MGT600
WK2, Chat A
Note: Next chat will be about
Library Resources
General Announcements
• Well, after the first assignments
everyone has a better feeling for the
expectations, right?
• Remember that on our Chat 2B we have a
chat exclusively dedicated to Library
resources.
• More information will be posted on the
announcements board.
So maybe we can start this week's chat with
some general observations from last week's
assignments?
• Here are some numbered observations I
prepared based on overall observations,
so please don’t feel offended: it’s just a list
of common issues that need be addressed
so everyone can improve their
assignments.
Using Supporting Sources
• Even after repeated announcements and even
examples, there were still assignments without
any academic citations or references
whatsoever.
• The expectations state a minimal of 3 scholarly
sources (not popular sources).
• Remember that this is an expectation of this
course, and it’s related to academic credibility
and to APA skills. All assignments are
expected to contain extensive use of scholarly
citations and references, not popular literature.
APA formatting is still not widely
understood…
• APA is very detailed. It’s very important that you
look at every single detail (periods, italics, etc.)
in every single format. Most of the errors
observed are in the details.
• The best way to describe issues pertaining APA
formatting is to use Figure 5.1 (pg 306) to in the
APA Manual (5th ed).
• This sample paper contains circled numbers that
refer to the numbered sections in the publication
manual.
Anatomy of a textbook APA citation:
a wrong way…
No use of first names
Excessive use of caps
Double spacing
Incorrect font
Book titles in italics
Bazerman, Max (2006). Judgment in Managerial Decision
Making (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ; John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Colon, not semi-colon
Indentation 5 spaces
No use of superscript
No use of Inc.
Excessive caps
Anatomy of a journal article extracted from a database
Incorrect format
Rojas, R. (2006). The trials and tribulations of learning
APA formatting: A graduate student’s perspective.
Journal of Online Business Education, 26(3), 43-49.
Retrieved March 25, 2006, from
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=1008502751&SrchMode=
1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&
TS=1143471295&clientId=65562
Anatomy of a journal article extracted from a database
No first names
Cap to begin subtitle
Rojas, R. (2006). The trials and tribulations of learning
APA formatting: A graduate student’s perspective.
Journal of Online Business Education, 26(3), 43-49.
Retrieved March 25, 2007, from ABI Global Inform
database.
Retrieval information
Comma!
Name of database,
not the name of the
Company
APA
• Keep an eye on the details: indentations,
double spacing, italics, avoid excessive
use of caps in titles, alphabetical ordering
or sources, no first names of authors…
look at the details (formatting protocol)
• Another idea is to use the APA tutorial in
the Research Lab.
• Citation Machine (beware of disclaimer)
DB1
• Loss of perspective: more emphasis on
the case that on the analysis of the model
• “…are there any discrepancies…?”
suggests an analysis, not a YES or NO
answer
• Minimal of 3 supporting sources
• Be careful with web sites
Literature review
• The ability to seek (a) relevant (b) scholarly literature
(no web sites, no magazines or newspapers) that would
– Demonstrate the hypothesis as part of the ongoing
efforts in the literature…
– Illustrate the potential contributions of your research
design to the literature.
• Skills involved:
– Research & Library skills
– Recognizing scholarly versus popular literature
– Demonstrate research process skills
Bullet statements…
• There also seems to be a trend in using bullet
statements rather than full narratives for
assignments. Bullet statements are excellent
ways to organize your thoughts, but are
inadequate for assignments.
• Bullet statements alone lack depth, and leave
too much interpretation to the reader.
Accordingly, bullet statements do not
demonstrate to me that you master the concepts
discussed in class.
• Please take the time to fully articulate what you
mean.
Incorrect DB posting
• Finally, do not attach or upload your
posting to the discussion board, nor place
it in the submitted assignments folder.
• The correct place is the discussion board
and the intention is for everyone to see
and comment on your posting.
• The attachment function is only for special
assignments, not for the regular DB
posting.
• Do all these suggestions and clarifications
help?
• Remember that these suggestions are
skills that will help you throughout all
courses in the entire program.
