areas of your thesis as described above. We will spend approximately two weeks on each area of your thesis. For each two-week period, we will roughly follow this schedule of activities:
· We will meet as a class to discuss the upcoming research assignment. Some classes will be devoted to providing you the opportunity to discuss your development and progress towards conducting research on your thesis topic. Other classes will involve exercises designed to improve your skills in areas such as gaining access to relevant materials in the library, creating a reference list, and citing and paraphrasing articles.
· You will then conduct library research to locate relevant journal articles;
· In the following week, you will schedule a conference with your advisor, during which you will present the results of your research and select an article for paraphrasing;
· You will paraphrase the main points of the article and submit your paraphrase at the end of the two-week period.
Methods of assessment and evaluation: The advisors will provide you written feedback on the quality of your library research and on the content and format of your paraphrases of selected articles. At the end of the semester the advisors will assign a letter grade to your work that will reflect the quality of your library research, written assignments, and classroom participation.
A = Exceptional progress, beyond that expected from the typical student in this course. The student has located several relevant journal articles per area that exceed expectations for breadth and depth of research at this stage in writing a thesis. The student demonstrates considerable depth and breadth of knowledge of the thesis topic as evidenced by the quality of all or nearly all of the student’s paraphrases of articles and the student’s contributions to student-teacher conferences. The student meets deadlines, hands in assignments in nearly perfect format, and writes clearly and concisely. The student contributes frequently and insightfully to classroom discussion. The advisors expect the student to have little or no difficulty in locating additional relevant articles during the summer and in writing a quality thesis.
B = Adequate progress, which meets the progress expected from the typical student in this course. The student has located relevant journal articles per area that meet expectations but may lack some breadth or depth of research in one or a few areas. The student demonstrates some depth and breadth of knowledge of the thesis topic as evidenced by the quality of the student’s paraphrases of most articles and the student’s contributions to student-teacher conferences, but the student may have some difficulty with one or a few areas of the thesis. The student meets deadlines, hands in assignments with a few tolerable format errors, and generally writes clearly and concisely. The student contributes occasionally and with some insight to classroom discussion. The advisors expect the student to have some or minimal difficulty in locating additional relevant articles during the summer and in writing an acceptable though not outstanding thesis.
C = Progress is below expectations for the typical student in this course. The student has located only a few relevant articles, or the student’s research contains too many irrelevant, redundant, or brief articles. The student demonstrates some deficiency in the depth and/or breadth of knowledge of the thesis topic as evidenced by less than adequate quality of the student’s paraphrases of articles and the student’s difficulty in contributing to student-teacher conferences. The student has some trouble meeting deadlines, hands in assignments with several format errors that detract from the quality of the assignment, and does not write clearly or concisely enough to communicate effectively. The student rarely contributes to classroom discussion or the quality of those contributions is lacking. The advisors expect the student to have considerable difficulty in locating additional relevant articles during the summer and in writing an acceptable thesis.
D = Progress is well below expectations. The student’s research is too shallow, irrelevant to the topic, and/or limited in scope to too few areas of a thesis. The student demonstrates neither depth nor breadth on knowledge of the thesis topic as evidenced by poor quality paraphrases of articles and the student’s considerable difficulty in contributing to student-teacher conferences. The student misses too many deadlines, hands in assignments with extensive format errors, and writes poorly and/or plagiarizes from the articles. The student rarely if ever contributes to classroom discussion. It is unlikely that the student will be able to conduct independent research during the summer and will probably not be able to submit an acceptable thesis. (This is, in effect, a failing grade for this course.)
Disclaimer: The instructors reserve the right to change the course policies and course calendar if events during the semester warrant such change. We will notify you of any such changes during class.
FORMAT FOR ASSIGNMENTS
Instructors' expectations of student performance: We expect you to submit all thesis assignments on time, in the appropriate format, and with appropriate content. If you have a legitimate reason for missing an assignment (e.g., a serious illness or emergency), notify us as soon as possible. Follow APA format for all assignments, which is summarized below.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Chapter Two (pp. 31-76). Follow the guidelines for improving writing style (e.g., orderly presentation, smooth expression, avoiding jargon), grammar (e. g., parts of speech), and reducing bias in language (e. g., gender, age, race, sexual orientation).
Chapter Three (pp. 77-214). Follow guidelines on pp. 77-111 for punctuation (e. g., periods, commas), spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, italics, and abbreviations. Later parts of this chapter may be relevant if you include figures, tables, or personal communications
Chapter Four (pp. 215-281). Follow guidelines for your reference list and citing references.
