Transcript BA in Human Resource Management: Writing an FYP

BA in Human Resource
Management: Writing an FYP
Lawrence Cleary, Patricia Herron, Dr. Íde
O’Sullivan, Research Officers
for the
Regional Writing Center, UL
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Consilium
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Writing
Writing and Research in an Academic
Context
Organizational Principles
Rhetorical Principles
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Writing
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What is writing? Define ‘writing’.
What are its components?
What forms can writing take?
What are its stages of development?
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Ways of Ordering
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Writing Process—Planning, Drafting, (Discussing
/ Consulting), Revising, Editing and Proofreading.
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Rhetorical Situation—Occasion for writing,
writer, topic, audience and purpose.
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Writing Strategies—cognitive, metacognitive,
affective and social.
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The Rhetorical Situation
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Occasion
Writer
Topic
Audience
Purpose
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Free-writing Exercise
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Writing Prompt:
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What is your FYP about,
how will it be organized,
how far along are you and
what strategies will you employ in order to complete
the task by the due date and in order to score well
on the assessment?
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Writing and Research in an
Academic Context
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Academic Integrity
Ethical Management of Information
Disciplinary Ethos: The Credibility of the
Evidence
Crediting Sources
Disciplinary Ethos: Your Credibility as an Author,
a Researcher, a Scholar
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When do I cite my source?
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Agreeing with the material that someone else wrote
does not make it your own.
Rearranging words from someone else's prose does
not change the fact that it is not your own work.
Writing a paper that consists of numerous quotations
strung together does not qualify as one's own work.
The fact that there are quotation marks and citations is
not a substitute for the requirement that a piece of
work is to be a product of the writer's own mind.
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Organizational Principles
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That Thing that Motivates the Paper,
Gives it Unity and, Ultimately,
Coherence.
The Form
The Delimitation of the Research and
the Qualification of the Findings
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Points of Order
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Research papers are organized around
the problem, not the topic per se.
The problem, in a sense, is the topic.
Problems, however, exist in contexts, as
do solutions.
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Pints of Porter
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The literature that you read informs both the
immediate context of the problem and the
larger context of which it is a part.
The methodology you choose determines
the data you get, as does your analytical
methodology determine what you get from
that data.
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Writing Prompt
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What question am I trying to answer /
problem am I trying to solve / hypothesis am
I trying to affirm / claim am I trying to
defend?
What do I need to know in order to answer
that question? What other questions do I
need to answer?
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Writing the Literature Review
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What is it?
What is its purpose?
– To guide and inform your process
– To inform your audience about the
credibility and value of your conclusions
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Issues of Credibility
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Definition from Merriam-Webster: “an
interpretation and synthesis of
published research” (Merriam qtd in
Murray 2006: 108).
Choices speak to your understanding
of the puddle.
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Writing Prompt
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What do I know about my research topic?
What I am looking for in the literature is...
What are the schools of thought in the
literature?
The ‘great debates’ in my area are...
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Organization
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How will I organize my literature review?
Can I classify or categorize the stuff I’ve
read so far?
Can I say how each piece of literature has
helped to inform my over-riding questions
and/or sub-questions?
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Questions Your Lit Review
Should Answer (Murray 2006: 115)
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Why is this subject important?
Who else thinks it’s important?
Who has worked on this subject before?
Who has done something similar to what I
am doing?
What can be adapted to my own study?
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Questions Your Lit Review Should Answer
(Murray 2006: 115) (Con’t)
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What are the gaps in the research?
Who is going to use my material?
What use will my project be?
What will my contribution be?
What specific question will I answer?
[What specific questions will my research
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Writing Prompt
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If we can frame the main question in a hierarchy,
below which are framed the sub-questions, and we
can put these frames in a larger frame called the
Literature Review, what frames are you ready to fill
in?
If you do not organize your literature around your
question and sub-questions, how else will you
categorize the literature in order to organize your
discussion?
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Dissertation Structure
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Some things typically assessed:
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process,
presentation,
methodology,
content,
development of argument,
depth of analysis.
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Dissertation Structure
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The structure of any dissertation is largely
determined by the nature of its inquiry and by the
methods employed to satisfy that query.
A dissertation like an essay is motivated by a thesis
that needs defending, a question that needs
answering, or a hypothesis that needs testing.
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Dissertation Structure (Quantitative)
(Leedy and Ormrod 2001, p. 126)
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IV.
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VII.
The problem and its setting
The review of the related literature
The data and the treatment of the data
The qualifications of the researcher and any
assistants
An outline of the proposed study (steps taken,
timeline, etc.)
References
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Dissertation Structure
(Qualitative)
(Leedy and Ormrod 2001, p. 126-27)
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Introduction
Methodology
Findings
Management plan, timeline, feasibility
References
Appendices
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Logical Organization
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Introduction
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General background for the study
The statement of the problem and the sub-problems
The hypothesis (a prediction of the results based on
evidence in the literature)
The delimitations and limitations
The definition of terms
The assumptions
The importance of the study
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Logical Organization
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The Methodology
The review of the related literature
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The literature related to the general discourse
The literature related to the problem
The literature related to the methodological
investigation and analyses
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Logical Organization
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Presentation of the data (summarization of
findings)
Discussion of the data (detailed)
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Relationship to findings in the literature
Relationship to predictions based on theory
Relationship to literary / cultural context
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Logical Organization
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Conclusion
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Implications for current knowledge in the field
Theoretical implications
Implications for our understanding of the literary / cultural
context
Implications for future research
VII. References and Bibliography
VIII. Appendices
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Preliminaries
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Title page
Table of Contents
List of Figures / List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Glossary
Abstract
Body
Chapter 1
Chapter 2…
Chapter 7
End Matter
References
Bibliography
Appendices
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Rhetorical Principles
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Inventio, Dispositio, Elocutio,
Memoria, Actio
Logos, Ethos, Pathos, Bathos, etc.
Triangulations for best effect!
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Me, an Academic Writer?
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When given an ‘academic’ writing
assignment, or any kind of writing
assignment, what are your immediate
feelings and thoughts?
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Satisfying Academic Audiences:
Issues of Style
When someone says academic
writing, what features characterize
that kind of writing for you?
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Academic Writing
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• Complexity
• Formality
• Objectivity
• Explicitness
• Hedging
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• Responsibility
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Sources
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Critical Thinking—Demo, Center for Teaching Excellence, University of South
Florida (2005) “Bloom’s Taxonomy Pyramid” [online], available:
http://www.cte.usf.edu/materials/institute/ct/index.html [accessed: 15 Aug. 2008].
Ebest, S.B., Alred, G.J, Brusaw, C.T. and Oliu, W.E. (2005) Writing from A to Z:
The Easy-to-use Reference Handbook, 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill.
K U Writing Center (2009) Academic Integrity, University of Kansas Writing
Centre [online], available at:
http://www.writing.ku.edu/students/guides/integrity.shtml [accessed July 12,
2009].
Leedy, P. and Ormrod, E. (2005) Practical research: Planning and Design (8th
edition). New Jersey: Pearson Education International.
Murray, R. (2006) How to Write a Thesis, 2nd ed. Maidenhead, England: Open
University Press.
UEfAP.com 2008 Writing: Rhetorical Functions, Comparing and Contrasting
Exercise 2 [online], available:
http://www.uefap.com/writing/exercise/function/compcon2.htm [accessed Aug
16 2008].
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