Skills survey:
Think about the top 3 skills that affected you the most
in the composing of your Unit 1 assignments?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Basic computer skills
Classroom navigation skills
Online learning skills
Office 2007 Skills
Graduate or scholarly writing skills
Scholarly databases & Library resources skills
APA formatting skills
Critical Thinking skills
Biases, judgment and decision making skills
Experimental research process skills
Please be honest: this information will help me better frame the material
and class exercises to help you be successful in the MBA program…
Take the time to carefully respond to these three surveys
Let’s talk briefly about this week’s
assignments today, since the next
chat will be about the Library.
IP2 Assignment
• The IP2 is where you demonstrate your
understanding of two more research steps of
the Sekaran process.
• In other words the IP2 also has two parts:
– (a) Using the same hypothesis from your IP1,
compose a theoretical framework.
• Step 4 of the Sekaran process
– (b) Using the same hypothesis from your IP1,
compose a scientific research design
• Step 6 of the Sekaran process
• Notice that we skipped Step 5.
Figure 4.1
The research process (Sekaran, 2003)
Step 1
General
Observation
CH4
Step 2
Prelim
Data
Gathering
CH4
Step 3
Step 4
Literature
Review
Theoretical
Framework
Definition
Of the
Problem
Purpose of
The study
Research
Question
Variables
Identified
CH4
CH5
Step 5
Generation
Of a hypothesis
(or hypotheses)
Step 6
Step 7
Scientific
Research
Design
Collect data
Analysis and
Interpretation
CH6
CH 12
CH5
Step 8
9th
The
Step
Formatting Protocols
(APA, 5th ed)
Research Design Timeline for MGT 600 (by Assignments)
Class
Starts
Deduction
Is the
Research
Question
Answered?
IP1
IP2
IP3
Ip4
GP5
All steps
Steps 4,6
Step 7
Step 8
All steps
Part 1:Theoretical framework
• How would you characterize the purpose
of your study in relation to the literature?
• What models from the literature will you be
using?
• What specifically are the variables and
how are the defined?
• Continuity & coherency between the parts
Part 2: Scientific research design
(Step 6)
• What is the experiment you will be
conducting to demonstrate your
hypothesis?
• What is the process by which you will test
your hypothesis (variables)?
• Narrate the details of your approach using
the elements that apply from Sekaran
(2003).
Example hypothesis:
Ha: There is a direct relationship between employee
motivation and the quality of the working environment
• Theoretical framework:
– That is the theor(5-8 theories of motivation, 45 theories on work environmenty or theories
that apply to my experiment?)
– Which among the current models in the
literature that I will be using for my
experiment? (Which ones did you select?)
– How exactly am I defining these variables?
Example hypothesis:
Ha: There is a direct relationship between employee
motivation and the quality of the working environment
• Scientific research design (Explain the
details of the experiment, use Fig. 6.2)
– Purpose (exploratory, descriptive or
hypothesis testing?)
– Type of investigation ( causal, correlation,
differentiation, or other?)
– Extent of researcher interference (minimal,
control, simulation, or other).
– Continue analysis with elements in Fig 6.2
IP2 Assignment Summary
• The IP2 is a single document with 2 sections
(or two parts)
– (a) Using the same hypothesis from your IP1,
compose a theoretical framework.
• Step 4 of the Sekaran process
– (b) Using the same hypothesis from your IP1,
compose a scientific research design
• Step 6 of the Sekaran process
• Continuity from your IP1 (building up the
research design)
• APA Formatting of the paper and the
supporting sources
DB2
The second DB is your opportunity to
demonstrate to me how well you master all
the concepts related to judgments, biases
and perceptions.
• Delineate the anatomy of your previous
decision (the scenario you already used in
your DB1) but frame it differently.
• The DB2 is an re-framing of your DB1
scenario… Basically, delineate the anatomy of
your previous decision, but using a different
framework.
• Use as many concepts on judgment, perceptions
and biases as possible to respond to the DB
questions. Show me that you understand the
meaning of these concepts and that you know
how to apply and overcome these issues in
judgment. (Defining the terms)
• Also use citations and references from various
sources to support your arguments. Remember
to go beyond just the textbook when you are
supporting your arguments.
DB2…
• Just remember, for the discussion board and for
PowerPoint the only section that I am expecting
to see full APA formatting is in the references
section.
• The discussion board does not accept Microsoft
Word formatting commands and that you will
have to manually format your references section
to comply with APA.
• This means that if you cut and paste from your
Microsoft Word documents, much of the
formatting will not be absorbed into the
discussion board, because the discussion board
is in HTML.
APA Skills Developer