5.01 Paper (p. 284). Use 8 1/2 x 11 heavy white bond paper.
5.02 Typeface (pp. 285-286). Use 10 point or 12 point Bookman, Times Roman, or Courier. The type must be dark, clear, unsmeared, and readable. Use an ink-jet or laser printer.
5.03 Double-Spacing (p. 286). Maintain 1/4 inch between each line of text.
5.04 Margins (p. 286-287). Use 1-inch margins on all four sides of each page to produce 6 1/2 inches of text per line and no more than 27 lines of text per page. Do not right-justify text; the right margin should be jagged. Do not hyphenate at the end of a line.
5.05 Order of the Manuscript Pages (p. 287). Submit your final thesis pages in the order identified in the manual, but replace the "abstract" on page 2 with a Table of Contents.
5.06 Page Numbers and Manuscript Page Headers (p. 288). Number all pages consecutively in the same typeface as the rest of the paper in the right margin of a header. Include your name and the date of the assignment as a "manuscript page header" immediately preceding the page number so that everything in the header is flush right on the page.
5.07 Corrections (pp. 288-289). There should be no errors and no manual corrections (e.g., pencil or pen marks) on any assignment you submit. Edit your paper prior to printing the copy you intend to submit. Eliminate spelling, grammar, typing, and other errors.
5.08 Paragraphs and Indentation (p. 289). Indent the first line of a paragraph five to seven spaces (be consistent throughout the paper). Paragraphs must contain at least two sentences and should be no longer than 3/4 of a page.
5.10 Headings (pp. 289-290; also see pp. 114-115). Use Three Levels in your thesis: chapter titles (Centered, Plain Text, and Capitalized), major sections (Flush Left, Italicized, and Capitalized) and subsections (Indented, italicized, capitalized like a sentence and ending with a period, with text immediately following in the same paragraph.).
5.12 Seriation (p. 292). Do not include any lists in your thesis, so ignore this section.
5.13 Quotations (pp. 292-293). Do not quote directly from any article unless you have been specifically permitted to do so by your instructors (e.g., you need to quote part of a law or policy). Your paper must summarize and discuss your reference materials in your own words. Cite your sources, paraphrase their contents, and do not quote them.
Identifying your assignment: Include your name and date of the assignment in a manuscript page header (see above). Provide a title for your assignment centered in the first line of text. Double-space after the title, type a paragraph indentation, and begin typing the assignment.
References and citations: Include references for all assignments where relevant. Cite your references in the text for that assignment. Use APA format for all references and citations.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHOOSING YOUR TOPIC
Your first and probably most important decision for this course is to select a thesis topic. You will conduct research and write about a major topic of relevance to human resource management. Consider the following:
Choose a topic that interests you. You will conduct research and write about one topic for a full year. Select a topic that interests you, probably one you discussed in your HRM courses and/or your job experiences.
Choose a topic that will be easy to research. Begin your research by locating several texts in human resource management, employment law, employee selection and evaluation, training, compensation and benefits, etc. Also examine the following handbooks (among others) in Wahlert Library:
Dunnette, M. D. & Hough, L. M. (Eds.). (1990). Handbook of industrial-organizational psychology. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Ferris, G. R., Rosen, S. D., & Barnum, D. T. (1995). Handbook of human resource management. New York: Blackwell.
Hansen, C. P., & Conrad, K. A. (Eds.). (1991). A handbook of psychological assessment in business. New York: Quorom Books.
Jones, J. W., Steffy, B. D., & Bray, D. W. (Eds.). (1991) Applying psychology in business: The handbook for managers and human resource professionals. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Do the texts and handbooks include your topic in their tables of contents and/or their indices? Are there sufficient pages (i.e. approximately five to ten pages in each of several texts or handbooks) devoted to your topic? Do the texts/handbooks contain several citations and references on your topic? It is usually better to choose a topic that has some historical significance rather than a topic that only recently emerged. It may be difficult to conduct research on recent topics, particularly when you attempt to locate evaluation research. If you could not find your topic discussed in sufficient depth in texts or handbooks, we advise you to select a different topic.
Choose a topic that is easy for you to understand. Read the sections of the texts and handbooks that are relevant to your topic. Do you understand the issues being discussed in these sections? Locate and scan some of the articles cited by the texts and handbooks. Are these articles easy to locate in Wahlert Library, and are they relatively easy for you to understand? Conduct an electronic search using ProQuest and PsychInfo; are there articles on your topic?