BUS 230
Introduction/Literature Review Guidelines
Taggert J. Brooks
Course Learning Objectives:
LO1: Develop the ability to define a research problem
Formulate research questions and hypotheses that are: measurable, well-defined, address the
overall problem, are directly related, and that reflect the scope of the problem. (CT-1)
LO4: Develop the ability to effectively communicate research results both written and orally.
(CS-1 and CS-2)
Purpose: A literature review is an essential foundational component to your research paper. A
review of existing literature is used to 1) introduce your reader to relevant background
knowledge on the topic and 2) motivate your research question by identifying some aspect of
the topic that is important and as of yet unanswered.
Guidelines: This literature review. At the minimum it should be 4 pages, typed, and double
spaced. It should be free from spelling and grammatical errors. You should include a
bibliography and follow APA 6th. Here are some web guidelines for full paper length literature
reviews: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/literature-reviews/
The above links discusses the different types of literature reviews, let me take this opportunity
to warn against a chronological since as a novice you will find it challenging to write one of these
in an interesting way. I would suggest the thematic type for this project.
You need to appropriately cite your sources. Citations should be in-text (author, year) or
AUTHOR (year) as you will read in the examples. See this link for help:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/. You should also include a
bibliography/works cited/reference page (which does not count against the page length
suggestion). http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/
Due Date: See D2L
When turning in the electronic version to your dropbox space please include your group
number in the file name (example groupxx-litreview.doc or groupxx-litreview.docx where xx is
your two digit group number 03 for group three and 10 for group ten).
Grading:
Here are the CBA guidelines/rubric for grading writing. I will use these to inform my grading.
http://goo.gl/2CeUts
At a minimum each group member should find 2 to 4 articles in peer reviewed sources. For
each source you should be able to identify which purpose it will serve.
Background: Does this article provide important background information that is not common
knowledge? Is this background knowledge important for your audience to understand or
appreciate your paper?
Motivation: Does the journal article's introduction or conclusion suggest that work along the
lines of your research project is important? Does it answer a related question, suggesting
answering your question is also important?
Justification: Can this article justify the choices you make for your project? Does the research
project described in this journal article make some of the same decisions that you will make in
BUS 230
Introduction/Literature Review Guidelines
Taggert J. Brooks
how to go about answering your research question? Will you use similar survey questions,
compute similar statistics, etc?